10 Greatest Concept Albums In Rock Music History
3. Tommy - The Who
All of the greatest rock operas have still found themselves in the rock category every now and again. Though you have people borrowing from the tradition of real classical composers, the emphasis has been on the rock side and less on the opera part of things. Then again, what if we made a rock album, but just created it on opera's terms?
Such was the case when Pete Townshend started to craft the idea for Tommy. Knowing the potential of rock to last for more than just a 3 minute single, Townshend assembled a complete double albums' worth of material that told the tale of a deaf dumb and blind boy who can't communicate with anyone and has a borderline addictive relationship to pinball. Despite some reservations at the time, this became one of the most groundbreaking feats in rock history.
Fitting somewhere between the realm of prog rock and mainstream rock and roll, Tommy was the first of its kind to tell a linear story from front to back on an album, giving you the same sensation that you'd get from reading a great novel. There are even bits and pieces of exposition tracks that go over well too, like the doctor scene of Go To the Mirror and the cinematic sounds of Underture. Just as rock and roll was starting to embrace psychedelia, Tommy was the tide shifter that made rock sound like more than just party music.