10 '60s Albums Every Rock Fan Should Own

To quote the famous line from A Hard Day’s Night, the initial British rock scene was split by being either a Mod or a rocker. Though the Mod scene had its time in the sun in the mid-’60s, bands like the Who had to distance themselves from the scene if they were to remain relevant in the future. Things were in dire need of a shakeup, but Pete Townshend found the way out through a deaf, dumb, and blind boy.

Wanting to expand beyond the typical catchy rock single, Townshend dreamed up the idea of an album that told a story from back to front. With each track being carefully detailed, Tommy tells the story of the titular disabled boy who tries to figure out where he fits in amongst his peers.

This creative shot in the dark had the potential to fall flat on its face, but each track shows the band at their best, with Keith Moon assaulting his drumkit and Roger Daltrey giving real flesh and blood to the Tommy character.

The album ended up doing phenomenally well, but Townshend couldn’t have fathomed what he had created. Going forward, Tommy became known as the prototype on how to write a rock opera, whose echoes can be felt everywhere from Jethro Tull to Green Day.

Rock still may have been in its infancy, but after Tommy, Townshend had proven that this genre had much more muscle than anyone could have imagined.