Friday, February 06, 2009

Wagnerian or Operatic Rock

This was the term used by a group of musicians who attempted bring in elements of opera, particularly Wagnerian opera into Rock music. They seemed to have been active in the 1980's but it apparently never had much commercial success. Rather a pity because one of the two songs released by Fire Inc. is a classic. Never heard of them? well listen to this.

The recording does not do it justice but that is the best available. Their other song is worth listening to as well.

Of course there were other musicians like Meatloaf and Queen who were influenced by opera, whether they fall into this school I do not know.

These are some of my favourites:

I'd do anything for love

Rock´N´Roll Dreams Come Through



ps. There is another oldie that is rather good, its not operatic rock but the song is good. Albert Hammond's The Free Electric Band

5 comments:

pissu perera said...

i love that song. was one of my favourites when i was about 15-16 and they played it quite often on radio. if you like that you might also like the bonnie tyler song, total eclipse of the heart.

Gutterflower said...

Always loved meatloaf. Love the part where she sings, 'It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down.
And sooner or later, you'll be screwing around...'.


They definitely don't make music like they used to.

Anonymous said...

sweet...though if u really look at it...classical music has made a huge impact on rock n roll and heavy metal...yeah many might argue but if u listen to the vocals of bands like iron maiden and judas priest and even later bands like iced earch...you can see the operatic influence especially in the vocals...musically bands like dream theatre, spiral architect and yngwie malmsteen are a few examples of the influence of classical music in heavy metal:-)

Anonymous said...

I always thought classical music and rock were a good fusion... isn't there a bit of that in the ending of November Rain?

Metallica's S&M and The Scorpions' Berliner Philharmoniker were pretty cool too.

Fire Inc's song was the main reason I even watched the movie Streets of Fire, but I guess that one didn't age too well for my tastes - the song was pretty much the only saving grace.

Anonymous said...

the sheer energy in that song gets to me everytime. I however had no clue that it had wagnerian influence. but i have to agree with Dulan.Only the music really saved that movie. the plot and the acting could not have been any lamer.and for me meatloaf is as good as sex:)