Hey hey,
Looks like you've been convinced, but cool thread and imma jump in anyway 'cos lurking.
Think I'm with John mostly on this one (oi I'm still waiting for that million pound cheque
); snapshot of time.
And that time for me can be in the format of a story, like a TV series (some of the most notorious rap albums tell a linear story) or simply capture the emotions of the time (whether that's the songwriter, or the feel of a nation).
For me I just had a feeling one day that I'd moved on in my songwriting and it just felt right to collect what I'd done so far, order them into something which felt like has the best chance at greater than it's parts, then save 'em together so I could look back at 'that stage'.
Cheers for the opportunity to babble,
Scott.