Tommy
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Free Music Notes for Tommy
Free Music Review: I love The Who
Hit: 5 Stars
Alongside Days of Future Passed (Moody Blues, 1967) and In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson, 1969), Tommy (1969) has got to be one of my favorite rock records of all time. For me, the appeal lies with the strong melodies, the wonderfully played instrumental passages and the overall concept. I suppose too, that there are "progressive" elements to the music that are also attractive as well; elements that would be explored further on the Who's other magnum opus Quadrophenia (1973).
This concept album was evidently inspired by another (earlier) rock concept album entitled S.F. Sorrow (Pretty Things, 1968) and showcases Pete Townshend's abilities as a performer (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards) and as an arranger/composer - what he does here on Tommy with just a few central themes is fantastic. The rest of the group is equally stunning and both Keith Moon (drums and vocals) and John Entwistle (bass, French horn and vocals) drive everything along with power and dexterity. Roger Daltry (vocals, harmonica) is an excellent and explosive singer, but is very expressive as well and nicely relates the underlying story of Tommy with help from the rest of the band. With respect to instrumentation, a host of instruments including electric and acoustic guitars, piano, organ, percussion, French horn (courtesy of John Entwistle), and most importantly rich, three-part vocal harmonies are employed. Although the effects are subtle, the varied instrumentation and vocal harmonies really add to the fullness of the recording.
While the instrumentation and instrumental tracks are collectively interesting, like everybody else, I enjoy the popular radio tunes Pinball Wizard, I'm Free, See Me, Feel Me and We're Not Gonna' Take It. Generally however, I prefer to listen to the entire album as a complete work. Speaking of which, the individual tracks that comprise Tommy are arranged in a song-cycle, with instrumental interludes positioned at key points. In addition, central themes are restated throughout the cycle, which serve to link the individual songs through which the story of Tommy unfolds. Both the song-cycle and the restatement of central themes are techniques taken from classical music and Pete uses both very well. I should note that while some folks feel that the instrumental passages constitute "filler" I am of the opinion that they work just fine and really are an integral part of the overall composition. The lengthy Underture (approx. 10:00) is a good example of an instrumental interlude on the album.
This remastered album is nice and it is pretty cool that they were able to squeeze the entire double LP album onto one compact disc. The sound quality is very good and the liner notes feature the artwork and lyrics.
All in all, this is yet another landmark recording by an English rock group that has withstood the ravages of time (unlike my old LP) and is highly recommended along with Quadrophenia.
Free Music Review: Ambitious
Hit: 4 Stars
A rock opera? A concept album? Just rock n' roll?
Eh, it doesn't really matter.
What matters is the quality of the music. There's little question that The Who have pursued a grand vision with Tommy. But what about the actual music? To some extent, the album is overrated. There's a lot here that is less than wonderful, though it's difficult to maintain the highest level of quality over such an expansive effort. But there's a lot of good, too. The album really hits its stride with "Eyesight to the Blind," starting a stretch of four great tracks that provides a great middle to the album.
The second half of the album is considerably different. It's more geared toward the story line, and the songs tend to be shorter. Despite having the album's two most famous tracks ("Pinball Wizard" and "I'm Free"), it is a weaker showing than the first half, though still generally good.
All in all, the album is good, though a bit up and down throughout. I don't think it's quite the masterpiece that it's hailed as, but it's still an interesting and enjoyable album, and certainly an ambitious one.
Free Music Review: the album that immortalized The Who still sounds great nearly 40 years on
Hit: 5 Stars
The Who's fourth studio (and fifth overall) album Tommy was released in May of 1969.
The Tommy album by The Who was the make or break for the group because if Tommy had failed, The Who would have probably disbanded due to lack of funds despite their concerts selling out based on Pete Townshend's guitar smashing and Keith Moon's drum kit demolishing at the end of each gig.
Guitarist Pete Townshend, under the gun after "I Can See For Miles" failed as a single in the UK (although it was their biggest ever hit here in the US) came up with a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind kid named Tommy whom becomes those aforementioned things after witnessing an event as a child that traumatized him (his father killing his step-father whom he considered his father).
Originally considered to be a single length album, the band felt it didn't make sense so they expanded it into a double album and the result is one of rock's Top 10 greatest double studio albums in history (alongside other classic double albums like the then-already released Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and The Beatles' White album and would help pave the way for more classics like The Rolling Stones' 1972 masterwork Exile on Main Street, The Who's 1973 release Quadrophenia, Elton John's 1973 classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Genesis' 1974 masterwork The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Led Zeppelin's 1975 classic Physical Graffiti, Pink Floyd's 1979 masterpiece The Wall and Bruce Springsteen's 1980 classic The River among many others).
Alot of classics appear on this album like the "Overture", the classic Top 20 hit "Pinball Wizard", "Amazing Journey", the "Underture" (best instrumental on here which is basically a repeat of the album's other instrumental "Sparks"), "Go to the Mirror", "I'm Free", "Cousin Kevin" (one of bass player John Entwistle's greatest compositions), "Fiddle About" (about the perverted Uncle Ernie also penned by The Ox), "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (another excellent ditty written by drummer Keith Moon whom did an excellent rendition in the film version of Tommy in 1975) and the classic finale "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me Feel Me".
The other tracks on the album "It's a Boy", "1921 (You Didn't Hear It)", "Eyesight to the Blind", "Christmas", "The Acid Queen", "Do You Think It's Alright", "There's a Doctor I've Found", "Tommy Can You Hear Me?", "Smash the Mirror", "Sensation", "Miracle Cure", "Sally Simpson" and "Welcome" are all great pieces as well though tend to be overlooked.
The album made The Who legends for good and peaked at #4 on the Billboard chart and was their first Gold seller (eventually Platinum).
In 1996, the album was re-released as a remastered CD but used a first generation master tape for the remixed reissue.
In October of 2003 (a few months before Tommy's 35th Anniversary), Geffen Records (formerly known as MCA) re-released the album as a 2-disc Hybrid SACD with the original 1969 mix on the CD layer and a killer 5.1 mix on the SACD layer and this version uses the very original tapes that were found in Universal's vault after being said that the original tapes were destroyed by Kit Lambert in a fire. As a result of the discovery of the original tapes, the sound quality is amazing on here.
Disc two has great outtakes and demos like "I Was", The Who trying to record Sally Simpson with hilarious results and instrumental versions of Tommy Can You Hear Me, Christmas and Tommy's Holiday Camp among many other rarities (like Dogs Part 2, Cousin Kevin Model Child) plus a cool booklet with rare photos of the band recording the album.
Highly recommended.
Free Music Review: Tommy a rock opera
Hit: 5 Stars
Still a classic after so many years. I haven't heard it in a long time and I had forgotten how great it is.Free Music Review: cosmic
Hit: 5 Stars
In the movie 'almost famous', when his sister leaves home she instructs him that if lights a candle, stares into it, while listening to tommy, he will see his future. the moment i first heard the into with Moon's incredible, effortless drumming, i was hooked. I downloaded the album and its utterly hypnotic. It is a classic oratorio, telling and weaving a complete story of the hero's journey, like 'handel's messiah'.