Tommy [2 LP] [VINYL]

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By 1968, Townshend was unsure about how the Who should progress musically. The group were no longer teenagers, but he wanted their music to remain relevant. [12] His friend, International Times art director Mike McInnerney, told him about the Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba, [13] and Townshend became fascinated with Baba's values of compassion, love and introspection. [14] The Who's commercial success was on the wane after the single " Dogs" failed to make the top 20, and there was a genuine risk of the band breaking up. [15] The group still performed well live and spent most of the spring and summer touring the US and Canada, [16] but their stage act relied on Townshend smashing his guitar or Keith Moon demolishing his drums, which kept the group in debt. Townshend and Kit Lambert realised they needed a larger vehicle for their music than hit singles and a new stage show, and Townshend hoped to incorporate his love of Meher Baba into this concept. [17] He decided that the Who should record a series of songs that stood well in isolation but formed a cohesive whole on the album. He also wanted the material performed in concert, to counter the trend of bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys producing studio output that was not designed for live performance. [18]

It would be remiss of me not to say that looking at such issues found on Tommy does not have merit, as certainly anyone who enjoys this release should not be considered to support the notion of child abuse, very much like the book “The Basketball Diaries” by Jim Carroll, who kept detailed notes, poems and thoughts during his downward spiral into drug addiction, where simply watching or reading his story is not tantamount to supporting or glorifying drug addiction ... it is all a visual and musical journey, dark as it may be, in the life of one of the greatest musicians of our time. Also, something I didn’t see until now is a serial number printed on the booklet — 3345. Curiously, I never noticed if the U.S. edition indeed includes the wording “limited edition number” in the same spot, but there is no number printed there — at least not in mine, nor every copy I’ve ever seen and/or owned. I’ll be looking into the reasoning behind the serial-replication of the number 3345 in this new edition when I get a chance, of course — but please feel free to respond in the Comments section below if you know of the reasoning why it was used.Tommy ranked 190th greatest album by Rolling Stone magazine". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2 March 2022. Today, 7 July, sees the release of the third and fourth in a series of half-speed mastered studio albums from The Who: The Who Sell Out and Tommy. Another common theme throughout the album is glass and mirrors, which is representative of reflections of identity and the concept of smashing and releasing. The song “I’m Free” is extremely cathartic and wonderful feeling as Tommy can finally sense and a lot of this symbolism goes along with smashing a mirror. This is all about destroying what people expect of you and why you’re supposed to see. It’s a liberation.

Christgau, Robert (12 June 1969). "Whooopee!". The Village Voice. New York . Retrieved 3 July 2013.Released in 1967, The Who Sell Out was the third album released by the band and is revered for being one of the first concept albums, celebrating the short-lived pirate radio stations of the late 60s with its groundbreaking use of fake adverts and jingles between songs. Neill, Andy; Kent, Matt (2002). Anywhere Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-1217-3. This might seem acceptable, though tragic, but even after all of this abuse, once Tommy becomes the Pinball Wizard, his family again tempts and exploits the boy. This would certainly lend credence to the notion that Pete was abused as a child and that his parents ignored him until he became rich and famous, only then wanting their share of his fame. Christgau, Robert (25 January 1983). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York . Retrieved 3 July 2013.

a b Tommy (Media notes). The Who. Polydor. 531–043–2. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) So, coupled with the aforementioned hi-res editions, I was contented enough over the years with the versions of Tommy that I do have. I eventually upgraded my much-loved and played American copy of Tommy — which got me through high school and college in the late ’70s and early '80s, truth be told — with a nice, near-mint copy that sounds pretty good for what it is. (Yes, I know, dear AP friends, the UK version would likely trounce it.) Kisselgoff, Anna (9 February 1981). "Dance: Ballets Canadiens". The New York Times . Retrieved 16 October 2014.One of the most interesting things about the album is the perspective. It’s all about Tommy, clearly, but it seems to be from the point of view of other people in his life. We see a lot from cousin Kevin, uncle Ernie, his mother, and even a whole section about perspective of some random girl named Sally Simpson. With these themes of reflection, it might be very well that all these people in Tommy’s life see themselves in Tommy and by telling his story from their perspective, they’re relating their experiences to his and in some situations, like Kevin’s bullying and Ernie’s diddling, their negative actions towards Tommy might just be a reflection of their own insecurities and problems, that they choose to take out on him because he’s easy to manipulate and take advantage of. First released in 1965, My Generation was The Who’s debut album. It peaked at #5 and unleashed The Who on to the world. It has been described as one of the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone, MOJO, and the NME and was included in the US Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry as ‘culturally significant’ to be preserved and archived for all time. Randall, Mac (22 January 2004). "Tommy Deluxe Edition". Rolling Stone. New York . Retrieved 3 July 2013. Eder, Bruce. "Tommy – As Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra". AllMusic . Retrieved 18 August 2014.

The new half-speed mastered Tommy sounds especially nice in the lows and mids, yet with natural highs. There is a good sense of dynamics that allows you to turn up the volume without everything falling apart, and things getting harsh. Indeed, this new Tommy felt bigger when I increased the volume on the “Sparks” section (one of my favorites on the album, along with “Underture”). Keith Moon’s drums resonate massively in a quite three-dimensional sense, much more so than on the U.S. pressing. Listen for those intense tom-tom fills on “Eyesight To The Blind” — and then, when guitarist Pete Townshend is soloing, close your eyes to immerse yourself in the studio space. Rather then the music, I am speaking to the concept of the album here, where for me, the notion of the story of Tommy is akin to the notion of a rape fantasy, where the girl has been awakened to her sexuality, even though by rape, and has now blossomed into a raving beauty, strong and secure, perhaps even glad that she had been deflowered in such a violent manner ... no longer young, deaf, dumb or blind. But this work is far more insidious and dark, and perhaps true on a subconscious level for Mr. Townshend. Perhaps the most startling revelation in the recent reissues isn't on tape, but in the Quadrophenia super deluxe edition's booklet. Published for the first time is a letter from Townshend to his lawyer detailing his instructions for his exit from the band, after internal problems left him "losing any impetus either to write for the Who as a vehicle, or play with its members as a musician. I will not be dissuaded from my present feeling."Bargreen, Melinda (22 July 2005). "Glynn Ross, 90, turned Seattle into opera destination". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Atkins, John (2000). The Who on Record: A Critical History, 1963–1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0609-8.