A Hard Rock Concept Album?

Empty car, awaiting an empty ride.

A concept album in a streaming world?

There's need to paraphrase the countless articles and posts about the exaggerated "death of the concept album." The consensus is that the idea is very much alive, albeit with less consumption in the traditional sense. Also likely with less listener engagement than artists have intended in a digital world and with far less frequency.

My love of the concept album began with Pink Floyd's iconic The Wall double LP. It was my first album, given to me by a record executive friend of the family when I was nine years old. This masterpiece started my journey. Too young to fully understand the story or even the concept of a concept album at first, my young brain started recognizing patterns and pieced together the idea of continuity. Without much exposure to music beyond the radio, my dad's Stan Getz records, and my mom's Neil Diamond 8-tracks, I knew this music was special. As a whole. And as pieces of a whole.

That old demo-stamped double LP took on a whole new meaning when listening to it, reading the printed sleeve lyrics, and taking in the inside spread over a few bong hits. Wow. Enter The Who's Quadrophenia and Tommy, side one of Rush's 2112, Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and Queenryche's Operation Mindcrime. Consumed from start to finish as an experience.

For anyone reading this post, I can only assume you can relate. Time spent in a friend's basement with the vinyl pop flowing through a Marantz rack system over monster speakers was always special. And it seems in those days we had more of it - time that is. No digital communications, no infinite choices to stream. Just people with a stack of vinyl connecting over the experience we call music.

We want to replicate that experience for you, whether it's an at-home vinyl session or through earbuds on your commute into work, Drone was written to be consumed whole. Of course we encourage you to listen to your favorite individual tracks, add to your favorite playlists, share digitally with friends, etc., but we hope you can feel the richness of each track as integral parts of the entire organism we call Drone.

We hope you will buy the hard copy of our double-LP. Not from a shameless plug to increase sales but from our nostalgic souls who always found something special about the tangible interaction with the music.

So while you're waiting, block out 90 minutes or so and give The Wall or some of your other favorites a dedicated listen. Here's a link that's fun to read and just may inspire you to take the time to give the music the attention it deserves. And yourself the experience you deserve.