10 Rock Artists With Multiple Classics Under Their Belt

Pete Townshend's vision for the Who was always abut something more than just pop music. While the band may have started off as just another rock and roll group making the rounds in the London Mod scene, Townshend was looking to do something much more artistic, making songs that were about more serious topics than just your average love song. Pete was a storyteller, and he found the perfect medium to tell all of his stories when he started making his own rock operas.

Whereas My Generation was proof of the Who's raw power, Tommy was the first time we got to hear Townshend in his element, making one musical marvel after another trying to tell the story of a deaf dumb and blind boy who tries to find some way to make it in this world that may or may not be supporting him. There was no way to recreate that kind of story though, and while Who's Next was the first time that we heard classics like Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again, Quadrophenia took everything Tommy worked for and doubled down.

Having more years under their belt as a band, Townshend's second rock opera took the band's ambitions into the stratosphere, framing it more like an operatic piece with different themes coming in and out of the mix and sounding absolutely massive tearing through both rockers like The Real Me and ballads like the showstopping Love Reign O'er Me. After years in the rearview and three decades passing since its release, it seems that Pete was right. Rock music could mean something more.