10 Fantastic Rock Albums That Never Got Made

When talking about the genesis of the concept album, most rock fans point to Tommy as the place where everything got started. Though Quadrophenia isn't too far behind, the Who's first attempt at a full concept revolving around a deaf dumb and blind boy was one of the most ambitious undertakings of the late '60s, providing the blueprint for how a rock opera would later be structured. A lot of people forget though that Quadrophenia was actually Pete Townshend's 3rd idea for a concept.

Looking to make another dystopian vision, Townshend was already well into working on a project called Lifehouse during the last few shows to promote Tommy. Set in a futuristic society, this story would have followed Bobby as he tries to make sense of his life through music, eventually bringing together all of his followers to create a version of utopia no one had ever seen or heard before.

Once the actual sessions started, things started to stall when the rest of the band couldn't grasp the concept, leading to Townshend nearly suffering a mental breakdown and later folding the material for the album into Who's Next instead. Considering that these were supposed to be the centerpieces for what would have eventually been given the opera treatment, the world certainly needs to hear songs like Baba O Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again in the way they were originally intended.