Anyone else...

[GP1138]

... somewhat underwhelmed on their first listen of the Who's "Tommy"?

I listened to it all the way through for the first time the other day, and was somewhat disappointed, it seemed disjointed and.. idunno, incomplete. Maybe I just need to listen to it again.

[TV Forces]

Finally!  I am not alone!

I also was VERY underwhelmed by it.  Maybe one of the most
disappointing, overhyped, classic albums I've encounterd.
Even after 10 listens, I only dig maybe 5-6 tunes.

[Mitchell]

I can't even remember the first time I heard it (not true). I was probably 12 or 13, though, so I didn't know anything about the 'hype' and I don't recall my reaction to the whole work. I used to listen to it fairly often but not so much anymore. It's really long, so I probably lost interest. I remember liking Fiddle About and Cousin Kevin.

[Beckner]

What other Who have you heard? Give it time to soak in. It's a big album, a lot of story and music there, a lot to take in. I'd say dig on the tunes and melodies first and then try to feel the whole story. It does fall off a bit for me on the last fourth of the album (the last LP side.)

It's not quite prog or as overblown as "rock opera" sounds on paper. It certainly isn't "Pepper" in it's production, just great songs without all that musical bombast.

[GP1138]

I liked the tunes themselves, but it never really fell into place for me. I'll listen to it a few more times though, probably.

[Jason]

Tommy might be better understood if you see the questionable artform that is its movie from 1975.

[Beckner]

I disagree, the movie makes certain aspects of the plot too concrete-- some things are clouded on the album and I think need to remain that way. It doesn't matter how, why, or when exactly Tommy became a "deaf dumb and blind boy living in quiet vibration land"-- just that he is and that he conquers it.

[Jeff Mason]

The movie makes one HUGE mistake -- the lover didn't kill Captain Walker, it was the reverse originally.  In the album, this made Tommy's situation more ambiguous and had more meaning in his escape from reality.  In the movie, it became simple abuse by unloving parents.

[Fantastico!]

That's how I feel about Quadrophenia, but I love Tommy and Whos Next.

[Jason]

Am I the only one who thinks Who's Next is two really good songs and a bunch of filler? I really don't see what's so great about the album. Sell Out and Numbers are far superior.

[Fantastico!]

Am I the only one who thinks Who's Next is two really good songs and a bunch of filler? I really don't see what's so great about the album. Sell Out and Numbers are far superior.

wow, I am digging the subjectivity on the Who albums.

I think Who's next, taken in a certain context, is overwhelmingly good.  It's one of my favorite albums ever in terms of production.  The guitar sounds and wonderfully balanced.  The back up vocals are sublime.  It's kind of the Who's Sunflower.

It's got 9 songs, 3 of which are smash hits-- Baba O'Riely, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again.
Then in it's second tier, it's got Bargain, Love Ain't For Keeping, and Going Mobile, all excellent.
Then for the least well known 3, youhave My Wife, The Song is Over, and Getting in Tune.  All fine.

no chunky concepts, no baggage, it's just heart on a plate, easy to understand, it's an angry album that really releases a lot of my feelings in a cathartic way.  Pissing on the monolith.

I don't think I'd rate it above Sell Out though on most days.  Don't know numbers.

[Jason]

Hmmmmmm, maybe I should listen again.

[Old Rake]

Don't like Tommy even now, and I'm a HUGE Who fan. It just doesn't have a lotta replay value for me -- all the little bits of songs and the vast swaths that have no resemblance to any sort of rock, that bothers me. "Lifehouse" and "Quadrophenia" to me have way more value as rock operas, even with the unfinished quality of the former.

I'd put "Who's Next" on the very tip-top of the Who canon, right above "Sell Out" which itself is right above the first album, in my book. "Who's Next" to me is all killer, no filler. I totally reject the concept of "tiers' representing anything more than the overplayed-ness of certain songs on classic radio. What's so great about the album, and the surrounding Lifehouse sessions, is insightful songwriting, laser-sharp playing, HUMONGOUS powerful rock, and some of the best lyrics Townshend has ever penned. "Baba" and "Won't Get Fooled" are classic but only the most well-played. "Song Is Over" to me is one of the most powerful songs Townshend has accomplished, and I think the melody of "Getting In Tune" stacks up with anything he ever did. Moving, moving stuff.

[Jeff Mason]

Who's Next used to be my number one Who album, and I still think that whole period represents Townshend's best songwriting of all. But Quad and Sell Out now outrank it, Quad for its power and sound and Sell Out for its beauty.  Tommy is a fine album and has some of Pete's best work -- and I am one of the few who likes the production -- but it IS overrated.

[GP1138]

I love "Who's Next", but I grew up on it, too. I guess "Tommy" to me has always been a few songs I've heard from which, but I guess it just didn't make much sense. It's like watching a movie with a few key scenes cut out. I guess that's just how that album is, though.

I haven't listened to Quadrophenia all the way through, though I really haven't heard much latter-day Who that I've liked. Beyond "Who's Next" it's pretty much all singles, I guess.

[Lester Zombie]

I've been thinking for quite some time that "Who's Next" would be a great subject for the Hayseed Dixie treatment.

[GP1138]

: Kind of like "Big Balls"? :

[al]

I don't blame anyone hearing Tommy for the first time now to wonder what the fuss is about. Even when I first heard it in 1972 it sounded weak compared to Who's Next, which for the record, is about as perfect as it gets, and still sounds as though it could have been recorded yesterday.

Tommy though is a different kettle of fish. It doesn't sound lie you expect The Who to sound, the production is minimal, they never really rock out, the dominant instrumant is the acoustic guitar. It takes a while to appreciate it but it is not a masterpiece. To hear why Tommy became important you need to hear Live At Leeds - the two CD version. The Live Tommy has the wings that the studio version doesn't. The songs were as good as anything he'd written, and they come alive on stage. Sparks may well be for me the definitive live Who track.  Live, Tommy has a power that is transcendant, in the studio its a bit of a damp squib. It's probably my least played Who album, though I've listened to it a bit more since I got the SACD.

[I. Spaceman]

Tommy as a studio album was a great experiment that doesn't date well. It does not showcase any of the band's skills at their highest. The drums and acoustic are great, but Entwistle, and Big T's guitar crunch are MIA, and Daltrey hasn't found himself.
The album was padded out to be a double, a lot of filler (Underture, Welcome).
The live versions (Amsterdam, Leeds, Woodstock, Isle Of Wight, Met) are the ultimate versions, they are pure power-punk pop scorch. Grab one of those, GP, and you'll dig the music.

[Jason]

The Isle Of Wight concert, Ian. Not the overdubbed Live at Leeds Deluxe Edition.

[GP1138]

I'm gonna get Live at Leeds. It does somewhat bother me that they have new overdubs.

[jdavolt]

I would highly recommend 'Isle of Wight', GP...great performance, and it can be found pretty cheap and easy.

[al]

The Isle Of Wight concert, Ian. Not the overdubbed Live at Leeds Deluxe Edition.

Was it? Tell me more....

[I. Spaceman]

The Isle Of Wight concert, Ian. Not the overdubbed Live at Leeds Deluxe Edition.

I didn't mean the official one. I meant the undoctored soundboard boot.
There's plenty of live boots that kill both official live Tommys.

[I. Spaceman]

The Isle Of Wight concert, Ian. Not the overdubbed Live at Leeds Deluxe Edition.

Was it? Tell me more....

It was heavily edited even in official form.
But the original expanded release had a few overdubs, like the lead vox on Heaven And Hell and Can't Explain.
On the Tommy section on the DE, several Daltrey leads were newly recorded.