Blog: Chewing gum for the ears

Concept albums can be tricky beasts. There's a great deal of artistic credibility associated with many of these projects, but also a general feeling that these records are less likely to succeed from a musical standpoint. Personally, I tend to avoid albums with an exceptionally strong concept or story running through them; I'm just not frequently willing to wrap my head around the often obtuse tale being conveyed to me over 10 or 12 tracks. I can think of some notable exceptions, however, and Benjy Ferree's latest, "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee" [...]