The Pretty Things-S.F. Sorrow (1968)

The Pretty Things were one of the pioneering groups to develop the psychedelic sound in England in the early 1960s. In 1964, thanks to press articles highlighting their lysergic stage presence, they had the opportunity to enter the studio and record their first song, "Rosalyn", achieving meteoric success on the British charts. This placed them at the top of the British groups during those years of great beat music dominance. The Pretty Things revolved around their leader and vocalist, Phil May, supported by Dick Taylor (guitar), Wally Waller (bass), Twink (drums), and keyboardist Jon Povey. "Don't Bring Me Down", released a few months later, surpassed their debut album, reaching the top ten. From then on, their albums continued to perform well on the charts, and their fame gradually grew, although it remained largely confined to the UK, without much impact beyond the British Isles. After a string of successful singles and several albums that met with mediocre reception, in 1968 they released their masterpiece, "S.F. Sorrow", a pinnacle of psychedelia and, for many, the first rock opera in history. In "S.F. Sorrow", The Pretty Things narrate the life of Sebastian F. Sorrow, a fictional character created by guitarist Phil May. Structured as a cycle of songs, his life unfolds from birth to old age, encompassing love, wars, tragedies, and madness. The final result is a lysergic journey brimming with Eastern sounds, horn sections, mellotron, and a torrent of psychedelic pop-rock, all delivered with remarkable compositional and instrumental creativity. From here other bands borrowed this idea and would publish a series of works following a similar pattern, such as The Who and their rock opera "Tommy" or The Kinks and their "Arthur Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire" both from a year later, among many others released in the subsequent decade of the 70s.