The new live album

The album is dead. Long live the album?

"People more and more are just downloading singles and individual songs, putting their iPods on shuffle," says music impresario Barry Hogan. "The whole idea of the album as an art form is kind of forgotten."

But not in concert. In the last few weeks alone, Los Angeles has seen a rash of acts performing complete albums: Sonic Youth doing its 1988 noise-rock breakthrough "Daydream Nation" start to finish at the Greek Theatre (and opening act Redd Kross presenting its 1981 teen release "Born Innocent"), D.C. rockers Girls Against Boys doing 1994's "Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby" at El Rey Theatre and Louisville, Ky.'s Slint offering its influential 1991 indie opus "Spiderland" at the Henry Fonda Theatre.

In early September, Lucinda Williams goes for the concept crown by performing five shows at the El Rey, a different one of her albums performed each night -- topping a three-night version of the same idea Sept. 5, 6 and 7 at the Echo by singer-songwriter Ben Kweller -- and on Sept. 15, a Fonda show will feature Seattle grunge pioneers the Melvins and Mudhoney doing their '80s groundbreakers "Houdini" and the "Superfuzz BigMuff" EP, respectively. In Las Vegas, Iggy Pop & the Stooges will reprise the 1969 proto-punk big bang "Funhouse" at the Vegoose Festival in late October.

And this Friday and Saturday, the work that 40 years ago arguably galvanized the notion of an album as an artistic statement, the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," will get a Hollywood Bowl performance by Cheap Trick, accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and an Indian-music ensemble. (A first-act segment features Beatles songs sung by Aimee Mann, Joan Osborne and others.)

"We want to present amazing records, as we see them, saying people should go back and listen to them as whole albums as intended, rather than just hearing a couple of songs," says Hogan. The English promoter put together the Sonic Youth/Redd Kross, Girls Against Boys, Slint and Melvins/Mudhoney nights as part of the Don't Look Back series, which he started in London as a spinoff from his annual All Tomorrow's Parties festivals.

Reformatting the rock concert