To me a “concept album” is an album that has a unifying theme or story. But it seems like the same could be said for a “rock opera”. So what’s the difference?
I suppose by definition a concept album needs to encompass an entire album, but not necessarily so for a rock opera. Would something like “2112” by Rush or “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis be considered rock operas?
Also, a concept album may not be restricted to rock (for example is John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” a concept album?) where again by definition a rock opera pretty much has to be rock.
So where do you draw the line? Is there even a line? Or more like a Venn diagram where the two overlap?
Pink Floyd is who I immediately thought of when I read the post title, as well.
Dark Side of the Moon is a concept album, but I wouldn’t call it a ‘rock opera’.
The Wall is a concept album with a more clearly defined narrative structure, so I agree it might be considered a ‘rock opera’ as well as a concept album. Or not. There’s probably some subjectivity there.
Never heard The Wall labeled as a Rock Opera and I’ve been listening to it since it came out. But it does pretty much fit the definition laid out here.
I think this may be because The Who may have overdone the Rock Opera thing in the 70’s with Tommy and Quadrophinia. Pink floyd had been mainly known for their concept albums during the same time period, and by the time The Wall came out the Rock Opera was an older term that fell out of use.
“Hair” is a rock musical while “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a rock opera. A rock opera can indeed become the entire dialogue for a real opera where every word is sung. A musical has both spoken and sung dialogue. Trust me - I was there. On the Cecil Adams Usenet group one of us was in Hair along with Mr Loaf. Her posting name was Boron and I have a playbill from when I saw her perform in Detroit. I have her picture also. She was beautiful in that role and looking at the photo makes me tear up thinking about lost youth.
Is anyone still doing Rock Opera’s? I’m not up on the the newer stuff (2012 on up) so I’m not sure if its been a thing recently? When was the latest Rock Opera released?
One thing I notice about rock operas is repetition: themes, bits of songs, etc. Often associated with a character, a setting or a callback to an event. A common motif in regular operas.
Not so common with concept albums, but of course there are always exceptions. E.g., Sgt. Pepper. (Which also had an orchestral warmup at the start.)
I saw a rock ballet written by Michael Kamen before he became a soundtrack composer. He was backed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Still the best combination of rock and classical I’ve ever heard. To my knowledge he never recorded a version.
That wasn’t a commercial product, though. Knowing about the tortured creations of Pete Townshend I don’t understand why any group would create a rock opera and never bother to record it.
Not mentioned yet is S.F. Sorrow by the Pretty Things. It’s definitely a concept album, and according to the wiki article, “it is known as one of the first rock operas ever released”. YMMV of course.
Some borderline albums that come to mind are Arthur, Soap Opera and Schoolboys In Disgrace by The Kinks, Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage and Consequences by Godley and Creme.
It’s recent for me because I’m an old fart, thought it came out almost 25 years ago, but at least it fully qualifies because it has “Rock Opera” right in the title:
This would work with me, and I found the following correct as well:
For me, it’s absolutely the continuity of story that elevates Rock Operas. I have a few I enjoy that explicitly label themselves as Rock Operas, but the first that came to mind was Styx and the album Kilroy Was Here.