''The Gay Parade'' is a 1999

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

by the band

of Montreal of Montreal is an American indie pop band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontperson Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance between Barnes and a woman "of Montreal". The band is identified as part of the Elephant 6 collec ...

and was their third full-length release.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's reviewer Jason Ankeny designated the album "indie pop's very own '' Sgt. Pepper''". Of Montreal's drummer and bassist Derek Almstead contemporaneously described it as a collection of character studies, comparable to

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

' 1968 album ''

The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Kinks. Released on 22November 1968, ''Village Green'' was a modest seller, but it was lauded by contemporary critics f ...

''. It has the first album cover designed by

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Kevin Barnes' brother David, who has since designed the artwork for nearly every subsequent of Montreal album.

Track listing

All songs by Kevin Barnes. #"Old Familiar Way"2:25 #"Fun Loving Nun"2:17 #"Tulip Baroo"2:10 #"Jacques Lamure"2:31 #"The March of the Gay Parade"2:55 #"Neat Little Domestic Life"2:45 #"A Collection of Poems About Water"3:57 #"Y the Quale and Vaguely Bird Noisily Enjoying Their Forbidden Tryst/I'd Be a Yellow Feathered Loon"2:40 #"The Autobiographical Grandpa"2:19 #"The Miniature Philosopher"1:54 #"My Friend Will Be Me"3:54 #"My Favorite Boxer"3:01 #"Advice from a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage"2:08 #"A Man's Life Flashing Before His Eyes While He and His Wife Drive Off a Cliff into the Ocean"3:04 #"Nickee Coco and the Invisible Tree"5:21 #"The Gay Parade Outro"0:47

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay Parade, The Of Montreal albums 1999 albums Bar/None Records albums 1990s concept albums Elephant 6 albums