Rock opera facts for kids
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A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs that tell a story. Think of it like a musical album where all the songs are connected to one big plot. These albums are often called concept albums because they have a main idea or story running through them.
Unlike traditional operas, rock operas are usually just music albums and not meant to be acted out on a stage. However, many have been turned into rock musicals or movies later on. A common way to tell the story is by having different characters sing the songs. This idea has even inspired other music styles, like "rap opera."
History of Rock Operas
In the 1960s, many rock artists became interested in creating music that told a story.
Early Ideas
One of the first times the term "rock opera" was used was in 1966. A magazine reported that artists Bruce Cockburn and William Hawkins were working on one.
In 1967, Mark Wirtz started a project called A Teenage Opera. A song from it, "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)", became a hit. The full album was released much later, in 1996.
Some early rock operas include The Story of Simon Simopath (1967) by the British band Nirvana. Also, S.F. Sorrow (1968) by The Pretty Things is often called the first rock opera.
Famous Rock Operas
The band The Who released their album Tommy in 1969. It was one of the first albums to be called a rock opera. Tommy tells the story of a boy who cannot see, hear, or speak. The album shows his life experiences and his family relationships.
Tommy became very popular and was turned into many other things:
- A stage show by the Seattle Opera in 1971.
- An orchestral version in 1972.
- A movie in 1975.
- A Broadway musical in 1992.
The original Tommy album has sold 20 million copies! It also inspired other rock operas, like American Idiot by Green Day.
Another successful rock opera is Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), created by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was written to be a rock album first, telling its story through the music.
In 1972, David Bowie released his rock opera The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
The Rocky Horror Show is a rock musical from 1973 by Richard O'Brien. It's a funny tribute to old science fiction and horror movies. The story is about a newly engaged couple who get stuck in a storm and end up at the home of a mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He reveals his new creation, a perfect muscle man named Rocky.
The Rocky Horror Show was a big hit in London and ran for almost 3,000 performances. It won an award for Best Musical. The musical was made into a movie in 1975 called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This movie is famous for being one of the longest-running films in cinema history and is a well-known cult film.
A Night at the Opera is an album by the British band Queen, released in 1975. It was very expensive to make at the time. The album mixes many different music styles, like ballads, music hall, dixieland, and hard rock. The band used many different instruments, like a double bass, harp, and ukulele, to make it sound like an opera.
The most famous song from this album is "Bohemian Rhapsody." Lead singer Freddie Mercury called it a "mock opera" because it combines three songs he wrote. The song makes fun of opera with its big choruses and dramatic parts.
Bat Out of Hell is a rock album by Meat Loaf that came out in 1977. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling over 50 million copies worldwide. It has spent more than 500 weeks on the UK Albums Chart! A musical based on Bat Out of Hell opened in 2017. The album's producer, Jim Steinman, called its style "Wagnerian rock" after the famous composer Richard Wagner.
Perhaps the most famous rock opera is The Wall, a double album released by Pink Floyd in 1979. The Wall tells the story of a character named Pink. He builds an emotional "wall" around himself because of difficult life experiences.
The Wall is often listed as one of the greatest albums of all time. It also won a Grammy award. The album was later made into a 1982 film called Pink Floyd – The Wall. Pink Floyd also did a huge concert tour for The Wall, and bassist Roger Waters brought the tour back years later, including a famous show in Berlin in 1990 to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Both The Wall and Queen's music inspired the band My Chemical Romance to create their own rock opera, The Black Parade, in 2006.
In 1999, the progressive metal band Dream Theater released their album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, which is also considered a rock opera.
Today, some opera companies are adding more pop and rock music into their shows. This mixes "high art" (like traditional opera) with "low art" (like rock music) to create new kinds of rock operas.
Style of Rock Operas
Rock operas are often like a cantata or suite in music. This means they are a collection of songs that go together, but they are not usually acted out like a play.
Rock opera albums usually follow a main theme or story, just like other concept albums. They often have a main character whose journey or experiences are told through the songs.
For example:
- Tommy by The Who follows the life of the main character, Tommy.
- The Wall by Pink Floyd tells the story of the main character, Pink, as he builds a "wall" around himself.
- The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance tells the story of "The Patient" who is dealing with cancer.
See also
In Spanish: Ópera rock para niños
- Album era
- Concept album
- List of rock musicals
- The Survival of St. Joan
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra
- True Symphonic Rockestra
- Wagnerian rock
