# What's the difference between a "rock opera" and a "concept album"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 7, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740 "2025-04-07T15:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/41 "2025-04-09T00:46:28Z")
Pete Townshend also came up with the rock opera/concepts for [Lifehouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehouse_(rock_opera)) and [Psychoderelict](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoderelict). _Lifehouse_ went through various incarnations but was never fully realized in album form. Musically speaking, the Super Deluxe Box Set of _Who’s Next_ was probably the closest it ever came to being presented as a complete work. The original _Psychoderelict_ album wasn’t well-received by fans\* and the accompanying tour was a financial disaster. The failure basically killed Pete’s solo career. \*I’m in the small minority of Who/Townshend fans who really liked both the album and the live performance. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/42 "2025-04-09T01:09:11Z")
A concept album: “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” by Alan Parsons Project (Songs based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe) A rock album: Tommy. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/43 "2025-04-09T01:19:44Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > _Lifehouse_ went through various incarnations but was never fully realized in album form. Musically speaking, the Super Deluxe Box Set of _Who’s Next_ was probably the closest it ever came to being presented as a complete work. There was also the six-disc Lifehouse Chronicles box set from 2000. Two discs of Townshend’s demos, one of re-recordings and live performances, a disc of orchestral music, and two discs of a BBC radio play adaptation. I’ve got a copy buried in the garage somewhere. > [@blondebear](#): > > The original _Psychoderelict_ album wasn’t well-received by fans\* and the accompanying tour was a financial disaster. The failure basically killed Pete’s solo career. > > \*I’m in the small minority of Who/Townshend fans who really liked both the album and the live performance. The whole “aging pop star has a fling with a teenager which revitalizes his career” storyline kinda aged like milk considering his arrest in 2002. And the character of Ray High, who features in both Psychoderelict and the radio play, also makes an appearance in the Who’s 2006 rock-operette Wire and Glass. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/44 "2025-04-10T10:22:04Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Would something like “2112” by Rush or “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis be considered rock operas? _Supper’s Ready_ isn’t an album. It’s one long song made up of several titled parts. The Genesis contender for concept album or rock opera would be the double-album _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/45 "2025-04-10T11:51:06Z")
Right. Both of those pieces take up one album side. So they’re not concept albums, but they do have a theme or tell a story, which is why I asked if they would be considered rock operas. A rock opera doesn’t have to be a full album, as noted above with the Who’s “A Quick One While He’s Away”. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/46 "2025-04-10T12:27:26Z")
The last rock opera I can think of is 2011’s “David Comes to Life” by Fucked Up, which the band did describe as rock opera, but which is hardcore punk in form (also according to the band). Still, it’s got narrative, even multiple singers of different perspectives (I don’t really care about cantata vs rock opera since the former is in almost nobody’s rock vocabulary, but still). ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/47 "2025-04-10T18:16:44Z")
I give you ‘rap opera’: > **[A Grand Don't Come for Free](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Grand_Don't_Come_for_Free)** > > A Grand Don't Come for Free is the second studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project the Streets. It was released on 17 May 2004 and is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It is a rap opera and concept album that follows the story of its protagonist's relationship with a girl named Simone, alongside the mysterious loss of £1,000 from his home (the eponymous "grand"). > In the story, the protagonist loses £1,000, or a "grand" in sla... ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740/48 "2025-04-10T18:30:22Z")
I love that album. Just a couple of weeks ago I learned that my wife & son were unfamiliar with “Fit But You Know It” and we watched the video. [The Streets - Fit But You Know It (Official Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEIRNj0EmH0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-opera-and-a-concept-album/1016740.md?page=2)