album naming: high concept vs. lyric-based

[cellarfullofnoise]

High-concept and lyrically-based album titles are either tied or slight advantage to concept, depending on what sorry ma is. I guess concept wins so far.

folker - lyric
come feel me tremble - lyric
dead man shake - lyric
stereo/mono - concept
suicaine - concept
grandpaboy ep - concept
eventually - lyric (something is me)
14 songs - concept
all shook down -lyric
dont' tell a soul - lyric
pleased to meet me - concept
tim - way concept
let it be - concept
hootenanny - lyric
stink - concept
sorry ma - hmmm, not a lyric, not a concept?

[SnowCover]

Definetly concept. Much more interesting. Not all the time though, Come Feel Me Tremble is a great album title. Should have been it's own song instead of a line in Folker.

[deebee76]

Both.

[Strange and Grandiose]

You forgot Besterberg.

[cellarfullofnoise]

LurdNorgins said:

You forgot Besterberg.

Well, we don't know for sure that "Besterberg" isn't a lyric from one of the new old Eventually outtakes. But you'd have to put money on ... concept. Concepts by Brad.

[FirstAveFiend]

deebee76 said:

Both.

Wow this may be one of thedeeper polls ever Cellar. I'm going concept. Look at that list, Let It Be, Stereo/Mono, Sorry Ma (yeah thats right) and Suicaine to name a few.

[PWIG]

I agree, good debate. I like really deep lyric references best but concepts have their own merit. My favorite is "Houses of the Holy". The song isn't even on that album!!

[landshark]

Folker (and maybe CFMT too) is a lyrics, but it's also a concept, IMO.

[scoOter]

i might take mild issue with calling "eventually" a lyric-based title. sure, it's a word in a song, but to me a lyric-based title is a song of the same name, or a major line from a song.

not only that, but "something is me" isn't even ON eventually... ;D

all that said, i consider eventually to be a concept title; based on the feeling on the majority of songs (sans trumpet clip) have a whispy, nostalgic yet looking forward feeling to them.... eventually is a perfect title. to me, it is a conceptual title.

sorry to keep going on eventually, but.... it is to me, if not my favorite record, an incredibly consistent album. "eventually" perfectly sums up the emotional impact for me.

[angela]

I prefer the concept names, though I'm not sure that I can really explain why. When the title comes from a line in a song or a title, I have a tendency to dismiss the title once I've figured out where it came from. With the concept-based titles I might be more inclined to look at the title as a key to the entire album. Ultimately though, titles don't matter much to me.

Something is Me is on 14 Songs, not Eventually. And I can't recall the word 'eventually' anywhere on the album so, like Scooter, I would put that one in the concept category. And Eventually might well be my favorite solo album of PW's. I'm sad that it gets so many disparaging remarks.

[ih8music]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Eventually was named in response to the pressure he got (from the label and/or his fans) to put out a follow-up to 14 songs right away (i.e. 1994-5). His response was along the lines of 'It'll come... Eventually.'

[MikeR]

My general preference is for lyric-based, so that's how I voted. But in the specialized world of Replacements/Westerberg, I would have to give the edge to concept...

[cellarfullofnoise]

That line "E-vent-chew-a-lee" in "Something is Me" was the inspiration for this thread, so yeah I cheated a little on that one. I do believe that when's-the-next-album-coming-out explanation but I like to think the title could have come from a single emphasized word on a 14 Songs song.

As far as lyric-based album titles having to come from songs on that particular album -- "Come Feel Me Tremble" anyone? God, I'm a nerd.

Now I think the reason I hesitated to put Sorry Ma in the concept camp was that line from "I'm In Trouble" ... "Take out the trash? Not this time!" That album title has one foot or a couple toes on the lyric-based side.