Smackdown: Battle of the Big Ideas

Soundcheck | Oct 24, 2011

Concept albums have been buzzed about as of late, with new releases from Bjork, The Roots and Coldplay (just to name a few) following the time-honored format.

In today's Soundcheck Smackdown, we present three mini-matchups:

  • Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon vs. The Who’s Quadrophenia
  • Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison vs. Marvin Gaye’s What's Going On
  • David Bowie’s The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars vs. Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid.

Squaring off in the Soundcheck studio will be author and Grantland.com pop culture correspondent Andy Greenwald, and music and entertainment reporter Gary Burton, who have chosen sides of each debate.

Listeners, we want to hear from you! Which album wins each mini-Smackdown in your book? Leave a comment below.

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