Maybe the idea of it was just too big to process at the time. This was an era where the iPod Shuffle was something more than an item given away in grocery store vending machines, and the idea of “The Album” seemed like a remnant of a time gone by. Beyond diehards, the general mainstream audience couldn’t have cared less, and the gigantic, ambitious conceptual nature of the record and surrounding universe were too daunting, too puzzling, too demanding of attention and time during a period where both were in short supply. Even from a critical standpoint, it feels unfair to discuss the album without getting into the thick of the surrounding art and experience, if not outright wrong to do so – with such a rich concept, and the album itself being labelled as only a piece of the work, how can you possibly appreciate it without thoroughly getting lost in the weeds?