Tommy

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.

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 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"

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

I know the history and all that, but it’s…. a lot.

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.

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.

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.

A classic.

This is an ‘interesting’ album, mostly because of its ambition, but also a bit of a slog to get through to me, with the story being hammered in at expense of the overall experience. The story itself does nothing for me, especially the wholly unnecessary sexual assault songs and the drawn out awakening sequence. I think I’m fine with just listening to this just once tbh. 2/5

So disappointed with this, it's rubbish. Pinball Wizard is good, and there's a smattering of reasonable tracks elsewhere, but the rest of the songs don't have enough form or oomph to them. It mostly just kind of exists and meanders along for the whole thing - which is very long.

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.

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

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.

Not for me. 1/5

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.

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.

Tommy likey, Tommy want wingy

Rock operas aren't very good.

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

As a child, my boomer parents excitedly told me “Pinball Wizard” was from a rock opera one time when it came on the radio. I don’t recall them having much else to say, and having once again tried to glean what’s great about this album, I’d be at a loss to praise it further. The story is boring. The thematic refrains aren’t interesting enough to warrant sitting through. This is literally the soundtrack to a movie no one gives a fuck about.

I've heard "Tommy" three times in its entirety and I'll state my case once again that it is a hot, steaming pile of crap. No matter how much Pete Townshend has denied (and denies) it, "Tommy" is a direct copy of "S.F. Sorrow" by The Pretty Things (non-believers, listen to the riff in "Old Man Going"), which is superior.

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.

Honestly, while I like a lot of songs by the Who, Tommy baffles me. It has its moments musically, obviously including Pinball Wizard, but thematically it falls flat and ends up just being a tediously overlong and anemic slog of an album to actually listen to due to boring masturbatory stretches like 'Underture'. Initially planned to give it a 2, but fuck grading on a curve and weighting historical significance. For being an unenjoyable plodding mess for most of its ridiculous 74 minute runtime, and for the plotline of Uncle Ernie raping poor Tommy, this gets the 1 it truly deserves.

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.

"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.

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

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!"

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!

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.

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!!!

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.

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

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.

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

I feel like I should rate this higher than I want to, because of the tremendous influence this album has had. But honestly, with the notable exception of Pinball Wizard, I just don’t like it all that much. My husband loves Tommy, and will sing various snippets of it frequently, but this one isn’t for me.

Didn’t realise this was a rock opera until and asked who the f Tommy was and then googled it. Overall, it’s a nice concept with distinctive sound and understand why it’s in this list. Personally, couldn’t really follow along; feel like you need to know what this album is to really understand it.

Appreciate it? Yes. Like it? Meh

I’ve only, last 10 years, started listening to The Who and appreciating their music. However good as it is I find this one a bit of a task to be honest. Apart from Pinball Wizard there are not really any songs that stand up on their own without the context of the story of the album. I will stick to Who’s Next I think!

Man, this is a tough one. On the one hand, this album was something a very cool, guitar-playing uncle introduced me to when I was 6 or 7 years old. I spent YEARS listening to this, analyzing it, and thinking it was just the coolest thing ever. On the other hand, I've come away from it for even longer at this point in my life and it has somewhat lost its shine. I still know every song intimately, right down to knowing nearly every lyric. As an adult, listening to this currently, the subject matter just seems... off, especially after the light was shown on Pete Townsend's propensity toward child porn (yeah, I know it was "just research"). Ignoring that, I just find it to be very middle of the road; some great music on here, but a lot of campy/cringy filler too. It's simply does not live up to the status I assigned it as a pre-teen.

It's... fine? Perhaps I didn't get it but I don't see what the fuss is all about

Surprised me this, I’m not really a big fan of The Who albums (other than an odd track here or there), but this was more listenable than anything else I’ve heard. Unsurprisingly it felt more cohesive given the concept/story, and seemed more focussed on rhythm guitar and melodies and not Townsend’s insufferable ch-ch-ching rock signature guff. It has a great ending track as well. Good to know they did one not-shit album.

..

Ok, so you have to understand that I think The Who are one of the most overrated bands of the 60's and a pretty lame band, and those horns on the Overture are not helping, but I guess here we go. I do appreciate that the songs flow together, but I guess it is easy when most of the songs kind of sound the same. A lot of these songs sound unfinished, they don't really have a hook or anything to really draw the listener in. I guess I spoke too soon because Eyesight To The Blind and Christmas sound different, but they also sound really bad. who thought the "AH AH AH AH AH AH" was a good idea. We also could have done without Fiddle About. PINBALL WIZARD COMES AFTER FIDDLE ABOUT!?!?! WHAT IS THE STORY AGAIN?!?!? HUUH??? This album has a very ambitious idea, but I think the music suffer for the sake of the story, which makes the actual album pretty flawed. In order to tell their story a lot of the songs just end up feeling really bland or unfinished. The Who weren't able to break their accusations of being lame. High 2.

Ok. Not their best

Didn’t enjoy

I really liked pinball wizard but to be honest nothing else caught my ear much.

I have a confession… I don’t love The Who. I just don’t care about Tommy, I want songs. I’m sorry. I don’t get it. Great, they made art, sadly the story sucks 4.1/10

Not terrifically grabby....

I wrote a whole thing and it got deleted. Missing narration for this to make any sense. Long and meandering.

Fav: Pinball Wizard Least Fav: Overture Ngl I expected a lot more from this album, was hoping for more songs on the same level as Pinball Wizard. Interesting concept though

I know this is a big rock opera that some people love but it doesn’t do much for me. Kind of boring and long

What a terrible album. It goes nowhere and has one catchy tune. This is played on a loop in the dentist's office in Hell.

Before I listened to this album, I thought I liked the Who. I'm not so sure anymore.

There's a couple of great tracks on here, but overall I found it to be cheesy. The Who are such a funny band like that. They have some absolute classics, but the quality of their average album-filler seems really low to me.

I was looking forwards to this album, but for a rock opera, it was just so…boring. A few good songs scattered here and there but just not much else to care about. Some songs almost had some unintentional humor with how dumb they sounded.

I appreciate this is an important, landmark, album. However, the overall story was difficult to invest in. Sure, there are some decent tracks. Most notably "The Pinball Wizard". But, it comes across as an album of self-indulgence. The importance of the album saves it from a 1 star rating.

q paja ni lo terminé imagínense

At first, I liked it. The musicality was interesting and the 60s English folk influences were enjoyable. But then it’s just essentially a continuous flow of the same thing over and over again for an hour. The rock opera concept itself is imo just an exercise in masturbation. Standout songs to me were The Acid Queen and Welcome. Both of those I listened to twice but on the whole I doubt this is an album I’d ever revisit.

Obviously very talented musicians. The drums are a real treat. Storytelling is belabored but often unmemorable. When I’m in the middle of listening to a song I don’t mind it, but if I remember that it’s supposed to be a large cohesive work I feel like I’m suffocating.

I think there are only 2 songs by the who that I really like and this album didn't change my mind. High 2.

I'm not a fan

Well this makes me sad. I knew this album and was excited to hear it again. Listening to it back though, I realised that I MUCH prefer the soundtrack to the film than the original album. The songs are reworked, the theatrical style suits it better and despite it being a longer album it’s a much faster pace. Plus the incredible appearances from Tina Turner, Oliver Reed, Elton John, Ann Margaret, Eric Clapton, etc.) really help define and distinguish different characters. In the original version I found myself wondering about the gaps in the story. I even looked up the story afterwards and found the lyrics didn’t really align with what was supposed to be happening. It’s never explained how Tommy got introduced to pinball and how he went from being cured of his deaf dumb and blindness to being seen as a new messiah. One final thought on the lyrics - did we need the song about him being molestes by his uncle? I can’t imagine that making it on to too many playlists. Musically the songs are good but the knowledge that they weren’t the definitive versions kinda prevented me from enjoying them wholly. At times I found it a bit exhausting but the final half really picks up and some tracks still sound amazing. Overall I respect the ambition, concept, and musicianship but this wasn’t a trip down memory lane I needed.

Not their best

Did some reading of this album to better understand what exactly I was listening too. Felt I needed to after that fiddling song haha. Pinball wizard makes a lot more since now! Tis a seriously influential album! Like it became so important culturally that Jack Nicholson features in the movie they made of it…. Which I might try get round to watching! But overall the drums are awesome but the album is not quite for me…

Of all the Who albums I've listened to for this project, this is probably the one I was most excited for. But...it kinda sucks? Innovative for the time, but would be way more likable if the choruses weren't annoying af. Also, it's kind of interesting that a progressive rock opera like this would be more acoustic driven, but the production is just so flat. Did not enjoy this. 2.5/5

I'm honestly not sure about this one - it has all the trappings of a "great album", but nothing quite... clicks? If we take it as a whole, the ur-Rock Opera, then there's not much distinguishing the songs (barring the clearly-meant-to-be-a-single Pinball Wizard) and there's little context for much of the songs in the story. If we look at this as an album full of songs, then there's actually an awful lot of filler between the actually substantial stuff. The story is obtuse to the point that I only found out parts of it by reading the wikipedia article, and it's just very... Fine. Not awful, not great, just... Fine. I had honestly forgotten parts of it by the time I reached the end, which is a damning statement if ever there was one. Also, if we're listening to this in 2024, the story of a disabled kid with PTSD and severe needs being neglected, abused, then starting a cult to pass this experience on to others is Not Great. Faves (ish): Pinball Wizard, Eyesight to the Blind, Underture

my memories of this were the movie box art when I was a kid. I get its a rock opera and that explains the length, but boy oh boy this was not good. Is there a good rock opera? its certainly not this. At least its mostly devoid of sing-talking like a lot of rock opera/broadway albums have.

well the song about the pedo uncle certainly was something

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

This album is just a slog.

Terrible. Wish i could give it 0 stars. Liked Pinball Wizard though

I HATE The Who. The only rock band from that golden time I cannot stand. And this pretentious so called "rock opera" is sh*te and overrated. So first of all we're talking about a boy who not only witnessed a traumatizing event, but also has been severely abused and tortured by faimly members, which leaves significant psychological repercussions as it happens in real life, but this album, instead of having an arc about this situtation, it makes absoluteley no stand at all. Tommy is no hero, Tommy is a villain, and the writers do not intend to make this a tale of caution, maybe they even relate with Tommy? Or is it semi autobiographical? After having the LSD trip, he manages to break the trance and becomes conscious, he starts gathering some following and becomes a messiah, but Tommy is not healed at all, he's traumatized and wounded inside. He's no spiritual leader, he's ready to inflict what was inflicted to him. On the final part we see that Uncle Ernie, the abuser, is in the camp, welcoming the disciples. "Here comes Uncle Ernie to guide you to your very own machine". The disciples revolt and Tommy retreats to his inner self again. But Tommy didn't learn anything, he's just sad his disciples weren't fully submissive, so he's probably gonna do it all over again; start another camp/religion, but better this time. He still has those delusions of grandeur and of being worshipped: "following you, I climb the mountain, I get excitement at your feet". So what's the moral of the story? None. Is there at least one good song out of this mess? No.

I really like the who but judging this as an album it wasn’t for me. Wayyy too long. Tim said it’s a ‘rock opera’ which I Fournier a bit cringe. I wonder if other ‘musicals’ make the list

Second worst thing Pete Townshend ever did Automatic one star for any album that I can't get the whole way through. The Who have done some great stuff. This isn't it.

Horrendous!!

Don’t really know what to expect from this one, but I’ve got another car journey coming up, so here goes! OK, that was certainly an experience. For such an iconic soundtrack, I expected a lot more. Even the songs everybody knows seemed quite flat. Won’t be listening to it again.

R Kelly did it better.

I love this band's music, and Tommy. Was super psyched when I recognized Pinball Wizard and it came on. I also liked how the album felt like it had a progression, like I was at a concert or something

Brilliant rock opera/concept album I had the film soundtrack LP (cheap remaindered cut-out from Debenhams) I saw them perform this at the Royal Albert Hall in 2017, it was fantastic

BEST SHIT EVER LES GOOO

Brilliant rock and roll album

Legendary!

Epic!

Listen to this album with a candle burning and you’ll see your future

I really liked this, only know a little about The Who which is mostly just their big hits including Pinball Wizard which is from this album. I'm a sucker for a good concept album and this album telling the life of Tommy was such a fun listen. Incredible album!

good! However Disc 2 isn't avaliable in my region :/ Disc 1 and 3 are though? (Denmark). It's either a high 4 or a low 5. I might be biased since I generally like music from the 60's and 70's.

First rock opera, in a class all it’s own. I have never stopped spinning this record ❤️💪

5/5

very good, not my type but good

nothing more to say: masterpiece

Pete Townsend is an absolute genius and his Rock-Opera Tommy is proof. A concept album is one thing, but concept album / Rock-Opera was unheard of in 1969. Look no further than this concept album / rock opera / film would wind up as a successful Broadway musical. 5/5

For good or ill, "Tommy" has served as the highest example of "Rock Opera." It's flawed, for sure, but will always be one of my favorites.

There's some corniness for sure, but I love The Who and I have a thing for rock operas. I'm not deducting my one point penalty for double albums because I make the rules. Not gonna do it for The Wall when that comes up either.

What a trailblazer of an album. The first side starts of with some less memorable cuts but it does build up hype really well. Side 2 and 3 have some really memorable songs like the Acid Queen and Pinball Wizard. That is also when the amazing 'See me, feel me' chorus starts popping up. The story might be a bit wacky but the album is filled to the brim with amazing energised playing and tons of memorable riffs. 60s bloat and excess at its best, a sign of what was to come in the 70s.