What is a visual album? Simply put, visual albums are linked music videos or films released in conjunction with a record. Visual albums add context and depth to lyrics and music, giving fans a more immersive experience. While visual albums have been around since The Beatles, there's one person to thank for their recent resurgence: Beyoncé.
It was the 2016 release of Beyoncé's visual album Lemonade, released to accompany the music, that brought visual albums back into the pop mainstream. Now, Beyoncé is set to release another visual album on Disney+, a companion to the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift. Queen B, though, is just one of many musicians who has redefined cinema with her creative output.
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (1964)
At the height of Beatlemania, the Beatles made a musical comedy with British director Richard Lester. A Hard Day's Night, shot in cinéma vérité style, follows 36 fictionalized hours in the life of the world's most beloved rock group.
The Beatles wrote all the music for the film, and the songs were released as a soundtrack the same year. A critical and commercial success, A Hard Day's Night is considered the first visual album.
Animal Collective - ODDSAC (2010)
Animal Collective is a psychedelic rock group for Baltimore, and ODDSAC is a visual album celebrating the band's unique approach to music-making. Directed by Danny Perez, ODDSAC is an experimental, colorful visual album that relies on surrealistic imagery and ambiance to tell its story.
of the band were originally approached about making a documentary film about their process. Instead, Animal Collective opted to create a trippy, non-sensical movie more in line with their style.
Prince - Purple Rain (1984)
Perhaps the best rock musical/biopic of all time, Purple Rain was developed as a way to showcase Prince's talent. While the film blurs the line between visual album and musical, Purple Rain stars Prince as The Kid, a troubled young musician in Minneapolis – Prince's hometown.
Purple Rain and its accompanying soundtrack spawned multiple hits, including "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy." The film remains a testament to the rising value of musical videos in the '80s.
Solange - When I Get Home (2019)
Solange Knowles, Beyoncé's little sister, released a 33 minute film alongside her 2019 album When I Get Home. The album and the film both pay homage to Solange's hometown: Houston, Texas. Inspired by experimental jazz musicians like John Coltrane, Solange explores her hip hop heritage here in fantastical ways.
Working with well-known music video producers, Solange directed and edited the When I Get Home visual album, which accompanies all 17 tracks on the record. The film is also a love letter to Houston, which was recovering at the time from the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Beyoncé - Lemonade (2016)
Lemonade is Beyoncé's sixth studio album, and HBO released a 65-minute visual album in conjunction with the record in 2016. Lemonade explores Beyoncé's own struggle to move past her husband Jay-Z's infidelity within the larger context of being black in America.
The Lemonade visual album is divided into 11 chapters that mirror stages of Beyoncé's emotional journey. The mothers of black men killed by police officers make cameos in Lemonade, and samples from the works of Malcolm X are blended into the narrative. It also features poetry and prose from British-Somali poet Warsan Shire.
Michael Jackson - Moonwalker (1988)
While marketed as an experimental anthology musical, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is essentially a visual album. The film was originally set to be released at the same time as Jackson's 1987 album Bad, but it was delayed by a few years.
Moonwalker includes long-form music videos from Bad, as well as other short films woven together to represent the different stages of Jackson's career. The title is derived from Jackson's dance move at the time: the moonwalk.
Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer (2018)
Janelle Monáe released her third studio album as her acting career was taking off. The star of Hidden Figures takes a more neo-soul, electro-pop route with Dirty Computer. Monáe complimented the album's release with a 46 minute visual album of the same name, what the artist herself describes as an "emotion picture."
In the movie, plays Jane 57821, a woman who rebels against her homophobic, totalitarian society. Tessa Thompson and Jayson Aaron co-star in this vivid, queer visual album.
Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982)
When it comes to classic rock, Pink Floyd's The Wall is considered a masterwork. The band's 11th studio album, 1979's The Wall was composed as a rock opera focused on a musician named Pink. Alan Parker's visual album came a few years later in 1982. Parker adapted a screenplay written by the band's singer and bassist Roger Waters.
With minimal dialogue, The Wall's visual album comes alive through symbolism, song, and cultural references. The visual album includes references to mental health issues, drug abuse, and political violence. It also includes disturbing animation sequences.
Frank Ocean - Endless (2016)
Frank Ocean released Endless exclusively as a streaming visual album through Apple Music in 2016. In order to fulfill his record contract with Def Jam and move on to other labels, Ocean developed Endless as a survey of his turn toward more ambient and psychedelic pop sounds.
Endless is an abstract visual album, noted for its avant-garde approach and lack of clear-cut narrative. Right after Endless, Ocean's second studio album, Blond, came out on the label Boys Don't Cry.
Beyoncé - Black Is King (2020)
Black is King is a visual album follow-up to the album Beyoncé made for the 2019 photorealistic remake of The Lion King. Beyoncé spent more than a year working on the film – one of three the musician plans to make with Disney.
Using the music from The Lion King: The Gift, Black is King follows a young African king as he journies to reclaim his throne. In addition to Beyoncé, the visual album stars Jay-Z, Lupita Nyong'o, and Pharrell Williams.
