Takin' You Back
The Who put the “rock” in “rock opera.”
Before Pink Floyd wrote The Wall or Green Day even thought about the possibility of American Idiot, The Who delivered a masterpiece in the form of the first full-length rock opera in Tommy. Their fourth, and possibly best, album tells the story of a blind, deaf and dumb child who becomes a messianic figure and strives for enlightenment. The Who is, without a doubt, one of the greatest rock bands of all time. They pushed the envelope, once being dubbed as the world’s loudest rock band, and were known for smashing guitars on stage. In what is probably their most well known on-stage stunt, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend lost the hearing in one ear due to the explosion of drummer Keith Moon’s bass drum.
Tommy was the first in a five-album span in which The Who hit the top five in sales in the USA. The story begins in World War I with Tommy’s father goes missing in action. Shortly after this, Tommy is born. A couple years later, the father returns to find that Tommy’s mother has a new lover, who he promptly kills. Witnessing the murder through his mirror, Tommy is traumatized and becomes deaf, dumb and blind after being told that he didn’t see or hear anything and he will never tell anyone anything for the rest of his life. Tommy learns to interpret all physical sensations as music, and embarks on an internal spiritual journey. Over time he is tortured and abused by family, given hallucinogens as an attempted cure and discovers that he has a natural talent for pinball, hence the song “Pinball Wizard.” Tommy is eventually cured of his symptoms when his mother, in frustration, smashes his mirror. Now able to speak, he tries to enlighten anyone who will listen but is eventually abandoned by his followers.
Musically, the album is a complex set of arrangements, many built over Townshend’s acoustic guitar. Although the album uses a wide array of instruments with, at times, complex overdubs and arrangements, the album can sound somewhat bare in comparison to the band’s later work. Due to the way the album was mixed, it’s difficult to truly appreciate the layering without a high quality pair of headphones. Many of the non-traditional instruments were mixed at very low levels and with overdubbing; they tend to get lost in the mix.
Only a couple tracks on Tommy are recognizable to the general music fan. Aside from “Pinball Wizard” and maybe “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” there isn’t really anything else on the album that most people know. Who’s Next probably has the most of their widely popular tracks with “Baba O’Reilly,” “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Still, Tommy is an absolute masterpiece and an album that any fan of rock music should listen to at least once - even if they’re not a fan of The Who.
Posted by Cory Roop on Dec 19, 2008 @ 7:00 am