For example, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall part 1 and part 2.
Metallica’s My Friend of Misery and Inamorata
The Killers- “Mr. Brightside” and “Miss Atomic Bomb”
It may not seem obvious but “Miss Atomic Bomb” is intentionally a sequel. The music video even tells a story that is a continuation of the “Mr. Brightside” video, with Izabella Miko and Eric Roberts reprising their roles.
This might be a stretch. Mute - Walking on a Thin Line, which is the end of the album Remember Death, is the direct prequel to the song Resistance which actually starts the album. Its like it’s there just to get you to listen to the whole thing again. Which you should. Its really good.
Falco’s Jeanny and Coming Home.
Basically all of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s discography.
I’m not sure if this exactly fits what you’re looking for, but the following 5 albums by The Dear Hunter are connected through a shared storyline [1]:
- Act I: The Lake South, The River North [2]
- Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading [3]
- Act III: Life and Death [4]
- Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise [5]
- Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional [6]
References
- Type: Article. Title: “The Dear Hunter”. Publisher: “Wikipedia”. Published: 2025-07-04T01:59Z. Accessed: 2025-08-03T05:27Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dear_Hunter.
- Type: Text. Location: ¶2.
Most of the band’s albums, starting with their 2006 debut album Act I: The Lake South, the River North, are concept albums and a part of a common storyline, planned to conclude with a sixth installment. The most recent addition is 2016’s Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional. Additionally, they have released albums unrelated to the Acts; […]
- Type: Text. Location: ¶2.
- Type: Album. Title: “Act I: The Lake South, The River North”. Author: “The Dear Hunter”. Publisher: “Spotify”. Published: 2007-05-22. Accessed: 2025-08-03T05:29Z. URI: https://open.spotify.com/album/7k0iFGkqIWyOBZBaBCAYg7.
- Type: Album. Title: “Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading”. Author: “The Dear Hunter”. Publisher: “Spotify”. Published: 2007-05-22. Accessed: 2025-08-03T05:29Z. URI: https://open.spotify.com/album/3bxQpENBvT3gHgM9Q7Z20K.
- Type: Album. Title: “Act III: Life and Death”. Author: “The Dear Hunter”. Publisher: “Spotify”. Published: 2009-06-23. Accessed: 2025-08-03T05:29Z. URI: https://open.spotify.com/album/5B5cJTkPpZRzKMWegoKE78.
- Type: Album. Title: “Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise”. Author: “The Dear Hunter”. Publisher: “Spotify”. Published: 2015-09-04. Accessed: 2025-08-03T05:29Z. URI: https://open.spotify.com/album/0TCkVVN1AfEtMP3IjVD1Zi.
- Type: Album. Title: “Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional”. Author: “The Dear Hunter”. Publisher: “Spotify”. Published: 2016-09-16. Accessed: 2025-08-03T05:29Z. URI: https://open.spotify.com/album/72N545TE36DqJHiyE0YLGE.
Did you use some program to format references like that?
Sandstorm by Darude has a song right before it on his album called “the calm before the storm” and I actually enjoy it quite a bit.
Darude Sandstorm lore? Wow lol I’ll keep this on my list to listen too 😂
They’re not that popular compared to Pink Floyd or David Bowie, but there’s a band called The Dear Hunter that have 5 albums called Act I through Act V that are one continuous story of a guy’s life.
So in that sense every song on those albums are a sequel and prequel to every other, but some of the musical themes and motifs are more obviously reintroduced, referenced, and re-applied in new contexts as the albums go on.
They have albums that aren’t those 5, which are not in the canon, by the way.
What’s your favorite color? I’m torn between green and orange.
Honestly, I was kinda “meh” on the colours 😅
At first I thought it was maybe a “I like their earlier work” sorta thing, that can sometimes happen with bands, but when I looked up the release dates I was surprised to discover the spectrum came out between III and IV, but I like III and love IV and V, so I guess it’s not that!
I guess maybe the identity of the Acts is just enough that they have something colours lack for me? I don’t know what, but they’ve never grabbed me. Oh well, such is taste!
That is fair, They vary their style a lot, which I think is pretty cool, but when you like one thing and they change it…
After a while, I’ve come to learn why a lot of the popular artists only have hundreds of songs but only 1-5 of them get played on repeat.
Dream Theater has a song called Metropolis Part 1. Originally they didn’t plan to have any additional parts, but it worked out that eventually they decided to follow it up. Instead of a single song, they did a whole album: Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory. And I think it’s their best work.
Primus has the four Fisherman’s Chronicles songs.
- John the Fisherman
- Fish On
- The Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon
- Last Salmon Man
Another thing that might count as an example is that Wings’ Band on the Run and Helen Wheels both mention a character named Sailor Sam.
Edit: Added to post.
It’s post-Primus but Les also has Rumble of the Diesel about fishing. Dude just loves fishin
I’ve got to find a digitally saved copy of the original Cheesy Primus Home Video (I lost the VHS years ago) because it included ample footage of the band on a fishing trip.
Tool Parabol - Parabola
Sounds interesting, I shall listen to this 😎
Megadeth with Hanger 18 and later in their career Return to Hanger.
David Bowie wrote a continuation to “Space Oddity” (“Ashes to Ashes”) and the original also inspired a few songs by other artists that directly reference it (“Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling, “Hallo Spaceboy” by Pet Shop Boys).
The Pet Shop Boys version is a remix of Bowie’s Hallo Spaceboy.
major tom also shows up in the music video for blackstar
Tool - Parabol / Parabola
Tool - Intermission / Jimmy (although probably among their less popular songs)
Tool… Lost keys and Rosetta Stoned
Will give these a listen, always down for listening to different genres 👍🏽
Opeth - Patterns in the Ivy and Patterns in the Ivy II. The latter is so beautiful, could’ve easily been on BWP too imo
