Home / Music / Tommy was the first rock opera — and it's still the benchmarkMusic linernotes album music the-whoTommy was the first rock opera — and it's still the benchmarkA full-length album telling a continuous story through its songs, it helped define the rock opera format — one of the first albums to prove a single narrative could drive an entire LP. Search Amazon As an Amazon Associate, Work Notes may earn.Related NotesQuadrophenia's fractured structure mirrors its protagonist's mindTommy was one of the longest rock albums of the 1960sQuadrophenia was adapted into a 1979 film directed by Franc RoddamQuadrophenia is a play on schizophrenia for The Who's four-sided protagonistThe Who Sell Out's cover sold deodorant and baked beansExploreSatoshi Ashikawa died months after Still Way's releaseSavuka percussionist Dudu Zulu was killed in 1992Scott LaFaro died ten days after the Village Vanguard sessionsStevie Wonder spent ten days in a coma after InnervisionsXTC's 'The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead' topped the US Modern Rock chartPrevious Treasure established the classic Cocteau Twins trioNext Tommy was one of the longest rock albums of the 1960s