Tommy

The tale of a boy who endures abuse, reaches stardom, becomes a messianic figure, and ultimately has his cult turn on him feels like some kind of loose metaphor for the 60s. There's something really admirable about the ambition and execution of this record: the first real rock opera. And for the most part, I think the Who hit the mark (barring a few tracks that don't quite stand up as well). I particularly appreciate how the band works so well within their musical language, rather than taking too many ill-advised detours. At its highest highs, this album is something almost otherworldly. This era, 1967-1971, is the Who at their best. Rating 4.5/5 Favourite tracks: "Go To The Mirror!", "I'm Free", "Pinball Wizard", "Amazing Journey", and "Underture"

Other bands that describe their albums as "concept albums" sure sound silly after you hear Tommy. I can't believe Pete was only 23 when he wrote this masterpiece.   He is also one of the best acoustic players and has the knowledge of music and the guitar that allows him to compose and play things that few others can. The strumming after the initial vocals in the  Overture shows his prowess on acoustic.  Amazing Journey is one of the best songs ever written and was made for a live Who performance as there are lots of short pauses between chords so Pete can windmill and jump, plenty of 5 second breaks from singing so Roger can twirl the mic, and ample opportunities for ass kicking drum and bass sequences. When they played Tommy  live, Amazing Journey is when the rocket that is a Who concert blasts off. Tis the season . . .  The song Christmas is amazing. Moon is on fire.  Cousin Kevin is an excellent song about the school bully. Pete asked John to write the two songs that addressed bullying and molesting since John was better at creepy songs. I guess Boris the Spider was the creepy example pre-Tommy. John stepped up and wrote two good creepy ones.   The Acid Queen was perfect for the times given the popularity of experimenting with acid.  Sure the underture is a little too long but this really is a musical so it comes with the territory. The two opening chords to Pinball Wizard are iconic. Since Pete is as far as you can get from a three chord wonder, the two chords are difficult for mere mortals. The fingering for the two opening chords are: 7x997x and 7x987x so the 1st and 5th strings must be deadened. This means strumming the other four strings very quickly while making sure the 6th string is in play but the 5th and 1st aren't. Next time a guitar is nearby, ask the best player in the room to try and make those chords sound right. And wish him luck. Some of the lesser known songs are now among my favourites.  Songs like Go To The Mirror! and Sally Simpson with excellent keyboards that I think were played by Pete?? (I wouldn't have been surprised to see an Ian Stewart credit but there are no credits for him or anyone else.) We're Not Gonna Take is an amazing finish. Yeah See Me Feel Me gets a little long the 5 millionth time I heard it. But hey, the sun rose at Woodstock when they played this song. After Jimi upstaged them by burning his guitar at Monterey, time was their friend as they evened the score at Woodstock. Who fans will tell you that this album fails to capture the energy the Who has live. Anyone who assumes the studio version of Tommy is The Who's sound would find the Live at Leeds album eye opening since it contains some of the non-Tommy songs The Who played on the Tommy tour and gives a hint of how Tommy was played live. I had a bootleg  called Gather Your Wits (a line from the Acid Queen),  that was the full concert from the Tommy tour and the difference in rawness and energy was unbelievable.  It's interesting that Pete gave Moon the songwriting credit for Tommy's Holiday Camp since Pete wrote it. I expect it was a way for him to give Moon some extra cash from the royalties. Pete also had an obscure unreleased Keith Moon composition be the B side for the Tommy single which would have also been a financial windfall for Keith.

Dear Diary....it's been about 20 days since our last Who album. I fear we may never hear another band again. Out of morbid curiosity, I looked and saw only five Who albums on this list, and we've had four in our first 80. Something tells me these things are like the heads of the Hydra—for each one you finish, two more are created. Tommy is in an interesting experiment that overstays its welcome. The movie was entertaining, but not even "Pinball Wizard" is worth 75 minutes of generic opera-rock. Technically this fits in the "classics week" category, but it's not a classic for my taste. Favorite tracks: Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, Acid Queen. Album art: Intriguing design, I can tell someone worked hard on this. It’s very recognizable but doesn’t hold much weight for me. I’ll always think the “Who’s next?” cover is their best. 3/5

It's shit isn't it? People need to stop pretending it's good. The most rock overrated album ever

Just can’t get through it. Not invested in the concept. I don’t think it holds up otherwise.

It's long, and self-indulgent, and it's not perfect. But it's damn good. Concept albums are always a tricky business because it's hard to pull it off without sounding like you're patting yourself on the back for the whole thing, lauding how clever you are. And the idea of this album, as narrative heavy and out-there as it is, is certainly lofty and far-fetched. But in all fairness, the writing, imagination, and delivery on this album are great. The whole album works as a single body of work, while also having some excellent single material, like Pinball Wizard, I'm Free, The Acid Queen... and both Overture and Underture are a delight to listen to. It does feel bloated at times, and at it's points of greatest contrivances, it is a bit ridiculous. But you've got to say that in as far as they could, they pulled this one off

The first real rock opera and certainly one of the greatest. I have to admire the vision and bravery it took to bring this project to completion. And I love that the arrangements were such that they could essentially play the whole of it live. Not bogged down with an orchestra and the like. Can you imagine seeing this live back in the day? My stepdad did and said they played Tommy through, then took an intermission and came back and basically played a whole nother set worth of their other material. The energy and stamina each of them possessed! Some absolute anthems in here. Only thing that really threw me off was "Tommy's Holiday Camp"

Until today, known as the album William Miller was told to listen to with a candle burning so he could see his future. Zooey Deschanel knows of what she speaks of. Listen to this thing in order as the rock opera Townshend intended it to be. Both surprised and not surprised by how much I love this thing. Does Townshend sing lead on too many of the songs? Probably, but this is his baby, and Daltrey does justifiably handle lead vocals on the most famous song ("Pinball Wizard"). I have a sneaky suspicion a number of Who albums could get 5 ratings from me. And this is somewhere between a 4 and a 5. It's just a little too long. Maybe I just need to light a candle while listening to it.

A classic.

The movie Tommy was on HBO a lot when I was about 11 years old. I remember circling all of the times it aired in the HBO guide that came in the mail so that I could tune in for the last ten minutes of every airing and watch Tommy scrabble over all those rocks singing, "I get excitement at your feet!" I hoped none of my siblings would come in the room and interrupt, tears streaming down my face as I watched Tommy raise his arms, palms open toward the enormous rising sun. This was more spiritual to me than anything that happened at church. I found the rest of the movie pretty incomprehensible. But the music, especially "Listening to You" and its reprise that played over the end credits, was as moving a thing as I'd ever heard. I didn't get the original studio album until college. But once I did, it became one of my favorites. I still get a little choked up when I listen to it. Thanks Pete, Roger, John, and Keith for taking me to church. I love you for it.

This album is an utter, rotten mess. There is one hit and the rest is stream-of-conciousness rot. There's no structure to most of the songs and the story they tell is utterly reprehensible and pointless. The ONLY reason this is getting 2 stars is because "Pinball Wizard" is still pretty good, though I don't like it as much as I did before I had this album as context. What a waste of time.

I can't help the feeling that this album served as heavy inspiration for Pink Floyd's The Wall - you might even call it a blueprint. However, the Pink Floyd opus is miles better. Tommy is often called a "Rock-Opera", in lieu of the then unknown concept of "(rock) musical". But no matter what we chose to call it, it remains very mediocre. I have massive respect for The Who, but this whole album screams "concept over substance". The whole undertaking is bit tedious and self-indulgent. There is a story here, and if that manages to catch your interest, good for you. Pinball Wizard is a good enough song (which was done better by Elton John), but the rest is nothing to write home about. It's just run-off-the-mill 60s rock without hardly a good idea (or melody). Thus, I find Tommy to be severely overrated and found my listening experience to be quite disappointing. 2/5

This album is a pretty impressive accomplishment, a complete story told over an hour solid classic/prog rocks tracks skillfully composed using a number of interesting techniques such as reccuring motifs, lyrical themes and segues. I did find it to be a little slow in parts, imo not all the tracks necessitate their inclusion on the album, but overall as one of the first rock opera / concept albums it stands up well and kicked off a style of musical composition that I love.

I’ll give this a 5 for what it represents more than what it is. The story is insane and I would not listen to many tracks on their own but as a whole this is an impressive work. How Pete Townsend thought of this I will never understand, but it is a true rock opera with a full story that you can more or less follow if you follow close attention. The drums sounded fantastic on here and I loved “underture”. The Pinball Wizard intro will also always be fantastic.

Good album with some classic who tracks. Dragged on a bit

Rock operas aren't very good.

I have so so SO much to say about this album. I know my reviews usually go on for way too long, but this has been taking up my entire conscious mind since listening through yesterday. It’s a tremendous, gigantic, INSANE, undertaking and it deserves my undivided attention for better and for worse. First off, of course I’m very familiar with this album. I listened to it a bit back in the day while learning about Classic Rock history. This is a landmark in the history of storytelling in popular music and an undeniably admirable execution of an artistic vision. It’s the original Rock Opera! Even though I despise that term. Pinball Wizard is the huge hit everyone knows front-to-back (and an absolute banger) but I also found myself remembering a few other key parts in the catchy mystique of The Acid Queen and the repeated lyrics of “Tommy can you hear me?!” and “See me…feel me…etc” throughout the album. That’s about all I really carried into this from the past though. Musically it’s a mixed bag for me. I admired kicking things off with an Overture (I’d imagine at the time seeing that would make some snobs think of them as “real” musicians), and thought the classic Who-style rock arrangements were pretty fun. They branch out into kind of Folk-influenced passages here and there, and certainly have a little bit of a psychedelic break in the middle during the Underture (more on that later), but I don’t feel the actual musical arrangements do a whole lot to move the story along. A bright spot is the drumming of Keith Moon, who I think ABSOLUTELY steals the show on this album. The long instrumental breaks would not pack nearly the same punch without his versatility creating atmosphere at a frantic, driving pace. There’s a few goofy interludes, but for the most part it’s that Classic Rock sound that defines The Who. Overall at the very least interesting to listen to. Now, for the bulk of what I need to talk about. Lyrics! AKA The Plot. I like this came up so soon after Dark Side Of The Moon for us because they sort of represent a debate that has divided movie audiences for years that we can now extend to music: Theme VS Plot. Dark Side was a concept album but in a very abstract and thematic way. We weren’t listening to Dark Side saying “okay so he was breathing in the air and now he’s on the run, but look! Too much time went by! Now he’s at the great gig in the sky!” It was a “story” in the sense it tackled large universal experiences of life, but they were applied conceptually as opposed to locking in on the individual experience of it. Tommy is clearly MUCH different. We follow a boy who sees his father murder his mother’s lover, shut down his senses from the trauma, get abused, become a pinball god to cope, develop a following, get healed, and then get rejected by his own movement. There is a LOT of plot going on, lots of things we get told are happening, and a story we actually need to follow and understand. Soooo this story I summed up, it’s paced really weird. This is a 4 side album, and we need get past the 1st quarter of side 3 (AKA 9/16 of the way) before they finally stop with what I can only describe as torture porn of the protagonist. Seriously I didn’t remember it being that crazy. The MAJORITY of this record is Tommy being yelled at by his parents, physically abused by his cousin, drugged with psychedelics without his consent, being r*ped by the woman who drugged him, and getting molested by his uncle. In FACT, we go DIRECTLY from his uncle’s sexual abuse to the first mention of him being amazing at pinball with only an iconic guitar intro in between. That’s pretty wild and not something they mention when they play it on WZZO. It doesn’t really have much purpose to me except to be edgy. Again, this is a plot-heavy story, and in the plot after mentioning how good at pinball he is (again, sequenced in a way that seems like it’s BECAUSE he got molested) we spend a few songs with a doctor who ultimately leads him to a mirror which smashes, breaking Tommy from his state. Anyway, from there it’s his “downfall” so to speak where he ends up being rejected by his own movement because they don’t want to act like they can’t hear or see, and they don’t like that he wants them to be teetotalers. Also his pedo Uncle Ernie is in a position of leadership at the camp/compound they stay at? Yikes. Anyway, not a fan of the story obviously, but what makes me dislike it MORE is that Pete Townshend credits his inspiration for the story to the teachings of Meher Baba. I touched on this briefly in my Who’s Next review, but I don’t think anybody has ever benefitted less from a spiritual awakening than Pete. This is the same spiritual figure who inspired the song “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, and I don’t know how Pete became so jaded in his worldview while interpreting the same teachings that so many others interpreted as a direction to maintain positivity in everyday life. Besides all the abuse stuff, this shares a theme with some tracks on Who’s Next in that it depicts the failure of a movement/revolution, and seems to imply there’s no reason to bother with such things. This album is really a bummer lyrically, I really am baffled by how much of a grouch Pete seemed to be from such a young age. Anyway, I’ll cut things off there. I think that’s most of what I wanted to say. A few good songs, some good motifs, but really gets bogged down by the story. I truly have no idea what the intentions behind such a strange narrative are, but I did my best to interpret it and all it tells me is Pete Townshend was born a grouchy old English man and he is surprisingly negative for someone who at least at this point followed a “we are all one with god” mantra. I don’t understand how these lyrics reflect anything beyond someone who doesn’t see the point of life, and even though some of these songs rock pretty hard, I don’t see much of the point either. It’s all pain and disappointment. If I get the fucking Limp Bizkit album next I’m really going to bottom out.

The best moments for me come with the Who's special brand of pop/rock in tracks like 'The Acid Queen', 'I'm Free' and the absolute classic 'Pinball Wizard'. There's also a few daft moments from Keith Moon, like 'Tommy's Holiday Camp' and 'Uncle Ernie' (albeit with a sinister story). The rest is powerful rock music that's well played and sung. Like most double albums, it does sag in places, still this is a knockout classic album.

I've loved this album for years, so this an easy 5 for me. I love the whole rock-opera concept - I know a lot of people criticize this album as overblown. Yeah, the story is dense and weird (and the movie is even weirder!), but it holds together both musically and thematically. There's so much I love about this album. Favorite moments include all the instrumentals (Overture - love the acoustic guitar part; Sparks; Underture); the thundering bass at 3:25 of Amazing Journey particularly when performed live - John Entwistle was a BEAST; Pinball Wizard (great track); We're Not Gonna Take It including the anthemic ending (this is a week of anthemic endings - at least this one doesn't involve necrophilia like "I Love the Dead"); all the repeating motifs - "see me, feel me" "Tommy can you hear me" plus the repeating musical motifs; Keith Moon's drumming. I also love the line "You've been told many times before, Messiahs pointed to the door, but no one had the guts to leave the temple." I could go on and on. Oh, and TIL that Eyesight to the Blind was a cover. I had no idea. Go check out Sonny Boy Williamson's original. I've listened to this album more times than I can count, but it was fun to dig in again. I ended up watching clips from the movie and from the 1989 all-star performance including Billy Idol, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins, and Elton John. I remember watching that when it came out. Definitely an album worth hearing many times before I die!

Perhaps the greatest rock opera ever created? The Who were maybe the most complete group of talented musicians ever. Every one of the four lads shine incredibly bright on this theatrical and gripping record. Moon is an absolute beast behind the drums, and Daltrey's range of emotion is unparalleled. His naïve hope on '1921' is heartbreaking, and his desperation on the "See me, feel me" refrain first included on 'Christmas' is out of this world. The entire run from 'Go To The Mirror!' is a tour de force culminating in 'I'm Free' and 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. A dramatic end to a deeply personal and moving journey with sharp criticisms of postwar Britain. "If I told you what it takes to reach the highest high, You'd laugh and say 'nothing's that simple'. But you've been told many times before, Messiahs pointed to the door, And no one had the guts to leave the temple!"

An imperfect, too long, but like… amazing album. The story is what gets me. It’s so funny, moving, strange, dark comedy. I loved it. And this is a really groundbreaking album. It feels like the confines of rock and roll and being pushed against, cracking at the seams. Can we do full stories now, with instrumental interludes? A whole character arc, a whole life? I’m sold. It’s protean, in some ways, and at some moments still massively moving. 5/5

"Tommy" is the fourth studio by English band The Who. It is a rock opera and a double album at that. Pete Townsend composed most of the songs and wanted something more than just three-minute pop/rock songs. It tells the story of Tommy who witnesses and is traumatized by a murder his father committed, is abused, is given LSD by a quack, plays pinball to feel, snaps out of his state and gathers a religious cult who eventually rejected him. Alright, simple enough. Townsend was inspired by Indian spiritual master Meher Baba in the writing. It was originally hailed by critics. It has been very successful selling 20 million copies and spawning a 1975 movie and a 1991 Broadway musical. The album opens dramatically with the mostly instrumental "Overture." Townsend on piano and accompanied by the instrumental Ensemble group The Assembled Multitude. Keith Moon's drumming a highlight (and throughout this album). The classic guitar riff you'd hear later on. Tommy's father is believed dead. Tommy's born in "It's a Boy." I always liked the vocals and backing vocals. "Amazing Journey" describes Tommy developing his mental state after witnessing the murder in the previous song, "1921." This is when you really start to hear The Who take off. Slow-fast-slow-fast. Pyschdelic sounds. Speaking of journeys, The Who take us on one in "Christmas" Great backing vocals. They go all over the place and introduce the thematic lyrics of "Tommy can you hear me" and "See me, feel me, touch me, heal me." Tommy does not recognize it's Christmas. Townsend takes the lead vocals on "The Acid Queen" as the quack and his parents give Tommy acid for the cure. The band then does a good job taking us through his mind with some extended dramatic jams continuing on in "Underture." Not quite prog but not entirely not prog. Shit, maybe I'm on acid. Side three gives us "Pinball Wizard." That acoustic guitar and electric guitar riff. Tommy plays a mean pinball with only his sense of smell. One of my favorite Who songs. Tommy finally gains some senses in "Go To the Mirror!" Another song of journey. Daultrey pleads him to "See me, feel me, touch me, heal me." Great melodies and the band breaks out in the glorious ending. The entire band sings in "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" Great harmonies. Tommy breaks his mirror and gains sensation in "Sensation. One of the more pop tunes on the album. Tommy becomes a rock star of sorts in "Sally Simpson." Sally becomes a follower even if they're worlds apart. "I'm Free" was one of the singles from this album. Some more great guitar combos and riffs by Townsend. Tommy's on the rise with his movement. Tommy's journey comes to a crashing end with his followers in "We're Not Going to Take it." The band combines everything here with the melodies, Moon's drumming, the harmonies and the recurring thematic lyrics and choruses. There is no doubt this quite an achievement. With no break between songs it comes off like one long song. There is some filler but the album moves at a decent pace for a double album. But, there're classic guitar riffs, lyrics, choruses and songs. Moon's drumming. The music builds drama. And, the band plays like tight band. For a historical perspective, check their performance out in "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus" where they performed on a break from the recording of the album. Mind blowing.

Tommy is the fourth album from the Who, and may be their first masterpiece. Tommy is a double LP rock opera. It is the story of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy that becomes a messiah figure. The story is told in the format of an opera: in two acts, with an overture and an underture, musical summaries played at the beginning of the acts. I think these two elements - the overture and underture - are among the most brilliant compositions in modern music. The story is told in a series of incredible songs, some of which become hit singles, like "Pinball Wizard" and "Tommy Can you Hear Me." The opera tells the story of the life of the messiah figure. Imo, the entire story is really about "Sally Simpson," one of the fans of this messiah figure.

Such an interesting record, and I agree with Nick's sentiments that the narrative of "Tommy" feels like Townsend's cynical summary of the late 60s/Summer of Love. While this narrative is not entirely clear at times, the grand concept and sonic atmosphere of "Tommy" elevates it to a higher plane. But I wonder if the concept of a blind Tommy actually plays well into the dense storytelling. I enjoyed the interplay between the hard rock that the Who are known for, to the more fragile, softer moments. I don't think I've noticed the double tracked vocals of Daultry before, which might sound counterintuitive because of his huge voice, but it really adds to the spacey/ethereal vocals. "Tommy" feels like a signpost to show where rock music was headed into the 1970s. Fav Tracks: I'm Free, Sparks, Pinball Wizard, Underture, Go To The Mirror!, Amazing Journey Rating: 4.5/5

A wholly interesting album that screams "rock opera." The album is at times catchy (Pinball Wizard), at times disturbing (Fiddle About), but on its whole it was a joy to listen to and a feat for The Who to accomplish. Following Tommy throughout his life, I suppose it would make sense to visit all of the ups and the downs, because that is what makes up all of our lives. Parts of it put me off, but in the end the album won me over.

It’s way too long but overall a solid record. Feeling a strong 7 to a light 8.

Whew… ANOTHER double album and ANOTHER Who album. Crazy times. There’s two things I will preface this quick review with: 1) Double albums? Hit or miss. It’s either a masterpiece or stretched too thin, rarely falling in the middle. I think I have mentioned this a couple of times in my reviews of other double LP’s. 2) I’m not a big fan of The Who, but do like parts of their discography. With that said, ‘Tommy’ is a strange beast of a project. I don't think it's quite the first rock opera unleashed to the public. But it certainly is ONE of the first; and I can only imagine what the general reaction was upon first listen. The storyline throughout the songs certainly has its fair share of twists and turns. We go on this journey of Tommy Walker, born in the song 'It's A Boy', whose father killed his mother's lover upon returning home ('1921'). Which causes the titular character to go deaf, dumb, and blind. He gets exposed to physical abuse by the hand of his 'Cousin Kevin', and has his mind opened to acid thanks to the Gypsy in 'The Acid Queen'; and that's just within the first half of the tracklist. The second half starts with the uncomfortable duo tracks 'Do You Think It's Alright?' and 'Fiddle About', where Tommy is sexually abused by his Uncle. We learn Tommy is phenomenal at pinball ('Pinball Wizard'), and move swiftly onto him smashing the mirror to free himself. He then goes on to become a religious cult leader due to this miracle, and it all ends with his followers revolting against him in the brilliant finisher 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. There's enough strong tracks here to keep the album interesting enough, and musically it’s The Who - so it's that rock ‘n’ roll sound we all know from them. The fact it’s an actual storyline helps to bump the engagement up. Where I find ‘Tommy’ slips up is the fact The Who’s, and Townshend‘s, ambition (and this album is AMBITIOUS) tends to outweigh the musical limitations of the band. Not in terms of talent, mind you. Moreso regarding their mind for production at the time and overall sound. But that’s not to say they’re not pushing themselves to limits they had not previously. As I stated previously, there’s certainly enough strong tracks meticulously placed along the album to ensure ‘Tommy’ doesn’t lose steam across its massive 24 tracks, and there’s a few that are absolute staples of The Who’s catalogue. I can also respect the philosophy, at the time, of wanting to move away from having 3 minute singles slapped onto an LP with little to no concept. It genuinely seems like The Who found their artistic calling with ‘Tommy’. So while this double album is musically stretched thin to a degree, there’s no denying the risk the band took here. Nor can you deny its strange and wonderful ambition, even if they don't always quite reach it. In my book, this is a 3.5/5 album, but I am rounding it up to a 4. It’s worth a listen for historical significance alone, the fact that it’s also pretty good is a bonus.

Surprised they made this a movie.. and then a Play.. music is real prime Who. A lot of gems not usually heard on radio. Being a Who fan pushes it up a notch, but nit their best. Still, a very impressive endeavor. Go Pete and Moon!!!

Cool story song and theme about Tommy but not a big fan of the lyrics “we’re going to rape you”

No doubt that at the time it was produced, this was an ambitious and epic undertaking, considered a milestone album in the history of rock music. Feels that it hasn't dated particularly well, certain points felt like an endurance test. Was it worth listening? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No, not really.

Creepy and bored me although musically competent. Tough to rate as I feel it deserves to be higher but enjoyed very little of this.

This album was dogshit. Some high points here and there, but couldn’t drown out the ridiculous storyline that needed to include a snippet about Uncle Eddie finger banging the protagonist. Who’s Next should have completely eclipsed the need to listen to this “rock opera”. Two genres that I have yet to see belong together.

The Who have some great songs in their back catalogue, it's a shame the decided not to put any on this album. Rock opera guff, I was glad when it was over.

well the song about the pedo uncle certainly was something

R Kelly did it better.

Pinball ball wizard

Loved it! I've never listened to this album but it was an awesome journey. I can see why people went crazy for it.

Spotify only had disk 1 and 3 I enjoy rock opera/albums that tell a story Only listened to released album, no demo or live

Classic! However, I really only knew Pinball Wizard, but this whole album is a banger. 'Christmas' and 'Underture' are my other stand-outs thus far.

Classic 70s concept album! Love it!

I knew many of these songs before listening to the album in full, but it was great to hear them all connected to better understand the full concept

This is a tough one to give a 5 to. I didn't find it a particularly enjoyable album, frankly, but it's clearly competent musically. I'm giving it a 5 mostly for its sheer scope and ability to make you feel things, even if it wasn't always pleasant.

Pinball Wizarddd

Classic! One of the original rock musicals. Some controversial themes. Great music

Simplesmente foda

First great who album

Escutei metade, incrível!!

I know The Who are one of the most influential rock bands, but this is the first album I've listened to. I've got to say, I love this! Would love to see the this production on stage.

Topic

Amazing

Oh YES YES YES!!

I mean, it's Tommy. I don't know what else to say.

Truly epic! There's a reason that this is THE quintessential rock opera. Jam packed with fun, rock n' roll, and cameos.

Enjoyed the live half of this more than I typically do. Lots of classics, and of course got Pinball Wizard stuck in my head for hours after this.

A sort of depressing loop, but purely cinematic and and wonderful. My only complaint is that songs tended to be incredibly samey.

The first real rock opera!!!

😍

Classic!

This has big nostalgic vibes for me, since it was a large part of me growing up. Apart from a single skip, it's basically still perfect to me.

O The Whosach napisalem juz wszystko co zem wiedzial na dwoch poprzednich albumach, ktore chronologicznie ustawione byly akurat miedzy dzisiejszym pickiem, magnum opus bandy jakim niewatpliwie jest Tommy, czyli plyta z gatunku oper rokowych traktujaca o gluchym, glupim i slepym biednym chlopcu zwanym Tommy, od wczesnego dziecinstwa, przez dorastanie jako wyalienowany inwalida, gnebienie w rodzienie, szukania sposobow na uzdrowienie, muzyke, znalezienie pinballowego sensu zycia, do zostania bozkiem, ktory jest wykorzystywany do robienia piniedzy przez dobrego wujaszka, a ta historia opowiedziana jest w 24 aktach, bo tyle wlasnie kawalkow ma ten 75 minutowy album, a jak to byla z dobrymi lirykami, a takimi stoi cala plyta, Pete Townshend potrafi przekazac cos wiecej niz tylko opowiesc na danym traku, a cos znacznie bardziej osobistego, jesli chodzi o strone instrumentalna plyta ta poprzedza live at leeds, ktora czerpie wlasnie z Tommiego, wiec album byl nagrywany z mysla o tym zeby go sprzedac na zywca, a polaczyc to z trzymajaca sie kupy historia to nie lada sztuka, najlpeszy zywy tommy jakie slyszalem to nagranie z Ottawy z 69, wiec z roku wydania albumu, na plycie nie ma zadnych sesyjnych muzykow, a jedynie czterech czlonkow bandy, z nietypowych instrumentali pojawia sie harmonijka, puzon lub trabka francuza, czy bonjo, ciezko wybierac plejkowe utwory z tak konceptowego albumu, ktory warto przesluchac od poczatku do konca zeby uzyskac pelnowymiarowe doswiadczenie, ale na liscie mialem juz pinballowego wizarda, to dodam jeszcze songa o leczeniu tommiego przez pimpa hawkera, eyesight to the blind i zamykajacy calosc song we are not gonna take it, gdzie kampowicze daja do zrozumienia, ze nie sa w stanie podazac za naukami pinballowej religii, ktora moze byc nawiazaniem do rewolucji dzieco kwiatowej, ktora w 69 juz zaczynala umierac, jak wszystkie albumiki piecio gwiazdkowe calosc leci na spotifajowa poleczke biblioteczna

The Overture and Underture pieces sound a bit cliched now, but in 1969 they were probably cutting-edge, and of course, apropos for the first Rock Opera. The songs seem a bit stripped down by today’s standards, more acoustic than I remember, but that makes them riper for the orchestrated and produced versions that followed. Lots of great tracks, like the series that starts with Amazing Journey. Like the album that preceded it, I’m surprised Pete does so much singing. I was going to give it a 4, but since I gave George Jones a 4....

Incredible. Loved the Album front to back. Had heard the big hits before on thr Album but they work much better in chronological order.

Wow, what a trip. I went through a big Who phase in my teens. I've listened to this album probably 30 times and every time it makes me stop what I'm doing to listen to every lyric. It's so so so good. Not many of these songs would be considered some of their greatest hits, but every song is fantastic in its story telling. How can he be saved??? See me. Feel me. Touch me. Heal me. Favorite Tracks: Overture, Christmas, Cousin Kevin, Pinball Wizard, and I'm Free.

A rock opera about a boy who is blind, deaf, and mute but sells his soul to an old gypsy woman in order to become a world class pinball player by playing with his sense of smell. I didn’t have enough LSD on hand to enjoy it the way it’s meant to be enjoyed, but it’s a true original and a great classic rock album.

Surprisingly good!

Well worth every bit of praise it gets.

Pinball Wizard was a staple of my childhood. I knew there was a full story across this double LP rock opera, but I never really paid attention to the story until today, and now I’m eager to spend several more hours with this album and to watch the movie. The overture has that great French horn, sets up the premise with a few lines, and ends on a wonderful guitar rift. 1921 is delightful and soothing, which hides the horrific gaslighting lyrics as the parents tell Tommy he didn’t see a murder. Although, I do wish I had listened more to “Got a feeling ‘21 is going to be a good year” more last year. I loved Underture! A wonderful rock symphony. The guitar, the rumbling kettle drums. Oh, momma! I’m a huge fan of funk, so sign me up for more Smash the Mirror! I jammed to the piano in Sally Simpson. The whimsical Tommy’s Holiday Camp makes me smile and laugh at the absurdity of this crazy amazing journey. This weekend I plan to listen to it again on vinyl and read the lyrics in real time to go another layer deeper. PS - the intro to Pinball Wizard will be my new walkout music

Fun, original, 4.5

I LOVE the movie Tommy. In college we had a weeklong fundraiser where we showed Tommy for 6 nights in a row. I was the projectionist and watched the movie 13 times that week - never tiring of it. I absolutely love the music but had only heard the soundtrack with The Who, Ann-Margret, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, Elton John et. al. I don’t know that I’ve ever listened to the original album in its entirety. Excited to do so now! I must admit to being a little bit underwhelmed by some of the performances on this album. Ann-Margret, Tina Turner and Elton John outdo these performances by leaps and bounds. So there were times I wished I was listening to the movie version. But there were several points where I liked what was going on on the album better. And it would be unfair to knock this for not living up to a star-studded, full-blown theatrical version. I love ths album. A great concept supported by great music.

Another very grand rock album! Although I sometime find myself comparing tracks to the movie soundtrack versions (probably because I knew the movie before I knew this album), Tommy by The Who is another amazing work of art on this list!!

This took some audacity to make, and I love that about it. A double album telling the epic story of... well, maybe it's not an epic story but it involves playing pinball. It's always been weird and mysterious enough to be quite compelling. I love that it feels like what it created, a rock opera. It feels orchestral but it's all rock instrumentation...plus French horn, of course. While many of the songs, although being part of a sequence, are great standalone songs, it's not true for them all. "Fiddle About" may be the most horrifying thing I've heard all year. *shudder* But as a whole, listening to this felt like an event today and it was great.

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I get a lot of the same feelings from this that I had as a child at our evangelical Christian church (I'm an atheist now). I thought those feelings of joy, excitement, and wonder came from God and Jesus but it was really the music and stories. What a wild story Tommy is and the music is fucking great---love those instrumental tracks.

Projet ambitieux, construction solide... "Underture" demeure ma pièce préférée.

This album (and movie) may be the most impactful piece of media/art in my life. I’m pretty sure the cascade of events after seeing Tommy led to some of my longest-lasting friendships, multiple relationship status changes, and even starting this list altogether. It’s not musically perfect or even very good as a story, but it means the world to me. 10/10

10/10. Completely incomprehensible, worse by miles and miles than Quadrophenia, and "Fiddle About" ruins the entire listening experience every time, but still a very good album.

the who changed music forever with tommy. a concept album, yes, but a rock opera most importantly. it has all of the characteristics of a stage musical: overture/underture, recycling melodies, reprises. perfect for adapting into a movie! the who were influential for a few reasons but i stand by my belief that creating the first rock opera was their most important contribution to the world. this album takes you on such a journey alongside tommy. yes, perhaps some suspension of disbelief is involved and it is such a product of the sixties. you meet such a range of characters (including a sexual abuser! cool, she said sarcastically) while tommy journeys through a traumatic incident as a child to becoming a cult leader. obviously, i enjoy the story a lot but the music! the who is so solid; tommy's instrumentation is without flaw. i know this album quite well, but it's still surprising to me that "we're not going to take it," one of the who's most notable songs, a protest song, comes from this album. it has transcended tommy to stand on its own! "you've got to play pinball/and put in your ear plugs/put on your eye shades/you know where to put the cork"

Classic rock opera.

Classic. Interesting hearing the studio versions since I’m mostly familiar with Live at Leeds.

Really cool! I feel like I didn't fully get the story, though, need to listen again.

The WHO at their very apex.

Love it, literally everything is great, love the detuned and dissonant guitars, Keith's frenetic Energy, it all works so well. A dark story but true to life in many aspects.

iconic

Wow. Musically amazing. Will have to give it a few more listens to get the story/message processed. Reminds me a lot of The Wall, but with a more positive vibe. After two listens, I discovered how little I know about The Who beyond the radio hits of the 70's. Amazing.

When I was ~9 yrs old I used to check out this record from our local library - they'd package it up in this ginormous special packaging and I'd trundle it home under my tiny arm, what a sight that must have been hahaha. (I wasn't allowed to watch the (weirdasshit) movie that had just started airing on HBO though...) This album (obviously) has a long history for me and was/is one of the pillars for my love of imaginative music - music that is at once bombastic, melodic, sometimes ridiculous, aggressive, a little scary, mysterious, powerful. I became a big Who fan for some years starting at that point, which at times frustrated me - I often felt that they should have been ... better? they had a relatively short peak (which this album marked the start of) that matched any band in history, but couldn't sustain. And during my later teenage years when I was more a fan of hard rock I learned that this album was released when it wasn't completely finished (according to Pete Townshend) - at the time I wanted some of the tracks to have been bigger/louder. But that would have been disastrous - a lot of the space in some of these songs gives room for that mystery. Plus the extended "Live At Leeds" with the full Tommy performance gives that hard rock edge if you need it... Tommy the story [for the few that wouldn't know, this is a concept album, if not the original concept album...] is both essential (i.e. about half of these songs would seem half as good out of context of the album) and ridiculous at the same time. Doesn't really matter that it doesn't always make sense; there's a flow to it that when I listen to it for the first time in a while (today, in fact) makes it impossible to not go through the entire 75 minutes. Obvious highlights here are the alltime single "Pinball Wizard" - which has been overplayed on classic radio for at least 30 years, but when it kicks in midway through the album you remember why - and the epic closer "We're Not Gonna Take It" but put on some headphones and listen to the entirety as picking out two famous singles almost deflates the entire project. "Amazing Journey" indeed - 10/10 5 stars.

yes. absolute yes. love everything about it

Not as good as The Who Sell Out but still a classic album of course.

Saw it in London in ‘96. Loved it then; love it now!

I had forgotten just how good this album really is. Simply impressive and fun. The whole thing could easily have flopped but The Who knocked it out of the park.

rock opera, album concept, what more do you want?

Innovation at its best. Fun album all around

It’s a Rock Opera!

I have this in five different formats. The original LP, open reel tape, cassette, CD and digital. I used to also have it in 8 Track but the foam pressure pads disintegrated so I threw them away.

Amazing sound throughout. Very repeatable.

Love this album

Without the context of the story, this album doesn't make much sense. And some of the songs haven't aged that well. But this is a very important album for me. I heard it and the music, certainly not the story, really resonated with me. "Amazing Journey" and "Acid Queen" are two of my favorite deep cuts.

As far as Who rock operas go I prefer Quadrophenia, but the scope of this album is impressive, especially for when it was released.

5 LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Favorites Include: Overture, 1921, Amazing Journey, Cousin Kevin, The Acid Queen, Fiddle About, Pinball Wizard, Tommy Can You Hear Me?, Miracle Cure, I’m Free, We’re Not Gonna Take It

Transcendent. I dont always agree with this list of albums, but this is an insanely great record that everyone needs to hear. 5/5

Classic album. Always a fun listen

Still one of my favorite albums of all time. The variety of styles and symbolism used on the record is amazing. There is a little bit of fluff and filler but not much.