摇滚也有情节

不知从什么时候开始,摇滚融入了国人的音乐神经，让人在那些或强劲或柔缓的音律中放松和宣泄，透过摇滚回味那些挥洒汗水、收获甜蜜的青春岁月。这也是我们在《追星基地》中多次和大家分享音乐的原因之一。“音乐无国界”，这简直就是至理名言，而我们想说的是“音乐无类别”，只要喜欢，没有什么不可以。就让我们再次感受摇滚带来的感官冲击吧！

Take the musical drama form written for by Mozart, Vardi and Wagner. Add the modern music of rock & roll, and what have you got? Rock opera!

A "rock opera" is a musical production in the form of an opera or a musical in a modern rock and roll style rather than more traditional forms. The term "rock opera" has a lot of overlap with the "concept album", but a distinction can be drawn in that a rock opera tells a specific story - even if it is only very loosely sketched - whereas a concept album only needs to have a single unifying theme. You could argue that rock opera is a subcategory of the concept album.

Unlike stage or film musicals featuring rock music, rock operas normally appear as albums first and are associated with a specific band. The Who are the band most associated with the very idea of the rock opera, as it was their 1969 album Tommy that is widely accepted as inventing the genre. Several famous rock operas have then gone on to become full-blown stage or film productions.

以莫扎特、瓦迪和瓦格纳所创作的音乐剧为形式，再加入现代摇滚乐的内容，之后会得到什么？是摇滚歌剧！

“摇滚歌剧”是一种以歌剧或音乐剧为表现形式的音乐作品，采用的是现代摇滚曲风，而非那些更传统的曲风形式。“摇滚歌剧”这个词和“概念专辑”有非常多的相同点，但也是可以找出一个区别之处来的，即摇滚歌剧是在讲述一个特定的故事（即使它只是一个非常粗略的梗概），而概念专辑则只需要一个统一的主题。你可以认为摇滚歌剧是概念专辑的一个分支。

与那些以摇滚乐为特色的舞台音乐剧或电影音乐剧不同的是，摇滚歌剧通常首先是以专辑的身份出现并和一支特定的乐队联系在一起。最能使人联想到摇滚歌剧这一理念的乐队是“谁人乐队”，正是他们在1969年推出的那张《汤米》专辑被广泛认为开创了这一流派。之后，有几部著名的摇滚歌剧相继成为成熟的舞台剧或电影作品。

Concept Albums 概念专辑

The album that really popularised concept albums was Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, released in 1967. However, the first fully-fledged concept album was Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours. This 1954 release used only songs specially written for the album, organized around a central mood of late-night isolation and aching lost love.

真正使概念专辑流行开来的是“甲壳虫乐队”在1967年发行的《佩伯军士的孤心俱乐部乐队》专辑。然而，第一张完全意义上的概念专辑却是弗兰克・西纳特拉的《在半夜几小时》。1954年发行的这张专辑采用的歌曲全是专为这张专辑而打造，围绕午夜孤寂和失去情爱的锥心之痛这一主导情绪来展开。

Notable Rock Operas著名的摇滚歌剧

Tommy 《汤米》

This 1969 album is one of The Who's two full-scale rock operas, and the first musical work explicitly billed as a rock opera. The opera was composed by Who guitarist Peter Townshend, with two tracks contributed by Who bassist John Entwistle. It tells the story of Tommy, a deaf, dumb and blind boy who excels at pinball and unwittingly becomes the leader of a cult. In 1975 Tommy was adapted as a film, directed by maverick British auteur Ken Russell. The psychedelic movie version starred The Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey as Tommy, and featured other members of the band plus an eclectic supporting cast including cameo appearances by Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and Jack Nicholson.

这张1969年的专辑是“谁人乐队”两张完整版的摇滚歌剧专辑之一，并且是第一张明确标榜为摇滚歌剧的音乐作品。该摇滚歌剧由“谁人乐队”的吉他手皮特・唐谢恩德创作，其中还有两首曲目是由“谁人乐队”的贝司手约翰・恩特威斯尔奉上的。歌剧讲述了一个名叫汤米的男孩的故事，他又聋又哑又瞎却是玩弹球的高手并在无意中成为了一种狂热现象的引导者。1975年，《汤米》被改编成电影，由特立独行的英国电影导演肯・拉塞尔执导。这部充满迷幻色彩的电影版作品由“谁人乐队”的主唱罗杰・达尔特里扮演汤米，乐队其他成员分饰各角，并且还拥有一个庞杂的配角阵容，如艾尔顿・约翰、蒂娜・特纳、埃里克・克莱普顿以及杰克・尼科尔森等人的串场演出。

Quadrophenia《四重人格》

This double album was released by The Who in 1973 and made into a film in 1979. The story covers about two days of the life of a young man called Jimmy, a participant in the early 1960s "Mod" lifestyle in England. Jimmy has four distinct personalities, each of which vies for supremacy inside his head. Central to the story are the clashes between Mods and Rockers of the time, culminating with a bloody battle on a beach at Brighton, which was based on a real life event.

这张双碟装专辑是由“谁人乐队”在1973年发行的，于1979年被拍成电影。这个故事记述了一个名叫吉米的年轻人的两天生活，他是20世纪60年代早期英国“摩登”生活方式的一个实践者。吉米拥有四种截然不同的人格，每一种都在他的大脑中争夺着支配权。故事以那些存在于当时的摩登派和摇滚派之间的冲突为核心，并以一场在布赖顿海滩上发生的流血争斗掀起了高潮，而那场争斗是根据真实事件改编而成的。

Jesus Christ Superstar 《万世巨星》

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar was first recorded as an album in 1970 and the money made from album sales was used to fund the subsequent stage production in late 1971. The action largely follows the canonical gospels' accounts of the last week of Jesus's life, beginning with the entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. Twentieth-century attitude and sensibilities as well as contemporary slang pervade the lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout. A film version was shot in Israel in 1973 and many stage productions have been put on around the world. A worldwide tour starring Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the movie, is planned in the near future.

由安德鲁・洛依德・韦伯和蒂姆・赖斯创作的《万世巨星》，在1970年第一次被录制成专辑，而专辑销售收入随后被用来为1971年底的舞台剧提供资金支持。其剧情在很大程度上遵循了正经本《福音书》中有关耶稣最后一周生活的记载，以进入耶路撒冷为开端，以受难十字架为结局。歌词中充斥着20世纪的态度和意识以及当代的俚语，对现代生活的暗讽也贯穿始终。电影版于1973年在以色列拍摄完成，而舞台剧也已在全球范围内上演了多场。由曾在电影中扮演耶稣的泰德・尼利领衔的全球巡演，按计划将于不久拉开序幕。

2112 《2112》

The first half of this album by Canadian prog rock group Rush is a rock opera, which presents a dystopian future in which planet Earth of 2112 is ruled over with an iron fist by the alien Star Federation. Music is banned and musical instruments are destroyed when found. The hero of the story discovers a guitar in a hidden cave and dreams of returning music to the world.

加拿大前卫摇滚组合“冲击乐队”的这张专辑的前半部分是一个摇滚歌剧，呈现了一个可怕的未来：地球在2112年被外星人的“星球联盟”高压统治着。（那个时候）音乐受到禁止，乐器一经发现便被销毁。故事的男主人公在一个隐秘的山洞中发现了一把吉他，梦想着让音乐重归尘世。

American Idiot《美国》

The first "punk-rock opera" is a coming-of-age story revolving around a teenager called Jesus of Suburbia as he searches for his identity, and finds he must choose an outlet for his rebellious tendencies - fighting for what he believes in, or self-destruction. The song American Idiot has been described by Green Day as their public statement in reaction to the confusing and warped scene that is American pop culture since 9/11. Singer Billy Joe Armstrong has said that they chose to write this way because the band has obtained respect and sway in the music world, and that this social commentary is part of their natural evolution as a band. The band have said that American Idiot: the Movie will be made in 2006.

这个首部“朋克摇滚歌剧”是一个关于成长的故事，围绕着一名叫做“郊区耶稣”的少年展开，讲述他追寻自己的身份认同，发现自己必须为自己的叛逆倾向找到出路――要么为自我信仰斗争，要么就自我毁灭。“绿日乐队”将这首歌描述成是他们对911后既迷乱又扭曲的美国流行文化现象所做反应的公开宣言。主唱比利・乔・阿姆斯特朗曾经说过，他们之所以选择以这样的方式写歌是因为该乐队已经在乐界中获得了尊重和影响力，这种社会评论方式是他们作为一支乐队进行自然演化的一部分。这支乐队称，《美国：电影版》将在2006年摄制完成。>>