Thesis: the first album — as a coherent work of art, not merely a collection of songs — was Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours (1955); the last one was Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998).
@ayjay maybe too obscure for your thesis, or too much of a concept album, but Rehearsing My Choir by The Fiery Furnaces (2005) is an album worth considering.
@ayjay as much as I love NMH, to call in an aeroplane over the sea the last album is a wild spicy take for a thesis. Totally here for it even if I personally don’t subscribe to the thesis. I mean, would to pimp a butterfly not meet this definition, or lemonade? Both still seemingly relevant/revered after almost a decade