I saw the light : I finally dig the Who's Tommy !

Well, this one took longer than other records for me to finally enjoy. Pet Sounds took several listenings. Aqualung took even longer as the mastering on the 25th anniversary edition is truly terrible. I still don't get Quadrophenia. But how could I not like Tommy? To me it was patchy, some instrumentals were just too long, I'm Free and Pinball Wizard were too short. A few weeks ago I bought the latest vinyl release of Tommy. That blew me out of the water. For the first time, I "got" the bigger picture. It made sense. The four sides went by and left me amazed at the sheer musicality and cohesiveness of the whole album. That was another musical awakening in my life. I guess I'm now one of the many Tommy devotees around the world.

 

That's nice news. But keep trying on Quadrophenia. It's definitely a denser and more complex album, so it may require even more time. But it'll be worth the effort.

 

Nice work ! ...... While you're into taking the concept albums head-on, if you've never heard it, GENESIS' The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is really worth the time and effort as well.

 

My favorite.

 

"Welcome to Tommy's Holiday Camp..."

 

Ditto that. Quadrophenia is for me the best Who of all and one of my top 5 of all time

 

Pinball Wizard and side 4 of Tommy are great. The rest is kind of meh to me. Overall I like Quadrophenia, beginning to end, much better. Side 3 is one of the greatest lp sides ever waxed. IMHO

 

Tommy moves from strength to strength throughout all four sides. Timely thread; was just thinking today it might be time to experience Tommy straight through for the first time in a couple years.

Congratulations OP! Glad you discovered a new classic.

 

Tommy was an innovative, revolutionary record. Way ahead of its time. Even for all that it remains underrated.

 

Thank you. I heard this week that enjoying new music after 40 was rare because personnal tastes are determined and unlikely to evolve after that.

 

I'm the opposite. I used to dig Tommy a lot when I was younger, but I really don't much care for it anymore.

Still love Quadrophenia tho.

 

Next on the agenda: Quadrophenia and The Wall by Pink Floyd.

 

Bough my first Tommy copy last weekend, it's the 1996 remix CD. Spinning it now, sounds pretty good.
I've been streaming it on Spotify previously, but today might be the day I finally got this album somehow. Anyone else have the -96 remix and think it sounds good?
It's a very long album, so I guess it takes repeated listens to get into. Been listening to Led Zeppelin & Deep Purple etc. since the early 80's but somehow always struggled with The Who.
Quadrophenia next up then.. Wonder which version to get..

 

With respect to Tommy what I much prefer is the live version on the DVD The Who At Killburn 1977. That has the raw energy somewhat missing from the LP. Not that the LP is bad, just lacking in edginess.

 

I agree, but hearing it for the first time when you're 15 years old takes it to whole 'nutha level

 

Seek out the Woodstock performance. In my opinion, their set includes the definitive live versions of Sparks and See Me Feel Me

 

I have both, the original mix on the old Polydor CD and the remix and neither gets to me. For Tommy, I like both versions.

 

Each one of the albums you've mentioned aside from Pet Sounds are doubles, maybe you simply prefer shorter works.

Also, preparing a project (of sorts) where you sit down and listen hard until you like something sounds a bit odd to me. That has to happen organically, doesn't it?

 

I greatly prefer the musicality of Tommy to Quadrophenia which is overblown and the band overplays on it. Everybody here loves it though. Tommy is more spare - I like the sensibility of it.

 

The music on Tommy is fairly strong but I always found it hard to get past certain parts of the story. Quadrophenia is just so much better...

 

Isn't it spare because they were hoping the record company would shell out money for orchestration?

 

Mixed messages with the avatar you're hangin'.

 

Well thank god that didn't happen.

 

I am like you in that Tommy was my younger days go to, and, for me anyway, Quadrophenia proved a little too complex maybe; certainly mis-understood. Quadrophenia is now miles ahead my preferred of the two albums, and is a desert island all-time top-five disc for me now.

The penny really dropped for me when I got the shm-sacd, which was the original mix of course. That mix is quirky to be sure, especially in the first three or so songs in how Roger's vocals were treated, but it really dials in after that and is to me super immersive.

I know this is a Tommy thread, and there is not much terribly wrong with that album in my book; but stick with Quadrophenia until it sticks with you--that is the true masterpiece from my favorite band on the planet.

Final tip, the 2014 HD Tracks of Quadrophenia is the original mix, but in my opinion eq'd so it is a shade closer to the Director's Cut version; so a bit less of the mossy quirkyness of the supposed shm-sacd flat transfer. I think that one might appeal to both mods and rockers.

 

Great to hear that. If you can tie all of the pieces of Tommy together and enjoy it, Quadrophenia should be easy.
I disagree with some of the comments that Quadrophenia is somehow more complex than Tommy....it isn't...... both lyrically and harmonically. Quadrophenia does not have the amount of subtle variations in the lyrical and musical themes that are in Tommy. As far as harmonic complexities, Quadrophenia is not even close to Tommy. But that does not make it any better than Quadrophenia.
I love Quadrophenia just as much as Tommy.