9 Famous Albums The World Will Never Hear
6. The Who Lifehouse
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. In the case of music, the grander the concept, the harder it is not to actually hear it. The same applies for the Who's science fiction rock opera Lifehouse, which was intended as a follow-up to 1969 album Tommy.
The record's story was inspired by Pete Townshead's experiences on tour for Tommy. Despite sounding like the ideas originated from drug-fuelled sensations (according to Townshead there were moments on tour during which the vibrations became so pure he thought the world was going to stop and the audience would dance themselves into oblivion) they then morphed into a more coherent narrative. Specifically, a futuristic world in which rock and roll doesn't exist and the world is collapsing.
The band was so excited for the record they actually intended to perform it live in a theatre, and to allow the audience to participate in the performance. In the end, though, Townshead felt so unable to communicate the vision in his head to those who could help nake it happen that he had a legitimiate nervous break down, and the band decided it would probably be easier to just go back to recording traditional rock and roll.