Rock bands often decline when they try to write rock operas.

[LoZoccolo]

People get bored listening when they try to pass off five songs in a row as parts of a rock opera suite, as many parts of it have to be slogged through as plot advancement, or have lyrics which sound like dialogue but sound silly when they're sung, or have meter which is not rocking at all to support these dialogue-like lines, or they didn't pick a good story to write about anyways, or they think it's clever to have things like refrains but we just look at it as recycling or them thinking that that part of the song was so cool that they think we'd like it again.

I mostly like side two of Abbey Road, but it starts sounding like a rock opera.

Oasis never tried to get us to listen to their rock opera.

Score one for Oasis.

[MsAnthropy]

1. Rock opera is an oxymoron

[FredScuttle]

2. You are a broken record, man

You remind me of that sketch from SNL where they lampooned the Q&A sessions from Parliament...Will Ferrell played a fey MP who always got up and exclaimed "OASIS IS THE GREATEST BAND IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC"

Anyway, to your point, I also approach anything labeled as "rock opera" with some trepidation; however, there are a few outstanding examples of the genre (for example, "SF Sorrow" by the Pretty Things)

[LoZoccolo]

3. Do you remember that song "Stay With Me" from the 90s?

It was that one where the video has that guy that's in the hospital or in a coma or something and this woman's singing to him beside the bed and this evil woman comes out and starts singing something that sounds evil (maybe she is supposed to represent death beckoning him). That was almost like a rock opera within one song, though I don't know if you could figure out the plot like it is in the video from the lyrics because I haven't really seen them. But that was a pretty good one. "Mr. Roboto", on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired.

[FredScuttle]

4. Not to mention Kiss' "Songs from the Elder"

or whatever that aural obscenity was called....it was an attempt by Kiss to "get serious" and answer the critics with this overblown, pretentious rock opera which was, I think, about what most post-60's rock operas were about: in the future, rock music is outlawed and a plucky band of rebels keeps its spirit alive

[LoZoccolo]

5. You know, "Lifehouse" is like that too I think.

You probably already know that that's The Who's rock opera which didn't get finished but some of the songs ended up on Who's Next.

[FredScuttle]

13. Yes, the sad tragic tale of Lifehouse

I recently picked up the reissue of Who's Next which contains a nice essay from Pete Townsend on how Lifehouse got abandoned and the detritus became Who's Next (one of the greatest rock albums ever, IMHO)

Parts of it did end up on some solo Townsend projects ("Psychoderelict") and he has mentioned he'd like to do the whole thing properly.

Anyway, I think Quadrophenia works better as a rock opera than Tommy...also, I would say the worst Who material (like, say, anything from the Kenney Jones era) is still miles above anything Oasis ever produced.

[NeoTraitors]

14. Punks might not have thought much

back in the '70's, but they were much like the plucky band of rebels keeping the spirit of RnR alive. The opera 'rockers' actually were the folks who outlawed RnR.

I like to think of the snotty RnR played by the New York Dolls while 'acid' rock was being bloated into the drivel that it had become by 1973. I love the Beatles, the Who etc, but I prefer 'Please Please Me' to 'Abey Road' and 'I Can't Explain' to anything on 'Tommy' or 'Quadrophenia.'

[Susang]

10. The song you're thinking of is "Stay" by Shakespeare's Sister

A female duo featuring Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama and Marcella Detroit.

[LoZoccolo]

12. That would rock to have the last name "Detroit".

Especially if your first name was like "Joe" or "Johnny".

[Susang]

15. It can be your name too

She changed it to Detroit from Levy. ;-)

[driver8]

17. Will Ferrell and Oasis...

I thought that was one of the funniest things I ever saw. I don't know why that struck me as so funny but it just killed me. My friends and I will say that out of the blue and it cracks us up every time.

Sad...I know.

[commander bunnypants]

6. cept the Who

they just got better and better and better

CB

[LoZoccolo]

7. Maybe we'll hear from Oasis on that front.

You never know. Maybe one day they will release a powerhouse of rock and roll drama like we haven't seen. I could see them taking years to get it right, rather than capitalizing on the novelty and expecting to ride that to notoriety.

[commander bunnypants]

8. it might happen

but I am Who Head

CB

[Wat_Tyler]

9. Is this whole Oasis thing serious?

[LoZoccolo]

11. I think a lot of rock classicists may be offended by these threads.

To find that what was once considered the greatest rock band is now a few points behind another one would be a blow to traditionalists. But as I said (figuratively), the young devour the old.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. That's Pretty Funny

Unfortunately, it was unintentionally humorous.
The Professor

[LoZoccolo]

16. Kick.

:kick:

[mr blur]

18. I've always thought that

writing a rock opera was a sign that a band is already in decline.

[blindpig]

20. absolutely, consider The Wall n/t

[Bridget Burke]

21. No, rock bands ALWAYS decline....

when they try to write rock operas.

"Abbey Road" has some thematic unity but doesn't sink to the depths of Rock Opera. Perhaps it's more of a "suite"--the best example of which is "Wheatstraw Suite" by The Dillards. That was one of the neglected treasures of country/folk/rock, but the Dillards guested on the Andy Griffith Show instead of hanging out with the Stones--like Gram. And some are still playing instead of OD'ing early--like Gram.

I loved the early Stones but "Their Satanic Majesties" was absolutely dreadful.

[LoZoccolo]

22. The Rolling Stones are another comparable band to Oasis.

Score one for Oasis, but against The Rolling Stones this time.