Review: Rockford's Rock Opera

Rockford's Rock Opera is a 3 disc Adventure In Sound with an ecological message. It's primarily aimed at 6-12 year olds but our 4 year old also loved listening to it and so did we.


It's created by the award-winning Matthew & Elaine Sweetapple and brilliantly written by Steve Punt (from The Now Show, Punt & Dennis, Mary Whitehouse experience and more)

Rockford's Rock Opera is the story of Moog, a boy from Battersea, and his dog Rockford. Rockford ends up travelling to the Island of Infinity by mistake and Moog follows. The Island is the home of the last of every extinct species. The animals on Infinity have a secret for the rest of the world but only Moog & Rockford can deliver the message. What follows is a psychedelic adventure and a race against time to return to Battersea and deliver the message to the world.

We went away on holiday and had it on in the car throughout our various journeys during the week. We really liked the music and it was fantastically composed and very polished considering it was made in an attic! Even  hubby was tapping his hands on the steering wheel to some of the tracks! I still have ‘Lost on Infinity’ going round in my head. They were all tunes we’d be happy to listen to on a stand-alone cd without the story.

The story was thought-provoking and well written. Although it has a very serious message to get across it was played out in a fun way, keeping the children interested. My 7 year old daughter has been asking questions about extinction and she was also discussing what she’d learnt about deforestation at school, linking concerns about the environment and the state of our world. We’ve been able to extend the discussion thanks to the info in booklet 3.

The illustrations were attractive to the children and they regularly fought over the cases. I liked the inclusion of the lyrics in each booklet. As a family we love singing and it’s handy to know that we’re singing the right words.

I personally loved Steve Punt’s involvement with this as I’m a huge Punt & Dennis fan and kept expecting Hugh Dennis to pop up as his Milky Milky character!!

The videos on the Collector's Edition were a great touch and the children loved having a ‘bonus’ on the cds. Having it animated helped bring to life what they’d been hearing about.

Our only issue with this cd was the volume settings. Playing it in the car meant we needed it quite loud for the narration and vocals, particularly Ick (such a cute character!) and then when the music came on it was too loud so I was constantly altering the volume controls. Other than that there were no other issues or problems.


This can be downloaded as a podcast via Rockford's website or you can buy the cd. It's also available for ipod/itouch/iphone and an android app is coming soon. There is lots more to read on the website.


Rockford and friends support the following charities; Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Buglife, Missing People and World Wildlife Fund.