The psychedelic album's liner notes featured short chapters to accompany the songs' narrative, which were read out loud in between tracks by Arthur Brown during early performances of S.F. Sorrow through birth, love, war, tireless work in the 'Misery Factory' and ultimately, old age and loneliness. The story follows main character Sebastian F. Though it never quite soared to the same critical and commercial heights as The Who's album, it is absolutely worth a listen.

Sorrow is generally recognized as one of the first rock operas. Released roughly six months before Tommy, The Pretty Things' S.F. So to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tommy, here are nine more highlights from the genre. Whether it's the tale of a deaf, dumb, and blind kid or the bombing of a lightbulb factory, rock operas are ambitious, which you almost have to commend an artist for simply attempting. (Though many have been adapted for the stage or screen over the years.) While what exactly separates a concept album from a rock opera remains up for debate-we're going with self-identification for the purposes of this list if the artist calls it a rock opera, it's a rock opera- some of the best examples of the style are the ones that embrace the pomp and theatrics the format calls for.

Unlike a rock musical-apologies to Hair and RENT-rock operas stand on their own, serving as first and foremost an album and telling their stories exclusively through the music. Groups spanning a number of subgenres like Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Fucked Up, and even more recently, Long Island glam duo The Lemon Twigs have all put their twist on it in the ensuing decades. With that in mind it's easy to see why records like this could be deemed pretentious or overblown, but Tommy's success established a format that's endured over half a century.

Best rock opera