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"

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

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

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.

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 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

A classic.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

q paja ni lo terminé imagínense

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”

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.

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.

Não fui capaz de entender a história da ópera. Só tem a obra-prima Pinball Wizard

How do you think Pete Townshend does it? What makes him so good?

Listened to this so much in high school and college.

I love it! This is by far my most-played album of the past year, it’s a joy to hear it yet again. My wife adores this album to the point that it now holds great nostalgic value to me. A month or two ago I had lunch in a restaurant at Jay Peak, VT, and the song Tommy Can You Hear Me? played over the radio. I took a video of it to send to her, we joked that I’d been Tommied in the wild. It’s getting the coveted 5 stars, first & foremost for sentimental reasons, but as well as that, it’s such a great jam.

Quintessential rock opera; Quadrophenia is superior, in my opinion, but the band had more time to grow before that came out. I'm a big fan of the Who so this is an easy 5/5 for me.

Lo disfruté mucho. Especialmente las canciones Amazing Journey y Sparks.

True album. Enjoyed the journey.

Quite a bit more disturbing now that I'm old enough get get the cruel parts of this. So masterful.

I haven't listened to this all the way through for years. It makes much more sense if you do. It still sounds great with some excellent tracks. I don't consider it a 'concept album' or a 'rock opera' - it's a (sad) story told through a number of songs.

Hall of Fame

Listen to Tommy with a candle burning and you will see your entire future.

Tommy js an album that I’ve been aware of for the longest time, but never got round to listening to it in full until today. I remember Pinball Wizard being a song I learned on guitar in my teens, but aside from that this whole album was new to me. I’ve said this many times, but I do love a concept album and this one tells such an interesting and heart wrenching story of a child who internalises traumas to the point of being psychosomatically dead, dumb and blind. It’s a fascinating journey, and I loved it.

i already know this one

Loved this. Didn’t have very high expectations but I thought it exuded quality from start to finish. Christmas was my highlight, but all good and a def re listen for me

i love this album, this is exactly my kind of music. rock music from this era tops it all. the storytelling is amazing, i loved "eyesight to the blind"

Tommy was a crazy concept, telling a truly insane story. Yet it worked, and paved the way for countless others. A number of the songs can't stand on their own, but as a whole it somehow works. A slightly flawed yet amazing album. I would rate this a high 4, but I am bumping it up to a 5 due to its historic significance.

10

Brilliant

IT'S A BOY MS WALKER, IT'S A BOYYYYYY! An all-timer. Probably the best album with a song about a sketchy uncle.

How am I supposed to rate a rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind pinball player as anything less than 5? Not possible!

Classic progressive rock. I love the stories these albums told.

Great album

een zeer goed album, hoewel ik de film versie nog net iets beter vind

I honestly love this. It's rock enough, that you could pull out a song and put it on the radio, but it's very clearly an album that begs to be listened to as a complete piece. I actually really like the story. Although, I'm also just a sucker for a rock opera. The only song that really doesn't really do anything for me is Tommy's Holiday Camp. Everything else about the album though, I really, really enjoyed. Favorite Song(s): Christmas, Pinball Wizard, Go to the Mirror!

Loved it LOVED IT!!!

Legendary

LP

So much love for this album.

This album is an absolutely fun journey that shows of great music and a cool rock opera story. 4.5 stars

Iconic and revolutionary for its day in a sea other iconic artists of that era Loved 1969 music and this was another great album by the Who after a string of equally great albums entered Rock Opera into the lexicon

Rock opera done right!

Eine der ersten "Rockopern". Kann man immer noch gut hören.

Essentially perfect

The movie is great too if you haven't seen it

Childhood bias for this album but I love this music so much. I used to sing these songs as a kid with my parents

The one and only rock opera that matters. The way they recorded awesome songs while maintaining the same ongoing theme during the whole album is marvelous.

Classic. Loved it for decades

You really need to pay attention while listening to this album and you will be gifted with a short and sweet story of Tommy. Well it‘s one of the most sold albums of all time, but still I‘ve never listened to it before. I loved this one and will surely listen some more times to it.

Y'know, for the longest time, QUADROPHENIA was my favorite rock opera The Who had made. Attribute that to how I first experienced deep cuts from both that album and TOMMY: I saw The Who in concert back in 2016, and I was blown the hell away by "The Rock". Back-to-back with "Love, Reign O'er Me", I became an instant fan. Meanwhile, they'd played "Amazing Journey" and "Sparks" earlier, and... Well, I recognized "Pinball Wizard" at least. I'unno, at that time they just didn't really do anything for me. Fast-forward years later. I still like QUADROPHENIA a lot, but especially after having seen the film adaptation... It just feels a little more standard than it used to? Like, "Yeah, this is how The Who typically sound." And of course, that's not a bad thing, but... Eeehhhhh. It doesn't sound as incredible to me as it used to. Meanwhile, TOMMY, having seen its film version and having spun Tenacious D's medley a million times? Oh, hell yeah. This is the weird-ass rock opera shit I wanna hear. Mrs. Walker, it's a joy. Whatever problem I had with it way back when—maybe I thought TOMMY sounded smaller than QUADROPHENIA—I don't even mind. Nor do I mind its 74 runtime. I just have a blast listening to it, whenever I do spin it in full. But even when I restrict myself to the songs in Tenacious D's medley ("Pinball Wizard", "There's A Doctor" and "Go To The Mirror!")... Well, simply: "Listening to you, I get the [good-ass] music." (WHO'S NEXT still tops, though, just to be clear. And if you've never heard Elton John's cover of "Pinball Wizard" from the movie soundtrack, do y'self a favor. Honestly, I like it even better than the original. Love me all that piano stuff, goodness.)

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. I think this was pretty damn good; it’s not perfect, and it’s admittedly probably a little closer to a 4 than it is a 5, but I respect the structure of the album and most of the songs too much to drop it down to a 4. It is a bit long, and certainly a little too loose and open at times where the clear vision of the album gets a little lost in the technicalities of the tracks. However, that’s nitpicking – it’s weird to say “the instrumentation dilutes the story,” because that’s remarkably dumb for a rock opera. You’re not necessarily listening for the story, you’re listening for the blend of both, and for one of the earliest ones, I’d say this album does a damn good job of setting up a blueprint. It’s also a pretty solid story, going from dumb, deaf and blind to basically a cult leader, only for him to realize he is indeed just as alone as he was, pinball or otherwise. At least, that’s how I interpreted it. There are some feel good moments in here, and some not very good ones (I’m stunned at the molestation, really), but that’s what any good plot should have. I just liked it a lot – again, it’s not perfect, and I do think 74 minutes is a bit self-serving, especially with a few songs that kind of do nothing other than re-iterate a plot point or two, but regardless of that, what’s here is a super good listen. At the very least, the instrumentation here is great, and while this doesn’t quite hit the superb highs of Who’s Next, there’s enough moments where everything just glides to forget about the looser parts of the album. I’m totally fine with bumping it up to a 5, but it’s certainly a lot closer to a 4.5 than it is a full 5 for me.

Funny thing that the Who were better before and then peaked with Who’s Next. So this for me, though epic and led to some great covers is in between. But no, I’ll give it a “foive” as Pete was so young and deserves nothing less.

A classic - beyond comparison!

Eins der besten Alben ever!

It will take you a while to get to the songs you most recognize - Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, and We’re Not Gonna Take It. Enjoy the journey. This entire (double) album sounds so good, and Keith Moon on drums keeps each song interesting and engaging.

Great album A jewel in sonic sound. Also music fir a great broadway musical

Put on your eye shades, put in your ear plugs, you know where to put the cork. Hey you gettin' drunk So sorry, I've got you sussed. Hey you smoking mother nature You missed the bus Hey hung up old mister normal, Don't try to gain my trust Cos you ain't gonna follow me Any of those ways Although you think you must!

Primera y espectacular opera rock. Imperdible

Deeply personal writing by Pete Townsend. As usual, musicianship is brilliant.

One of the first and best concept albums

One of m'y first LP i bought in m'y collection!! So Much souvenirs of that album...

One of my all time favs!! 5 Star performances from the whole crew

I've listen to this album since I was 10. The live version on the special edition was astonishing

THE concept album from one of the greatest rock bands even to plug in an amp and break their instruments over it.

It has been a while since the 1001albums randomizer has served me a true classic; a record I’ve known and loved for 50+ years. That said, isn’ quite perfect. It has many brilliant moments, but a few misses. Tommy was a bold and ambitious project in 1969, and even a bit audacious. A rock-opera, with overture, interweaving themes around a complex (and sometimes confusing story). The original vinyl included a lyric book, which identified which character was singing each line, which made a world of difference in understanding. Tommy has had significant impact through the years, from the Who’s performance of it at Woodstock, to ballet and opera productions, to the 1975 major motion picture. And a 1991 stage adaptation. Tommy was even analyzed in a book I read in the late 70’s (Wilson Bryan Key’s 1976 “Media Sexploitation”, IIRC. But it might have been 1975’s “Subliminal Seduction”. I read both, I forget which one it was). If I were to pick 10 albums that are “important”, this would be one of them. Not quire perfect but no question it rounds to 5/5.

cool!

Listened to this tons as a kid. I wasn’t sure if I’d still enjoy it today, but I really did. Pictured the characters from the movie version as I listened and had a delightful time.