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Rock opera

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The Who's Tommy, the first album explicitly billed as a rock opera

A rock opera or rock musical is a musical production in the form of an opera or a musical in a modern rock and roll style rather than more traditional forms. It differs from conventional rock and roll albums, which often feature songs that are unrelated in plot or story with each other, but overlaps considerably with concept albums and song cycles. More recent developments include metal opera, rap opera, and hip-hopera.

Which of these categories a particular work falls into is largely defined by the intent and self-definition of the work by its creator. The formal distinction may be that the rock opera tells a coherent (if sometimes sketchy) story, often with first-person lyrics sung by characters, while a concept album or song cycle sets a mood or maintains a theme, but some albums share aspects of both of these cases.

The rock musical is generally first performed as a theatrical production rather than appearing as an album, has little or no identification with a particular band and a generally stronger air of show business. Pertinent examples of rock musicals are Rent or Hair. The categories are flexible, to some degree, however, the theatrical performance material tends to specifically fall into the second category. Tommy, one of the best known rock operas, also had a rock musical production.

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[edit] Early History

What appears to be the first actual experiment in rock opera - officially accepted and so baptized by all major musical press in Italy - is Then an Alley, also known as The Beat Opera, conceived and staged by Tito Schipa, Jr., composer and director, son of the tenor Tito Schipa, at the Piper Club in Rome, in May 1967. Schipa Jr. adapted 18 Bob Dylan songs to fit into a scenic background, and eventually wrote and staged at the Sistina Theater in Rome, the work Orfeo 9. This was the first original Italian rock opera and probably the first in the world to be staged, in January 1970. Orfeo 9 became a double album and a film under the musical direction of Academy Award winner Bill Conti.

The earliest example of a theatrical production that encorporated rock and pop music was Hair, a hippie-themed musical subtitled "The American Tribal Love/Rock Musical" that made its debut in late 1967. Much like Jesus Christ Superstar, the first notable rock musical after Hair, it was very controversial in its day. Jesus Christ Superstar, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice was first recorded as a concept album in 1970 and the money made from album sales was used to fund the subsequent stage production in late 1971. The musical Godspell which was written after Jesus Christ Superstar but was actually staged before it, had similar religious themes (albeit much less controversial) and pop/rock influences. Also premiering in 1971 was Mass, a musical play by well-respected composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein which featured a rock band performing rock and blues music and included lyrics written by Godspell composer Stephen Schwartz. The rock musical declined in popularity in the late 1970s and '80s but achieved a renaissance in the '90s, due in no small part to the popularity of Jonathan Larson's Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent.

[edit] Rock Opera

Pete Townshend, both with and without his band The Who, is arguably the single artist most associated with the term rock opera. The earliest example of the form was seen in the track "A Quick One While He's Away" from The Who's second album, A Quick One (1966), a nine-minute suite of short songs telling the operatic story of the seduction of a young girl guide by an engine driver named Ivor (played by John Entwistle).

[edit] Townshend's Inspiration?

Christian Rock pioneer Larry Norman claims that People!'s 1966 fifteen-minute rock opera, The Epic, co-written by Norman and Denny Fridkin, was the first ever rock opera. "According to rock historian Wally Rasmussen, Pete Townshend has acknowledged that ... (The Epic) served as the inspiration for the Who's Tommy, providing him with both the basic idea of "rock opera" and also an essential plot line (involving a misunderstood messianic leader)." [1] In an interview with Angela Yeager of the Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal of 23 June 2005, Larry Norman claims "Pete Townsend got the idea for Tommy by hearing my rock opera ("The Epic")." [1] Norman's website further claims that "Pete Townshend confirmed that this was the reason he wrote Tommy for The Who after the long tour with People! ended and he went back to England to write music for the band's next album." [2] Norman's Gospel Music Hall of Fame official biography indicates that "Pete Townshend has credited Larry's own rock-opera, The Epic, for inspiring the rock-opera, Tommy, recorded by The Who." [3] "One of the songs, "Organ Grinder" is about a child molester in the Panhandle Park of Haight Ashbury.... As you listen to this whole album, watch closely as The Epic charms Pete Townshend and The Who into becoming Epic-cureans. After a city tour with People! Pete says he's inspired to try his own hand at a rock opera and comes back the following year with The Who's own Epoch, "Tommy" . . . with guess what included in the story line: child molestation." [4] The Epic features as the second side on People!'s January 1968 Capitol records album "I Love You" [5] with a more comprehensive selection available on "Best Of People! Vol 1 - 40 Year Anniversary" [6].

The rock opera Genre was parodied in a Strong Bad Email titled Rock Opera. This "Rock Opera" was a compilation of one word from all of the previous Sbemails.

[edit] S.F. Sorrow

In 1968 The Pretty Things released S.F. Sorrow, thought to be the first attempt at a single thematic concept expressed over an album's worth of songs. Less than a year later The Who returned with Tommy, the first album explicitly billed as a rock opera. Tommy remains one of the most famous rock operas, with concert, film and theatrical productions mounted over the course of three decades. The Who would later release another rock opera, Quadrophenia, also made into a film, and a mini rock-opera, Wire & Glass.

Townshend may also be the originator of the term itself. In 1966, he played a comedy tape to his friends called Gratis Amatis. One of his friends made the comment that the odd song was "rock opera". Kit Lambert, the Who's producer, is than believed to have said "Now there's an idea!" However, the July 4, 1966 edition of RPM Magazine (published in Toronto) notes 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'."

Ten years later, Pink Floyd enjoyed similar success with their rock opera The Wall, written primarily by Roger Waters, which became the third best-selling album of all time. As with Tommy, The Wall has been staged both by Pink Floyd (1980-81) and Waters (1990) as an incredibly elaborate concert, with Waters' version taking place at the Berlin Wall. The plot was also used in an eponymous feature film, and Waters is currently adapting the story for a Broadway-style production.

More recently a few metal bands released albums inspired by rock operas. These albums followed the stabilished style and form of rock operas often in a progressive metal framework. Labelled Metal opera it is not a subgenre of metal as rock opera isn´t a rock subgenre. It also overlaps considerably with the notion of metal concept albums. Dream Theater, Ayreon and Pain of Salvation are a few examples of metal bands that released metal opera albums that could actually be staged.

[edit] Notable rock operas

For a more extensive list for rock operas see the list of rock operas.

  • The Pretty Things, S.F. Sorrow (1968): The first rock opera, recorded one year before Tommy. Based on a short story by Phil May, this song cycle tells the tale of Sebastian Sorrow from birth through love, war, tragedy, madness and the disillusionment of old age.
  • The Who, Tommy (1969): The album which arguably popularized the term rock opera. Later a movie and revival as well, in a Broadway production.
  • King Diamond, The Eye (1990): One of King Diamonds many heavy metal rock operas. Based on the true story of the 17th century supposed witch Jeanne Dibasson.
  • Rush, 2112 (1976): The first half of this album is a space rock opera complete with an overture as in The Who's Tommy.
  • Ayreon, The Final Experiment (1995): Modern man has doomed itself through, as final measure of salvation, scientists initiate "the final experiment." This experiment sends visual messages back in time, portraying mans downfall. These messages are received by a blind minstrel named Ayreon living in 16th century Britain. Ayreon must sing songs of the visions, with the hope of warning mankind of it's future demise.
  • Edge of Sanity, Crimson (1996): Features a single 40 minute track, telling a story in the distant future when human civilization is about to end.
  • Ayreon, Into the Electric Castle (1998): Eight individuals from various locations throughout time and Earth are brought to a mysterious world. Led by a mysterious voice, they must make they're way to the Electric Castle and find their way back home.
  • Lacrimosa, Elodia (1999): A tragic-love story divided into three acts. An album about love being slowly overwhelmed, separation, murder and a second chance.

Several colonists residing on the planet Mars witnessed the destruction of their home planet from afar, and for several years kept themselves alive by using the supplies they had brought from Earth. However, the limited rations eventually end, and only a single colonist remains. This man, a child of the first colonists, is the last surviving human being. Despite that, he has never been on Earth.

  • Drive-By Truckers, Southern Rock Opera (2000):As its name suggests, a Southern Rock Opera. Traces the history of the south, socially, economically and musically while presenting a southern rock star and his demise purposely similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
  • Ayreon, The Human Equation (2004): A man experiences a car crash and enters a 20 day coma, during which he is confronted by a new memory or emotion every day, such as pain, hope, his old school days, betrayal, and love.
  • Mastodon, Leviathan (2004): A sludge metal opera that tells the story of captain Ahab searching for his arch enemy,the White Whale, Moby Dick. Based on the book by Herman Melville.
  • Solefald, Red For Fire + Black For Death (2005/2006): Two albums that tell the story of a skald named Bragi who has an affair with Disa, the queen of Iceland. When The king finds out, Disa lies and claims she was raped, sentencing Bragi to death. Bragi flees and becomes a fugitive, living off of the harsh Scandinavian land. The albums deal with Bragi's transformation from a poet to a warrior as he traverses the land. The story is full of plot twists as the albums progress.

[edit] Notable rock musicals

For a more extensive list for rock musicals see the list of rock musicals.

These lists are not complete and do not include song cycles or concept albums that often include some of the characteristics of rock operas and/or rock musicals, or musical revues working new plots around existing songs.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Opera Genres

Ballad opera • Dramma giocoso • Género chico • Grand opera • Opera buffa • Opéra bouffe • Opéra bouffon • Opéra comique • Opéra féerie • Opera semiseria • Opera seria • Operetta • Savoy opera • Semi-opera • Singspiel • Verismo • Zarzuela

es:Ópera rock

fr:Opéra rock he:אופרת רוק pl:Opera rockowa pt:Ópera rock ru:Рок-опера sk:Rocková opera fi:Rock-ooppera sv:Rockopera

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