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Dec 23, 2015 at 04:16AM EST.
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Dec 12, 2015 at 01:55AM EST
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Ayreon – The Universal Migrator Albums
Just tons of over the top fun. Seriously, how often do you get to hear Bruce Dickinson singing about black holes? The first album is my favorite of the two, as it sounds Pink-Floydesque.
The Antlers – Hospice
Ethereal sounding folk. Probably the first time I physically cried listening to music. also has some very catchy choruses (particularly "Sylvia").
The Mars Volta – Deloused in the Comatorium
Incredibly surreal. I just like to lay down and get lost in its world.
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Great story with interesting characters and a super weird climax.
The Protomen – Self Titled
A rock opera about Mega Man. The weird thing is that it works. It has some amazing guitar parts.
What about you?
An album about a guy making a band and standing against the government who has banned music. Very satirical of the time it was created, making fun of heavy metal, glam rock, disco, etc.
The album deconstructs common gangster tropes and shows how it can affect a person's life, as well as showing what happens to people living in crime-afflicted areas.
This album is about a young Japanese girl who battles cancer.
It's about a young girl travelling through pre-historic times with a time-travelling seal. The lyrics itself are not really indicative of this (although I feel they rather describe what the two characters are feeling and doing), but via the external information the band provided, and the atmosphere the album provides as well.
It's about a New York teen who gets trapped in some subterranean weirdo land. I don't know what the point of it is, if there even is one, but 'sgood myoozik.
Act II: The Father of Death by The Protomen
Act II is a prequel with the same setting as The Protomen and showing how the dystopia found in the first album came to be. Act III when?
Days of Future Passed by The Moody Blues
This album tells the story of a man through the course of a Tuesday, with each song based on a time of day.
Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge by Tuomas Holopainen
Yes, it's an album about Scrooge Mcduck, written by a member of a Finnish symphonic metal band, and based on a biographical comic book about Scrooge's early years. It's actually really good.
Only one I really cared about was Phantom of the Paradise, and I'm not sure thst counts and isn't just a film with a rock themed opera in it.
The Who's Tommy
Arguably one of the most influential rock operas. Definitely my favorite, and one of my favorite albums overall
Did you ever see the Tommy movie? My god. Fucking awful.
Here's something a bit more recent and seriously underrated.
SERIOUSLY. UNDERRATED.
One of my favourites, an album that from what I can gather is about a sociopathic nihilist who turns all of his anger against the world in on himself to the point of self destruction.
Listening to this while drinking alone with the lights out and wallowing in your personal shit is a great experience, would reccommend it.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!
Rock Operas on my KYM?!
Hell yeah!
My favorites are the entirety of Ayreon (Especially Universal Migrator Parts 1&2, but I LOVE the Electric Castle, as well… And the Human Equation… and, yeah, the entirety of Ayreon)
My favorite song from Ayreon right here:
I also love Avantasia (Who're my favorite band, by the way)
The entirety of The Metal Opera is amazing, though Pt 2 is definitely the weaker half
This link right here tells the story of Avantasia: The Metal Opera far better than I ever could
There's also "The Wicked Trilogy" or "The Scarecrow Trilogy" which loosely tell the tale of a Playwright who slowly descends into madness, lusts over his love, becomes famous at the guidance of another man (Fan theory says this song is narrating them have gay anal sex, by the way.) before ultimately succumbing to his schizophrenia, stalking his "lover", and eventually ending up permanently inside an insane asylum.
Night of the Stormrider, by Iced Earth is another great one
TL;DR Priest loses his faith, has to struggle with reality while fending off demons and his once-fellow priests who're now hunting him
Amazing, all the way through.
Gotta mention the great Iron Savior---Their entire works detail the story of Atlantis, and how they created an A.I. god to cleanse humanity of its sinful behaviors---And, of course, it decides that Humanity itself is unsavable, and decides to sink Atlantis to cleanse it of its sins, before flying off deep into space, regretful of what it had done (Because it is biomechanical----It was made using its creator as its core/base)
Thousands and thousands of years later, the descendants of those that survived the Savior's onslaught are once again caught by the Savior as it returns to Earth.
They manage to fight it off, and it retreats.
Later on, they're under attack from aliens, and the Savior returns just in time to bumfuck the aliens and save Mankind in an effort to atone for its own sins.
None of it is in order, and it's faaar more "Concept band" than "Rock Opera", but here's a song that I believe is notable
Beyond that, there's Manilla Road's "Gates of Fire", which is three separate stories, each comprised of three songs.
The first is based on the Conan story, The Riddle of Steel
The second is the based on Virgil's Aeneid
The Third is based on the story of the 300 Spartans.
And, yet ANOTHER, is Virgin Steele.
This band is kinda controversial, because their first 5 or so albums sucked, then they had 5 or so legendarily amazing albums in the 90s, before quickly becoming even worse than they were in the 80s.
By the way, "The House of Atreus" is something that you have to take as a whole---Many of the songs stand on their own as decent songs, but they truly shine together, as a single, two and a half hour long masterpiece.
And finally, Invictus
It tells the tale of Alexander the Great's conquest
The first album, "Tales From the Kingdom of Fife" tells the tale of Angus McFife taking back his Kingdom from the evil Wizard King Zargothrax, who conquered it by raising an army of undead unicorns, ridden into battle by Orcs.
The Second Album takes place hundreds of years later, where Zargothrax breaks free from the pool of liquid ice that Angus imprisoned him in, before going to space and rallying the Chaos Wizards to attack earth.
The descendant of Angus McFife, named Angus McFife, joins forces with the Hollywood Hootsman (One of his ancestor's old pals, who woke up from a magical slumber, traveled to Hollywood on an epic quest, and because a famous Actor) and the Hologram Spirit of his Ancestor's other pals, to take down Zargothrax and his Chaos Wizards.
The title track has the most terrible, stupidest, awesomest, music video ever, by the way
Awesomely enough, the main guy behind Gloryhammer (and Alestorm, by the way) Christopher Bowes, is active on /r/PowerMetal this is his commentary on the video. The dude is awesome.
Also
Here's the absolutely Legendary"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" by Dream Theater.
It is a must-listen, for concept albums, metalheads, and really anyone who is interested in music.
It explores various mental illnesses, by telling short stories about the lives of their victims.
A woman with bi-polar disorder, a boy with Autism, a veteran with PTSD, a young wife suffering from Post-Partum depression, after miscarrying her son, and a few others.
Just listen to it.
Aaaand yeaaaaaaaaaah…. I'll leave this here, for now….
I can't really say that I have a favorite (I'm not familiar with enough of them), but the first one that always comes to mind is Rush's 2112.
