Concept Albums for Your iPod, Part 2

Album Name: Add it Up

The Track List

1. Working for the Weekend - Loverboy

2. Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) - Pet Shop Boys

3. The Math - Hillary Duff

4. Add it Up - Violent Femmes

5. Murder by Numbers- The Police

6. Lawyers, Guns, and Money - Warren Zevon

7. Criminal - Fiona Apple

8. Tell the Truth - Ray Charles

9. You're Not the Boss of Me Now - They Might Be Giants

The Plot (As explained by the Music Editor of Your College Newspaper)

Add it Up is arguably the best concept album since The Who's greatly under-appreciated Quadrophenia. The story concerns a Young Accountant who works for The Large Corporation. The Young Accountant is merely a low level worker (Working for the Weekend) but he dreams of climbing his way up the corporate ladder (Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money.)) The Young Accountant develops a romantic relationship with The Coworker (The Math.) While going through the books, they discover that The Large Corporation has been falsely reporting its earnings to illegally manipulate the stock price (Add it Up.) They confront The Boss, but he tells them that -- as a member of the privileged upper class -- he can do whatever he wants and that laws are for poor people. He insinuates that there will be dire consequences for the Young Accountant if he goes public (Murder by Numbers.) Although he wants to do the ethical thing, the Young Accountant realizes that he'd be taking a great risk if he blows the whistle on the Large Corporation. He searches for a way out of the dilemma (Lawyers, Guns, and Money) but ultimately concludes that if he doesn't come forward he is complicit in the fraud (Criminal.) He decides to go to the SEC (Tell the Truth.) He is fired from his job, but he is free to speak his mind when The Boss is taken away in handcuffs and indicted (You're Not the Boss of Me Now.)