Why "Who's Next" is more highly praised than "Quadrophenia"?

If the Who have anything which comes close to a masterpiece, It's the great Quadrophenia.

What makes Quad outstanding is its easy-to-decipher inner sense. (I guess this works better).
Next, it is not as pretentious as the aborted Lifehouse and not as self-indulgent as Tommy.

And the music? Continuing the tradition of Who's Next and carrying it forward, Townshend places the main accent on synths and horns, with just a rare touch of guitar now and then - I mean, there's actually a lot of guitarwork here, both traditional (power chords) and innovative (lyrical, well-thoght-out solos, quite untypical for Pete), but trumpets and keyboards do tend to overshadow the sound.
And the melodies here are first-rate!

Quadrophenia is also Pete's attempt at a little sound-trickery: there's quite a lot of various sound effects and gimmicks on the album. However, the sound effects never tend to take over your attention.
The songs are mostly great - diverse, entertaining, built on solid, memorable melodies.
It's prime Who at their best - Townshend churning out power chords like crazy, Entwistle contributing some of the most mind-blowing, awesome bass lines of his career and Keith pounding away in all the right places.

 

"Why is"? You sound like you are going to make a statement and finish with a question.

 

Just an opinion here, but as an album, there's some downtime in Quadrophenia.

Who's Next is brilliant from start to finish.

 

Because it's better

 

No it's not.

 

Oh, yes it is. Quadrophenia is one big, long mess.

 

I think both are Masterpieces but Who’s Next is more easy to listen, bigger hits. Personally i prefer Quadrophenia, my favorite all time record.

 

Primarily because Who’s Next wasn’t “finished”.

 

Yea, I see that Quadrophenia is not for you.

 

Who's Next has Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes and Won't Get Fooled Again. Does that answer the question?

 

It is?

 

Not at all. From the first day it was released, I bought it, played it once & it sits on the shelf.

 

Quad, much as I love it, has a good amount of material that only works in the context of the story.

Meanwhile, each and every song on Who's Next is a classic which can stand on its own as well as be a part of the greater whole.

It's just easier to heap the heaviest praise on the one that always works, either in whole or in part.

 

This.

Quadrophenia is a masterpiece, it sounds great--the writing and playing and engineering and production is top-notch.

But--by design--there is a lot of repetition and it requires attention to get through. It's best to listen to in one sitting--which is it's chief limitation.

Who's Next is just a great collection of self-contained songs that you just listen to anyway, anyhow, anywhere.

 

I never say this out loud (until now) but every single time I see a thread like "why was this [band/album] not more popular than another", the answer is always the same for me: It's because it didn't have enough great and accessible songs that the public heard and fell in love with. The end. It doesn't mean you can't like the other one better anyway.

 

For a good understanding yours details were really unnecessary.

 

My favourites are The song is over and Getting in tune

 

Because Who's Next has memorable songs. Quadrophenia is good but not enough variation between songs and it's trying too hard to be operatic in its scope.

Considering your tagline is "Who's next", there might be some bias, there.

 

Who's next is perfect

 

Who's Next just may be the greatest rock and roll album ever recorded.

 

"Who's Next" is completely better than "Quadrophenia" because of its cover. Post-hippie rock stars urinating against a monolith makes a much stronger cultural statement than some outdated (for 1971) mod sitting on an Italian scooter. Science has proven this.

 

I like them both, but Quadrophenia is my favorite.

 

They are both masterpieces, but Who's Next appeals to more people because it is more concise I'd say.

Personally, Quadrophenia and It's Hard are my two fave Who albums, with Who's Next close behind.

 

I think they're 2 of the 5 best rock albums ever made.