What are the most ambitious albums you've ever heard?

[GimmeThat]

I find many soundtracks made by symphonic orchestras to be quite ambitious
Jazz with a close close close second only because the man power/parts its required for symphonic orchestra

as for lyrical ambition?


I think people hate Nickelback the same way many dislike Nicholas Cage

[Akrazotile]

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
ELP's famous prog-rock rendition of Mussorgsky's piano suite. It's an absolute trainwreck. At the end of their run in the 70s ELP actually toured with a symphony orchestra as their backing band.

Tool - Lateralus
Another example of ambition gone wrong. Really, really pedestrian metal wrapped in the most pretentious drivel imaginable.

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Now an example of an ambitious album that was pretty good. An album with only 2 tracks, 20+ minutes each, instrumental and didn't really have an identifiable genre at the time. Also:




The best music generally gets made when ambition isn't really involved.

This.


But what the hell, I'll give this a mention

[andgar923]

This thread needs more Beatles based on the OP's requirements.