Top 14 Greatest Rock Operas/Concept Albums Of All Time

3. Pink Floyd - The Wall (Columbia Records, 1979)
What really needs to be said about Roger Water's neurotic epic The Wall. While billed to Pink Floyd, this was more or less Water's psychological purge about the trials and tribulations of being an over-adored rock icon. Centered around the self-obsessed Pink, the album is a dark, metaphysical miasma of pain, suffering, and paranoia. Not only that, but it contains such Pink Floyd staples as "Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2," "Mother," "Young Lust," "Is There Anybody Out There?," "Run Like Hell," and of course "Comfortably Numb." Like Nilsson's The Point, this sprawling Floydian epic spawned a cinematic counterpart, in this case the Bob Geldorf starring cinematic venture helmed by Alan Parker during his short-lived trippy period which also consisted of Birdy and Angel Heart. The film is easily as captivating and dementedly brilliant as the album.

2. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Atco, 1974)
The last album to feature the enigmatic flute playing Peter Gabriel in his legendary role as one of Progressive Rock's most colorful frontmen, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is a wonderment of abstract storytelling utilizing themes of Greek folklore and crazed sexuality (at one point in the album the hero, Rael, has his penis cut off and placed into a tube which is eventually snatched up by a giant rave and carried away. Psychotically brilliant, both lyrically and musically, Lamb showcases Genesis at the top of their game, borrowing heavily from religious hymns and a myriad of other classic song structures to create a sprawling epic unlike any other you are bound to hear. The album features such classics as the title track, as well as "Carpet Crawlers" and one of the coolest guitar solos ever in "Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist."

1. The Who - Quadrophenia (MCA, 1973)
Okay, so most folks would naturally go with The Who's Tommy, their 1969 epic which is generally regarded as one of the first rock opera/concept albums (though if you've been reading the list you well know that Pete Townshend himself even credited The Pretty Thing's SF Sorrow as the first bona fide rock opera and a major inspiration on his songwriting). While Tommy has a deserved place in rock music history, Quadrophenia is a much more realized and beautiful album recorded at the height of The Who's (and particularly Pete Townshend's) songwriting. By the time they recorded this double album classic in 1973, Townshend was something of a rock opera god, with Tommy and the aborted Lifehouse epics under his belt. While Tommy was an epic fantasy, Quadrophenia set out to examine the band's mod roots and as such was more a commentary on British youth culture of the times. An unquestionable classic featuring more amazing songs than you can shake a stick at. Townshend would continue to explore the Rock Opera/Concept Album on solo projects like White City and Iron Man.