What makes the song?

[RaShayRitto]

No I dont like to listen to something that might cause my ears to explode.

lol give it a shot, it'll make you a man

I just had another thought concerning this topic. Its possible that the balance between vocals and instruments shifts depending on genre. I listen primarily to progressive stoner metal, so naturally the music is hugely important in that it has to convey the concept the artist has in mind.

But on concept albums vocals play a huge role in getting the story across. If you listen to the instrumental version of "oblivion" by Mastodon, you'll certainly feel the vibe and be very moved by the music. This gives you an abstract picture of emotions and "colors" if you will. Then you listen to the final production version with vocals and now we have a character that is feeling these emotions and we're seeing the colors form a picture of the situation he's in ("i flew beyond the sun before it was time, burning all the gold that held me inside my shell" and at the end of the chorus "now i'm lost in oblivion")

so before the vocals, we have this feeling of immense isolation and longing. Like being lost in a beautiful landscap. Then here come the vox and we see this boy who flew too close to the sun while astral projecting and it burned out his intestines and the golden umbilical chord that connects him to the material realm. as a result he's floating helplessly into the void.

wow well there's an annoying block of text for ya. hopefully i added something to the discussion with it! XD

[Fiery]

lol give it a shot, it'll make you a man

I just had another thought concerning this topic. Its possible that the balance between vocals and instruments shifts depending on genre. I listen primarily to progressive stoner metal, so naturally the music is hugely important in that it has to convey the concept the artist has in mind.

But on concept albums vocals play a huge role in getting the story across. If you listen to the instrumental version of "oblivion" by Mastodon, you'll certainly feel the vibe and be very moved by the music. This gives you an abstract picture of emotions and "colors" if you will. Then you listen to the final production version with vocals and now we have a character that is feeling these emotions and we're seeing the colors form a picture of the situation he's in ("i flew beyond the sun before it was time, burning all the gold that held me inside my shell" and at the end of the chorus "now i'm lost in oblivion")

so before the vocals, we have this feeling of immense isolation and longing. Like being lost in a beautiful landscap. Then here come the vox and we see this boy who flew too close to the sun while astral projecting and it burned out his intestines and the golden umbilical chord that connects him to the material realm. as a result he's floating helplessly into the void.

wow well there's an annoying block of text for ya. hopefully i added something to the discussion with it! XD

Lyrics do help a concept album, of course - the great thing about concept albums is that they tell stories. However there are "concept albums" (getting to the point of the air quotes) that don't use lyrics and do a great job of storytelling: concertos. Perhaps maybe the first concept albums? It feels weird saying that. But I love piano concertos, and each movement tells a different part of the story. Concertos don't have plots in the traditional sense - no characters, no sequence of events, no words - but they do have a theme, rising and falling action, and, one of the best qualities of stories, emotional involvement. Instead of relating to certain passages or things that characters might say, you relate to the sense of life found in the progression of notes. It's a self made story.

It's a different point of view. The best thing about music is the fact that there's so much to explore, and so much to choose from. Different ideas are embodied in different forms over time.