A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been adapted as rock musicals. The use of various character roles within the song lyrics is a common storytelling device. The success of the rock opera genre has inspired similar works in other musical styles, such as rap opera.
A number of rock artists became interested in the idea of creating a rock opera in the 1960s. In an early use of the term, the July 4, 1966, edition of RPM Magazine (published in Toronto) reported that "Bruce Cockburn and Mr [William] Hawkins are working on a Rock Opera, operating on the premise that to write you need only 'something to say'." [1] Mark Wirtz explored the idea in a project A Teenage Opera , from which an early song "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)" recorded by Keith West was released and became a hit song in 1967. [2] [3] However, the album for the rock opera was not released until 1996, and it was only fully realised and staged in 2017. [4]
Colin Fleming of The Atlantic described The Story of Simon Simopath (1967) by British psychedelic band Nirvana as an "early foray into the rock opera sub-genre". [5] Neil Strauss of The New York Times wrote that S.F. Sorrow (1968) by The Pretty Things is "generally acknowledged as the first rock opera". [6]
Scott Mervis of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that The Who's 1969 record Tommy was the first album to be billed as a rock opera. [7] The album tells the story of Tommy Walker, a "deaf, dumb and blind kid." Tommy displays the titular character's experiences with life and his relationship with his family. Although the band's guitarist Pete Townshend denied taking any influence from S.F. Sorrow, critics have compared Tommy to it. The Tommy album developed into other media, including a Seattle Opera production in 1971, an orchestral version by Lou Reizner in 1972, a film in 1975, and a Broadway musical in 1992. The original album has sold 20 million copies and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Tommy would also go on to influence On and On, a rap opera by The Fat Boys [8] and American Idiot , a punk rock opera by Green Day, the latter of whom having made 21st Century Breakdown , another rock opera. [9] The Who had previously toyed with the concepts which would lead to the full-blown rock opera with their six-movement 1966 track "A Quick One, While He's Away". [10]
A rock opera that experienced commercial recording and Broadway success is Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and in respect of which Lloyd Webber said "the piece was written as a rock album from the outset and set out from the start to tell the story through the music itself." [11] In 1972, David Bowie released the rock opera The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. [12]
The Rocky Horror Show is a rock musical by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, a sort of Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man named Rocky. The show was produced and directed by Jim Sharman. The original London production of the musical premiered at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on 19 June 1973 (after two previews on 16 and 18 June 1973). It later moved to several other locations in London and closed on 13 September 1980. The show ran for a total of 2,960 performances and won the 1973 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical. Various international productions of the musical have since spanned across six continents as well as West End and Broadway revivals and eight UK tours. Actor Tim Curry, who originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the original London production, became particularly associated with the musical. The musical was adapted into the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show , starring O'Brien as Riff Raff, with Curry also reprising his role; the movie has the longest-running release in cinematic history and is considered one of the most recognizable cult films of all time. In 2016, it was adapted into the television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again .
A Night at the Opera is a studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 21 November 1975. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was reportedly the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. [13] Queen employed a complex production that extensively used multitrack recording, and the songs on the album incorporated a wide range of styles, such as ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilized a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more, correlating the album's music with that of a typical operatic performance. The album's most famous track, "Bohemian Rhapsody," was referred to by lead singer Freddie Mercury as a "mock opera" that resulted from the combination of three songs he had written. The song parodies elements of opera with bombastic choruses, sarcastic recitative, and distorted Italian operatic phrases. Lyrical references include Scaramouche, the fandango, Galileo Galilei, Figaro, and Beelzebub, with cries of "Bismillah!"
Bat Out of Hell is a rock album by Meat Loaf that remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 50 million copies worldwide. [14] It is certified 14× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [15] As of June 2019, it has spent 522 weeks in the UK Albums Chart, the second longest chart run by a studio album. [16] Rolling Stone ranked it at number 343 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [17] [18] A musical based on Bat Out of Hell, staged by Jay Scheib, opened at the Manchester Opera House in 2017. The album's producer, Jim Steinman, coined the term Wagnerian rock after composer Richard Wagner to describe the genre of the record.
Perhaps the archetypal and most famous rock opera is The Wall , a double album released by Pink Floyd in 1979. The Wall chronicles the story of Pink, a character who ultimately constructs an emotional wall to protect himself after being driven into insanity as a result of traumatic life experiences. The album was included in Rolling Stone 's lists of the greatest albums of all time in 2003, 2012, and 2020. [19] James Guthrie, the album's engineer, won the 1980 Grammy award for Best Engineered Recording (non-classical), and the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. [20] The album was subsequently made into a 1982 film entitled Pink Floyd – The Wall . An elaborate 1980-1981 concert tour was conducted by the band after the album's release and bassist Roger Waters reincarnated the tour twice; once in Berlin in 1990 to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and again around the world from 2010-2013, a series of shows that became the highest-grossing tour by a solo musician. Both The Wall and the music of Queen inspired the rock band My Chemical Romance to create their own rock opera, the 2006 album The Black Parade .
In 1999, progressive metal band Dream Theater released their album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory , which has been regarded as Rock Opera. [21] The album tells the story of Nicholas, a man getting flashbacks from a previous life, as he undergoes hypnosis sessions to recall the memories of Victoria, a young girl who he discovers was murdered as a violent result of a love affair.
In an effort to appeal to more modern audiences, opera companies have welcomed more pop and rock influences. The resulting rock operas have met varying degrees of success as the worlds of high art and low art mix. [22] In Russian music, the term zong-opera (Зонг-опера) is sometimes used, since the first Soviet-Russian rock-opera Orpheus and Eurydice was described with this term, though the term "rock-opera" was already known in the Soviet rock music circles.
According to Fleming, rock operas are more akin to a cantata or suite, because they are not usually acted out. [5] Similarly, Andrew Clements of The Guardian called Tommy a subversively labeled musical. Clements states that lyrics drive rock operas, which makes them not a true form of opera. [23] Responding to accusations that rock operas are pretentious and overblown, Pete Townshend wrote that pop music by its very nature rejects such characteristics and is an inherently simple form. Townshend said that the only goal of pop music is to reach audiences, and rock operas are merely one more way to do so. [24] Peter Kiesewalter, on the other hand, said that rock music and opera are "both overblown, massive spectacles" that cover the same themes. Kiesewalter, who was originally not a fan of opera, did not think the two styles would mix well together, but his modernized operas with rock music surprised him with their popularity at the East Village Opera Company. [25]
The performance of these works on Broadway has also courted controversy; Anne Midgette of The New York Times called them musicals with "no more than the addition of a keyboard and a drum set". [26]
Rock opera albums typically follow themes, a trait similarly held in a concept album. Rock operas may also include a central character to progress the album's tracks via a specific storyline. For example, Tommy by The Who follows the life experiences and family relationships with the titular character, The Wall by Pink Floyd chronicles the building of a metaphorical wall by the protagonist named Pink and The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance tells the tale of "The Patient" struck by cancer.
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century and have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall stack, large public address systems, the use of synthesisers, Entwistle's and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many hard rock, punk, power pop and mod bands. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to achieve widespread acclaim and commercial success and appeal to a mainstream audience.
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor, later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Derek Brown, Matt Duckworth Kirksey and Nicholas Ley. Coyne and Drozd have remained the band's only consistent members since 1991, with Coyne being the only remaining founding member following the departure of bassist and keyboardist Michael Ivins in 2021.
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera about Pink, a jaded rock star who constructs a psychological "wall" of social isolation. The album was a commercial success, topping the US charts for 15 weeks and reaching number three in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is an English musician. He is the co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. His aggressive playing style and innovative songwriting techniques, with the Who and in other projects, have earned him critical acclaim.
Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who, first released on 19 May 1969. Primarily written by guitarist Pete Townshend, Tommy is a double album and an early rock opera that tells the story of the fictional Tommy Walker.
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the previous two being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While He's Away" (1966) and the album Tommy (1969). Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. Quadrophenia is the only Who album entirely composed by Pete Townshend.
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 2 August 1971. It developed from the aborted Lifehouse project, a multi-media rock opera conceived by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album Tommy. The project was cancelled owing to its complexity and to conflicts with Kit Lambert, the band's manager, but the group salvaged some of the songs, without the connecting story elements, to release as their next album. Eight of the nine songs on Who's Next were from Lifehouse, with the lone exception being the John Entwistle-penned "My Wife". Ultimately, the remaining Lifehouse tracks would all be released on other albums throughout the next decade.
A Quick One is the second studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 9 December 1966. A version of the album with an altered track listing was released under the name Happy Jack on Decca Records in April 1967 in the United States, where the song "Happy Jack" was a top 40 hit.
Live at Leeds is the first live album by English rock band the Who. It was recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970, and is their only live album that was released while the group were still actively recording and performing with their best-known line-up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.
The Who by Numbers is the seventh studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 3 October 1975 in the United Kingdom through Polydor Records, and on 6 October 1975 in the United States by MCA Records. It was named the tenth-best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.
"Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera The Wall, written by bassist Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment and rigid and abusive schooling, features a children's choir. At the suggestion of producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of disco.
"My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2004 and 2010, re-ranked number 232 in the 2021 edition. It became part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value. It is considered one of the band's signature songs.
"Baba O'Riley" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by the guitarist, Pete Townshend. It is the opening track to the Who's fifth album, Who's Next (1971). In Europe, it was released as a single in October 1971, coupled with "My Wife". Performances of "Baba O'Riley" appear on several Who live albums.
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. It was released as a single in June 1971, reaching the top 10 in the UK, while the full eight-and-a-half-minute version appears as the final track on the band's 1971 album Who's Next, released that August. In the US, the single entered Billboard on 17 July, reaching No. 15.
"A Quick One, While He's Away" is a 1966 song in six movements written by Pete Townshend and recorded by the Who for their second album A Quick One. The song also appears on the album BBC Sessions. In the performance on their Live at Leeds album Townshend calls the nine-minute "epic" track a "mini-opera" and introduces it as "Tommy's parents".
"I Can't Explain" is a song by English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend, and produced by Shel Talmy. The song was released as a single on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom, by Brunswick, and by Decca in America, in December 1964. It was the band's second single release and first under the Who name.
S. F. Sorrow is the fourth album by the English rock band Pretty Things. Released in 1968, it is known as one of the first rock operas ever released.
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