In this episode, we discuss the history and appeal of concept albums with Bill Kopp, author of What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums (HoZac Books).

Music has always been a vehicle for telling stories – of love and heartbreak, of history and fantasy, and much more. Sometimes the stories can be related in a tuneful single lasting under three minutes. In other cases, beginning in the late ‘60s, these stories could unfold across a dozen interconnected songs, an audio movie or novel on four or more sides of vinyl. In time, these bodacious pieces would become a genre unto themselves – Concept Albums -- some beloved, some the object of seemingly endless ridicule. Kopp's book chronicles a wide range, from early entries like Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick and The Turtle Battle of the Bands to William Shatner's Ponder the Mystery and Drive-By ...