Conceptual

I feel like different musicians and artists have been dancing around this for years. And even that it exists in some capacity already. So I'm going to take it to a more specific level.

Do you remember Peter and the Wolf? I would imagine many people's first exposure to it was through the Disney cartoon, though it was originally written in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev as a simple to understand, communist children's story.

I forget the plot but I'm sure Peter and the Wolf were prominently involved. There was a narrator who told the story and several additional characters each represented by their own instrument.

And now, here is my idea (finally): A concept album/ rock opera with different and distinct vocal talents playing each of the characters. You'd probably have a narrator sort of massaging the story along, but the real fun would be the dialogue, which would take the shape of some inter-genre artists.

I've started a list of names I'd like to see involved behind and in front of the scenes. Here are some vocalists I would be excited to see involved: Neko Case, Anthony Green, Keisha Cole, Lupe Fiasco, Mike Skinner, and Conor Oberst (as the narrator.)

I think Conor could tackle most of the writing, at least where the lyrics are concerned. And get somebody who can put together a coherent, eventful, and interesting story to help pace the whole thing.

I guess this isn't a tremendously original idea. But personally, I would love this album. It would probably be my favorite album ever. Just the idea of using very distinct voices to distinguish character and story in a musical setting. You wouldn't have any visuals, so you'd sort of just have to sit back and let your ears do all the work. You'd have to create a world out of the noise and sound. All the background and context we take away subconsciously from movies and books would be stripped and filled in with music and our imagination. Until someone made a really lame movie out of it...