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What are your favourite concept albums or Rock Operas? If you need a definition of them, here is a basic definition of them:
Rock Opera- A rock album that tells a larger story over an expanse of several songs.
Concept Album- An album of any genre that conveys a large story or 'idea' throughout.
Here's my top 6. You can choose any number you want.
What about yours? Reasons are nice, but you can just put a simple list if you want
1. Animals - Pink Floyd I love political satire. I love Pink Floyd. I love metaphors. What is there not to love about this album? This 'Animal Farm' inspired album tells the tale of the dogs who slave for the 'man', the 3 overlord pigs who try a little too hard to take themselves seriously (Ha, ha, Charade you are!), and the sheep who follow one leader, but when revolution comes and they think they have gained independence, they realize they have only become enslaved to a new leader.
2. Tommy - The Who There can be no list of best rock operas ever without Tommy! Tommy invented the Rock Opera! This tale about a boy who loses his ability to see hear and speak due to a traumatic experience in his childhood and the many attempts at cures ends in a biting parody of religion and has had so much longevity it's been made into a feature film, been covered and remade several times, and ended up being made into a smash stage musical that has one more Tony awards than any other. This classic is important to music history and is still a shining beacon of brilliance even today.
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles Okay, so I never quite grasped the concept of this album beyond it tells the tale of the titular group and their upcoming magical performance. But damn, the music is good. (Lucy in the sky with diamonds!)
4. Eldorado -The Elecric Light Orchestra (ELO). ELO was a good band, but they never truly reached their goal of being a mix of classical symphonies and pop rock.. with one exception: Eldorado. Eldorado tells the tale of the Dreamer- 'the unwaking fool' who lives a boring life in the real world, but in his dreams is a work of his own fantasy in the world of Eldorado. He realizes however, Eldorado is much more real than he thinks it is, and real life consequences start to set in as Eldorado shifts from fantasy to reality. Realizing the damage hes done to this paradise, the dreamer sails away from Eldorado but stays in the dream world looking for new things. This album is gorgeous, its symphonic melodies, great lyrics, and unique style make it ELOs greatest and one of the best concept albums ever.
5. The Wall - Pink Floyd Uh-oh. Pink Floyd again! The Wall, like Tommy was one of the pioneers of the Rock Opera. This album has one of the most meticulous stories ever told through rock music. Every verse is lined with golden brilliance and meaningful metaphors. This album tells the story of Pink, a rock star based on both Roger Waters (The albums writer) and Syd Barret, the estranged starter of the band, as he spirals into insanity and builds a wall around his soul to protect it from the world he has deemed evil. However, this perverts and distorts his soul and twists him into a monster as the memories he used to create the bricks and mortar of the wall slowly escape to hold his eventual trial, where he is found guilty by the 'worms' and the wall is torn down. While it may sound like it ends on a gloom note, the albums true intentions are revealed in the ending song: The ones who really love you walk up and down outside the wall. While Pink/Syd treats the world as evil; the ones, most notably his old band mates, who really love him are not the bad guys.. they just want to save his soul from eternal torture behind the wall. This was also adapted into a brilliant film, that is my all time favourite film.
6. In search of the Lost Chord - The Moody Blues While some of the songs are disconnected enough lyrically that it may not appear to be a rock opera- it is in fact a concept album with rock opera undertones.
The Concept: The search for the one musical chord that can unlock the meaning of life and bring eternal peace.
The 'Rock Opera' section: Throughout the songs 'House of Four Doors' parts 1 and 2, as well as the finale, 'Word' and 'Om,' it tells of the trek of a lost party going through a mysterious house of four doors that opens up rooms with unheard of spiritual symphonies; but there is no escape from the house when they finally find the lost chord and their souls go to peace.
The album is beautiful, calming and just downright amazing.
Rock Opera- A rock album that tells a larger story over an expanse of several songs.
Concept Album- An album of any genre that conveys a large story or 'idea' throughout.
Here's my top 6. You can choose any number you want.
What about yours? Reasons are nice, but you can just put a simple list if you want
1. Animals - Pink Floyd I love political satire. I love Pink Floyd. I love metaphors. What is there not to love about this album? This 'Animal Farm' inspired album tells the tale of the dogs who slave for the 'man', the 3 overlord pigs who try a little too hard to take themselves seriously (Ha, ha, Charade you are!), and the sheep who follow one leader, but when revolution comes and they think they have gained independence, they realize they have only become enslaved to a new leader.
2. Tommy - The Who There can be no list of best rock operas ever without Tommy! Tommy invented the Rock Opera! This tale about a boy who loses his ability to see hear and speak due to a traumatic experience in his childhood and the many attempts at cures ends in a biting parody of religion and has had so much longevity it's been made into a feature film, been covered and remade several times, and ended up being made into a smash stage musical that has one more Tony awards than any other. This classic is important to music history and is still a shining beacon of brilliance even today.
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles Okay, so I never quite grasped the concept of this album beyond it tells the tale of the titular group and their upcoming magical performance. But damn, the music is good. (Lucy in the sky with diamonds!)
4. Eldorado -The Elecric Light Orchestra (ELO). ELO was a good band, but they never truly reached their goal of being a mix of classical symphonies and pop rock.. with one exception: Eldorado. Eldorado tells the tale of the Dreamer- 'the unwaking fool' who lives a boring life in the real world, but in his dreams is a work of his own fantasy in the world of Eldorado. He realizes however, Eldorado is much more real than he thinks it is, and real life consequences start to set in as Eldorado shifts from fantasy to reality. Realizing the damage hes done to this paradise, the dreamer sails away from Eldorado but stays in the dream world looking for new things. This album is gorgeous, its symphonic melodies, great lyrics, and unique style make it ELOs greatest and one of the best concept albums ever.
5. The Wall - Pink Floyd Uh-oh. Pink Floyd again! The Wall, like Tommy was one of the pioneers of the Rock Opera. This album has one of the most meticulous stories ever told through rock music. Every verse is lined with golden brilliance and meaningful metaphors. This album tells the story of Pink, a rock star based on both Roger Waters (The albums writer) and Syd Barret, the estranged starter of the band, as he spirals into insanity and builds a wall around his soul to protect it from the world he has deemed evil. However, this perverts and distorts his soul and twists him into a monster as the memories he used to create the bricks and mortar of the wall slowly escape to hold his eventual trial, where he is found guilty by the 'worms' and the wall is torn down. While it may sound like it ends on a gloom note, the albums true intentions are revealed in the ending song: The ones who really love you walk up and down outside the wall. While Pink/Syd treats the world as evil; the ones, most notably his old band mates, who really love him are not the bad guys.. they just want to save his soul from eternal torture behind the wall. This was also adapted into a brilliant film, that is my all time favourite film.
6. In search of the Lost Chord - The Moody Blues While some of the songs are disconnected enough lyrically that it may not appear to be a rock opera- it is in fact a concept album with rock opera undertones.
The Concept: The search for the one musical chord that can unlock the meaning of life and bring eternal peace.
The 'Rock Opera' section: Throughout the songs 'House of Four Doors' parts 1 and 2, as well as the finale, 'Word' and 'Om,' it tells of the trek of a lost party going through a mysterious house of four doors that opens up rooms with unheard of spiritual symphonies; but there is no escape from the house when they finally find the lost chord and their souls go to peace.
The album is beautiful, calming and just downright amazing.
