Reviews (page 5 of 14)
not it that it was gonna be better didn’t finish tho
Awesome The who is such a great band The who? The what? Huh?
Boy, do I love a good rock opera. I imagine that Tommy is one of the earlier examples of a rock opera or even a concept album. Albums that tell a story throughout are some of my favorites, because the artist made a concerted effort to make a cohesive piece of music/art rather than a collection of individual songs pieced together around a few chart-topping singles. I've never been a huge Who fan, but Tommy is something of theirs that I can get behind. Certainly an enjoyable listening experience. Top Tracks: Eyesight for the Blind, Pinball Wizard, The Acid Queen, Christmas
I'll take their live albums over this, but you gotta give them credit for their ambition alone. Artists had done concept albums before, of course, but this one felt different, and was marketed as such. There's been plenty of concept albums since that have lapped Tommy, but maybe acts like Pink Floyd or Frank Zappa wouldn't have swung for the fences if the Who didn't first. I find Tommy to be a little self-indulgent and there are a lot of times where things don't seem to click for me. But when they do, there are some great nuggets of music to enjoy.
Has some really notable highs and I love the ambition of it but once it gets past Go to the Mirror!, the falling action of the plot really hampers the rest of the album. Nothing on here is bad but damn, they went really strong for like 42 minutes but then you've got another 20 minutes of a dismount. Sally Simpson's alright. But Pinball Wizard? Hell yeah. Movie's fun too! Favorite Tracks: Christmas, Underture, Pinball Wizard, Go to the Mirror, Sally Simpson
I've always been told that The Who are one of the most improtant and influential bands, but I've never really understood it when listening to their music casually. I had to listen to Tommy quite a few times before I could really make a judgement - there are some outstanding songs on here (though I much prefer the Tina Turner psychotic take on Acid Queen) and the scale of grandiose is admirable, but I fear the music never quite lives up to it, and 24 songs really do blend into each other.
For a rock opera, this record is pretty much what set the standard. Very interesting theme and the music is very good.
One of the most overated albums ever
I need more who
interesting…
Listening session: january 4th, while finishing a uni assignment and crocheting Listened to before: no Thoughts: great album to listen front to back, the Freaks from Freaks and Geeks knew what’s up Favourite tracks: 1921, Underture, Go To The Mirror!
interesting
This was hard to plow through. There were just a couple of good songs buried in there, but it’s mostly painful to listen to.
Sååå himla bra. Älskar!!! The Acid queen, Christmas, Pinball Wizard
In 1997, the Christian rock band Geoff Moore and the Distance released a cover of The Who's "I'm Free", using the lyrics about a previously deaf dumb and blind kid becoming a cult leader to be about Jesus instead. I dunno, I think that's funny.
This album isn’t for me. It’s too long and a little boring. I have come to realize that the who is just not for me. Pinball wizard is fine
Wow! An hour and 45 minute album with maybe two good songs on it. Pure trash. I don’t care about the story. I care for good music. This isn’t that. Repetitive. Boring. Forgettable.
Interesting approach for an album. I would love to see it on stage as a Rock opera show.
At it's most effective when simple. The storyline works to its advantage, and the hits are big hits. Some of the interludes are a little meandering, but the underlying melodies are very effective. Probably one of the best whole Who records.
Worth listening to once all the way through…but you know the good stuff off this already. Pinball Wizard, and We're Not Gonna Take It being the standout tracks
last time I listened to this I gave it a 5, today it is a 4. I think it's a very cool concept and there are some great tunes on here as well :)
It's fine; good story
Really a masterpiece. The build up in the first half is brilliant, and when the refrains start landing in the second half it's pure eargasm. As far as complete albums go it's hard to top this one, with the story of abuse, revelation, and redemption wrapped in the silly story of a pinball wizard (the story of "why pinball?" is a fun one for any trivia nerds).
Supposed to be one of their best
I dunno, if I’m Zooey Deschanel in Almost Famous I just don’t think this is the album I would pick to show my brother that music is good
Some good songs but I kind of find it to drag on. Enjoyed more in the beginning half. A little on the creepy side too
Quadrophenia is better.
kinda boring, good melodies tho
Good. Some filler but overall chad
I have no idea what a rock opera is, but this albums sounds good. There's a distinct sound carried throughout the album, and it's amazing how they tell a story across the album, although that has become a bit more common since this was released. 8/10
Not as strong as Who’s Next or Quadrophenia. Pinball Wizard is still a bop though.
Dit maar eens even serieus aangepakt. Na beluistering van de plaat uit 1969 de film uit 1975 maar eens gekeken. Vervolgens de dubbel-LP van de film (in Duitsland langs de weg gevonden) weer eens gedraaid. En daarna opnieuw de originele plaat. De film zorgt in ieder geval voor wat context voor waar dit allemaal in vredesnaam over gaat. Niet dat het heel diepgravend of wereldschokkend is, het verhaal is eigenlijk nogal puberaal. Jongetje met jeugdtrauma wordt flipperkastkampioen (iets waar je kennelijk schathemelrijk van kunt worden) en krijgt een messiascomplex, wat vervolgens helemaal misloopt. De film biedt in ieder geval wel veel visueel spektakel, het is in feite een twee uur lange videoclip. Niet met de minsten: Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John en zelfs Jack Nicholson (!) zingen mee. Dat zorgt voor muzikaal wat meer afwisseling en power dan de originele plaat, waarop we alleen The Who horen. Nu nog een cijfer. Zonder kennis van het verhaal is het een verzameling geinige, soms rare popsongs, die moeiteloos vier plaatkanten vullen (en dat is al een prestatie op zich, weten we inmiddels), al is de 'Underture' pure vulling, wat de heren zelf ook al toegaven. Maar ik wil het pionierswerk van het succesvol opzetten van de eerste 'rock opera' wel belonen, al blijft de muziek wat mank gaan als je geen idee hebt van het verhaal. Uiteindelijk is het muzikaal ook behoorlijk strak en aanstekelijk gedaan. En de ouverture levert al jaren een fijne bijdrage aan de sfeer bij de Top-2000, dat mag ook wel eens gezegd.
De ouverture leidt dit album prachtig in. Het is één van de zeldzame momenten die mijn aandacht weet te pakken. Het introduceert een levensverhaal. Maar eerlijk gezegd, volg ik dat verhaal nauwelijks. Vaak zakt het album naar de achtergrond. Als je dan jezelf dwingt meer actief te luisteren, merk je dat het wel goed in elkaar zit en pak je een element van het verhaal op. Na de opening heeft alleen Pinball Wizard de kracht om uit zichzelf mijn aandacht naar zich toe te trekken. Ik ben niet de enige. Dit nummer is een paar honderd miljoen maal geluisterd op Spotify, terwijl de rest een paar miljoen keer is geluisterd. Ergens op zo'n 3/4 ben ik het album echt wel zat. Tja, vier kanten vol, het is echt teveel van het goede. Daarmee lijkt het geheel onder een vergeetbare 3 te zakken. Maar dat voelt toch niet goed. Ik weet niet precies wat het is. Maar laat ik de uitschieters maar als smoes gebruiken om het naar 3,5 sterren te kunnen tikken.
Het is vakantie, dus ik pak er makkelijker het grote snobboek bij dan de wiki. En dan is het wel humor om te lezen dat de snob van dienst een halve rant afsteekt waarom dit album wat hem betreft zwaar overrated is. En dat een album van meer dan een uur sowieso te lang is. Hadden ze maar meer van dat soort criteria gehanteerd. De snob moest wel toegeven dat het album toch wel enigszins iconisch is geworden. Het is het in ieder geval het bekendste werk van the Who. En zelden is ook een ouverture een (voor ons) bekend nummer. Wat dat betreft wel mooi om dit album nu tijdens de top2000 te krijgen. Ik vind het wel aardig om een soort van verhaal in muziek voorgeschoteld te krijgen. Het maakt het wat draaglijker dat het ietwat gedateerd is. Maar nummers als Pinball Wizard blijven toch erg tof. Ik heb me ondanks de lengte er prima mee vermaakt. Drieeneenhalve ster
a little too long, solid album though. i like the pinball song
meh wasnt anything mind blowing + found it pretty boring after a while just dragged on for too long so its getting a 2
So i've been putting this off for a couple weeks now, this is #63 and I'm now at #95! It's double album, and even if I do not dislike The Who, I DO know what they sound like, so I wasn't that excited in a "I'm gonna discover this" kinda way. Eyesight [...] and Christmas were my favorites from disc 1. Pinball Wizard's the big one on disc2, like the album, I like it but I don't looove it!
A bit surprised by how little i liked this one. I've liked most of The Who's singles, and I've always heard this was one of the greatest rock operas out there. Some of the songs were good, and the transitions on the first side worked well. After that, though, there were so many disjointed short bits with quick fade outs and abrupt changes, it just didn't hold together for me. On top of that, a double concept album about a guy who's really good at pinball didn't get me to care at all. I was seriously looking forward to this one. So disappointed.
First I want to say I absolutely love long concept albums. But I have to admit I have not heard this all the way through, or if I did, I listened to it once and it did not stick with me. I get what the Who accomplished with this classic album. But I dont know if today, it just sounds dated, or that I just completely lost interest. It felt like a slog until Pinball Wizard, and then I was just waiting for it to be over. Again I love concepts, but this one is just not for me. I will give them three stars for being one of the first bands to pull off this kind of presentation at this scale.
aunque tiene varios temas que quiero volver a escuchar, hay mucha repetición en los instrumentales y las melodías a veces son monótonas. la historia es entretenida pero no muy profunda. todo extremos, pocos grises. el album tambien sufre porque es muy largo. igual me gustó y tiene momentos muy buenos. canciones favoritas: 1921, Cousin Kevin
reminded me of being young at home, dad listened to lots of rock from this era. recognized a few songs, was a fun journey.
Absolute ass
3 hours!!
Outstanding early concept album
It's repetitive with a lot of filler songs. There are places when it is shining, pinball wizzard for exemple is a fun song, but overall, entirely too long and unnecessary. I dont need those half baked songs of 1 minutes, and the concept is ok but not mind melting
This is a classic album for a reason!
Operatic as hell. This one is pretty good, though I find it hard to see the attraction of the Who. There's a couple on here I like, and the story is engaging, but not my favorite on the list.
Too long … some classics on there though …
I bought this on vinyl several years back from a car boot sale for 2€, listened to it a couple of times and I don't think I've been back to it since. Listening today reminds me why. I don't know what this is like as a soundtrack, having never seen the film, but as an album, this just doesn't really work. A collection of half ideas that don't work as full songs. Even the one great song on here _Pinball Wizard_ has some ropey transitions and a bit of a rubbish ending.
“Overture” had me so excited, hearing the Pinball Wizard melody in there. But as time went on, I grew less and less interested. By the time “Undurture” came around, I was altogether disinterested. Minutes of acoustic guitar passages going nowhere. I felt like I was missing a visual accompaniment or something along those lines. The musical equivalent to eating unseasoned chicken. Surely this album’s novel concept, which it really didn’t dig into at all, carries its reputation as something noteworthy or iconic. Because there just isn’t substance to this thing. What can I hear on Tommy that The Who didn’t do better at another time? Sadly 2/5
I enjoy The WHO, old and new, but I'm not into drama rock and the theatrics of musical storytelling. This may be a masterpiece but the first 11 songs were all just average and incomplete I felt. It sounds folksy and dated. Song 12, "Pinball Wizard" is a rock and roll royalty track but we 'fiddled about' too long to get there. "Go To The Mirror" and "I'm Free" are really good songs and rock radio staples from when I was a little kid first getting into rock. The other 19 tracks are just filler. The story of Tommy is lost on this guy, I'm not willing to sift through all the blah songs to find out who he is and what makes him tick. It's 2.5 stars for me but I'll round up because there's likely a good reason for it being on this list, so the half star is for whatever influence or staying power this album has.
1st listen great rock opera
I can appreciate the ambition, but I think it's not that interesting to listen to, and goes on for a bit too long. Faves: Overture, It's A Boy, Pinball Wizard, Go To The Mirror
the only thing preventing the whole album from falling flat is the concept, yet it doesn't manage to make me forget about the fact that it's a snoozefest
Goosebumps, check
I hated this. Also you gotta be absolutely shit at pinball to be beat by a deaf and blind kid.
That was a lot filler to get to Pinball Wizard
Doesn’t quite hang together as well as The Wall nor have as many outstanding songs that are able to stand on their own, but then again, these guys were the first and this had no template they were working from
This one really didn’t do it for me.
Great as a concept and some good songs on the album but listening to it now I was a little bored after the first 20 mins or so. All sounds a little too samey after a bit.
It’s the greatest concept record ever made… Commercially, it was a smash hit, critically, it was acclaimed. It was adapted into an orchestral version, a ballet, a movie and a Broadway musical. Each song can and does stand on its own outside of the storyline, a rare feat for a concept record. This is a seminal and important work in modern music and easily one of the greatest records ever made. A true masterpiece.
A definitve master piece!
Habe ich nicht komplett gehört und ich habe immer Probleme damit, neue Musik zu hören. Aber es war ganz gut
Tommy, oh Tommy. I love this album and was obsessed with it for a while. It is far from perfect and even farther away from being The Who’s best album, but I love the Who and I have a soft spot for insane and stupid crap in art. Tommy’s main sin is that it bites off so much more than it can chew with its constraints that many of the attempted themes and concepts can go completely over your head and often do. This album might have even faired better as a triple so that it could flesh its themes out more. The main idea of the story is trauma, but hippie and celebrity culture, spiritual awakening, post-war England, religion, and exploitation are all incorporated to varying degrees of success and obscured by so much absurd metaphors and allegories, like a pinball cult. There are also a few weird sequencing issues, like Christmas and Cousin Kevin interrupting Eyesight to the Blind and The Acid Queen, leading many people to being confused as to what the point of The Hawker is as they don’t put together that the woman he’s singing about is meant to be The Acid Queen. Later versions would correct this, like the Broadway version and the Royal Albert Hall concert. Speaking of other versions, the studio version of Tommy is pretty lackluster when comparing it to the live versions available from the original Tommy tour. There’s the Leeds version, the Hull version, the Tanglewood version, the Woodstock version, and the Isle of Wight version off the top of my head, and I recommend all of them. However, none of these are complete performances of the album, as The Who never performed the entire album live until 1989 to my knowledge, which makes the story even harder to follow than the original. These live versions have the incredible energy that made The Who the greatest live band of all time, but the studio never captured that power until Who’s Next, the group’s following album. The tour for this album was where Roger Daltrey developed his raspy rock voice, which you can hear in snippets on the record, but most of it still sounds pretty tame. I realize I’ve spent much of this review criticizing, which makes my proclaimed love of this album seem odd, but rest assured, this album holds a special place in my heart. The music is great and has a deeply human, triumphant message (which is NOT ableist, Tommy’s deafness, dumbness, and blindness is a metaphor for trauma and how it cuts you off from the other people in your life and is explicitly a mental block as opposed to an actual disability). Also the actual double LP is absolutely sick, I got it from a friend’s grandfather and it comes with a book of these illustrations based on the lyrics. The gatefold is actually a trifold and has continuous 3-page design on both sides, it’s great. I don’t mean to be a vinyl purist, but I feel this album sounds much better on vinyl, the production is way cleaner than what I remember from listening on digital, but it’s been a bit since I listened to the album on streaming. 4/5
Wel leuk beetje saai maar goed
Interesting concept, some quite challenging lyrics. I know it's a rock opera but I would have liked some difference in musical style here and there. Some good tunes dusted around though!
Probably about time to modernize this class with an album called Jimmy and a song called “Super Mario Bros. 3 Wizard” about that kid from the Fred Savage/Jenny Lewis movie.
Let’s just say that I feel differently about this album than Ben.
I liked the songwriting, was like a long ass story
Classic old rock Key change in amazing journey to breakdown is quite nice And the guitar riff at the end of the song Really nice transition into sparks The part see me feel me from 2:20 on Christmas is really nice Repeated motif on go to the mirror from Christmas really nice Vocal mix on were not gonna take u solid but lyrics damn
This album has me very conflicted, I really want to like it but I just can’t. Don’t get me wrong, the story-telling about Tommy’s life is good but it can wear a bit thin after 74 minutes. I do give the album credit as one of the first instances of the genre of opera rock, but most of these songs can come across as a muddled stream of consciousness to be completely honest. Songs such as ‘Fiddle About’ definitely do not age well and was a slightly uncomfortable listen. Although, there are some highlights in this album, especially ’Pinball Wizard’ (a banger) and ‘Smash the Mirror’ but these highlights can get lost in the other 22 songs. Overall, this album is a historical album in terms of genre experimentation however its long run-time and dated concept certainly lets this album down in my opinion. Favourite tracks: Pinball Wizard and Smash the Mirror My rating: 2/5
Realistically, I just don't understand this. I feel like it's probably good -- maybe even fantastic -- but the story went completely over my head, and none of the music is particularly enjoyable on its own. If I gave this a lot more time, energy, and relistens, maybe this would shoot up a lot for me. But that's just not happening. Fave track: - Pinball Wizard
This is a movie that really freaked me out when I saw it as a kid and have stayed away from it ever since. It’s still true after listening to it. Some really good songs in there but some really messed up stuff too, but it’s telling a story so I get it. Overall pretty ok. Sounds like The Who wanted to make an album that sounds like the Beatles made a musical at times.
The transitions to the next song is pretty cool, the acid queen was the best one.
I actually enjoyed this far more than I expected. It was very over indulgent but the band are superb
Classic album
Can you believe that people used to read books in the past?? Well, I can, if this was the alternative
By the halfway point, I had thought up a funny review to write which was the following: "Give me a second to savor this moment. I think this is the only time in my life I will ever hear a song about Pinball so I want to enjoy it while I can." Imagine the look of excitement on my face when I got to the end of the album
you dont wanna know
Trop long
apart from PInball Wizard, nope
why is it so long? 2/5
Love the stereo separation. Great sounding instrument recordings. Good themes song wise. I don’t love the plotline of Tommy. This one has grown on me a lot over the years.
I hate rock operas and this is worse than most. The lyrical content is weak and the music meanders as if lost, far from home. Oh, and then there's the sex abuse.
While I generally like The Who, this is not my favorite album by a long shot. I also didn’t like the movie. Quadrophenia is a far superior concept album as is the abandoned and now reconstructed LifeHouse project. As for Tommy, it’s a pretty mellow Who record with only a few passable tracks worth playing again. Pinball Wizard is still a quality track both music and lyrics still hold up after 50 years. It is a bit of a struggle to take in the entire record in one sitting and most tracks are forgettable with one still regrettable. The regrettable track is Fiddle About which makes light of childhood molestation. I’m Free/We’re Not Going To Take It is another okay track. This is a worthwhile attempt by The Who to craft a thematicly linked album but there are just too many unanswered questions and gaps to be a complete work. A for effort C- for execution. 3/5
Nag
This established the band as Rock Gods. Hard to believe 4 guys made that much music. And this album definitely showed they were not just another British Invasion band. The beginning sets the scene for the Opera and from Pinball Wizard to the finale they rule! See me, Feel me, Touch me, Heal me! Turn it up!
Strange lyrics, guess they were going for a over coming obstacles sort of thing, it has its hits and it has its misses.
Love The Who, hate musicals. What's a guy to do?
Got to the cheery song about being molested by your uncle and saw that there were like 65 more minutes to go and that was enough for me. The Who are a good band, and I can understand why people would like this album but it is just not for me. 2/5
overture : im not normally big on instrumentals but this one was interesting and fun- I didn't feel like I was waiting for the lyrics to kick in or anything. 1921 : i like the ballad style - normally a lot of music from the 60s kinda feels very beatles but this felt queen-esque with the chorusy singing Eyesight to the blind: the drum sounds so cool- like its hitting paper or something, I feel like all the instruments I've never heard anything like this ngl. Pinball Wizard : fun yeah. Ive heard before "sure plays a mean pinball" has a nice melody to it Sally simpson : felt very 60s rock n roll but I liked it lol. The whole TOMMY narrative is cool and I like that the whole abum has a story. We're not gonna take it : I LOVE that the story element continues with a summary of the whole album so far. I like the little riff after he whispers we're not gonna take it the first couple times.
I love The Who, amazing band. Hate almost everything about this album though. Almost every track is filler and the story is super confusing and pretentious (not in the typical charming Who way)
In the Broadway production, the song order is tweaked slightly, and Tommy’s character is portrayed in a more positive, less cynically manipulative way. Those changes improve the story, but the music on this version is exceptional. The Overture in particular has a way of staying with me all day.
A well-crafted concept album from beginning to end. Just the overture is worth the price of admission, but whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Liked it more than expected! Love Pinball Wizard, but most of the non-radio tracks were pretty good, too. I know it's a classic, but the concept of it all never intrigued me. Excellent drumming throughout and Daltrey's vocals were also top notch. Didn't love all the songs, but it's a solid 4*. Happily surprised.
Really interesting concept album, I'll have to listen to it a few more times before I feel like I get it, but the drums and guitar are absolutely fantastic.
Not sure if I'm into The Who after this. It's so...bland to my ears.
Some great individual tunes (“Christmas”, “Pinball Wizard”, etc), but the whole rock opera/ “narrative” (those quotes are for ironic effect, btw ;) ) set up just doesn’t come together for me.
Wow, this is a lot darker than I ever thought it was. It’s brilliant in the sense that it tells a very complex and artistic story that encompasses a lot of deep psychological concepts. The music is great too…. It’s also one of, if not the first, rock operas. It really defines a sub genre and sets the bar pretty high for what storytelling can be in music.
5/10 - waaaaay too long of an album, kind of just melds into one song after another; luckily I didn't listen to the extended version, 3+hrs!
I understand why it’s considered a great album but it didn’t grab my attention other than the songs I already knew. I prefer Quadrophenia or Who’s Next
Pretty sure they have The Who's entire discography here with how many albums they recommended it to me, stop doing that, I still think their sound is ass and listening to more of it won't make me think otherwise
Solid album and band.
What an adventure! My first venture into this rock opera. But I'll admit I skipped every overture, underture, left and right true and that seemed to elevate my experience
Amazing Journey The Acid Queen Pinball Wizard Go to the Mirror! I'm Free We're Not Gonna Take It
the who gets my vote for the most overrated band in rock history. and daltry's vocals are painful to listen to
Let’s face it the Who’s best album is The Singles! Desperate to catch up with the Beatles and The Stones and The Kinks, they seem to have gathered together some songs about abuse in various forms and written a half assed story to bind them all together and called it a rock opera. I never realised Pinball Wizzard wasn’t about Pinball until I heard it in this context. It’s dimminshed as a result. Frankly the best track is a 10 minute instrumental Underture. Overall though grim.
Way too much torture and SA content. Made me angry. Keith moon and the instrumentation are the saving graces. 2!
The Who is unique for it's time. Took me forever to realize Keith Moon didn't play a hi-hat. His style really defines the band at their best: bombastic. Maybe not my favorite Who album, feels dated. I'd rather listen to Rolling Stones from this era.
I tried to go into this rock opera with an open mind--as a rock afficionado, I feel like I need to enjoy The Who more, and I'm a big fan of a well-done rock opera (Jesus Christ Superstar remains one of my favorite albums of all time). And there was a lot here that I enjoyed--but I guess I wanted most straight up rock. You've got the big hits like Pinball Wizard, but then there's a lot of really short little storytelling tracks that didn't really hook me with a forward-driving story the way JCS or Rent did, for example. I feel like a better rock fan now that I've listened to it, but I feel like unless I'm willing to dedicate some more listens to it, it may not get stuck in my head and heart the way the others do.
This was a hard one to rate, the songs were all over the place. Starts out poorly, Overture was a long and dull instrumental. 1921 was ok, would have felt better about it if it wasn't after the previous two tracks. Amazing Journey was fairly decnet. Then the album really started to drag, for the next 8 tracks. And then Pinball Wizard shows up. That one was a lot of fun, it sounds familiar, might have heard it before but not sure. After that, the album finds its groove, with the next several tracks moving along nicely. There are enough good songs on this album to make a solid 3 if you cut out the rest. But the album is too long and filled with junk. Best song: Pinball Wizard
I did not listen to this because I owned it in 3 formats over the years, saw all the video adaptations, and am pretty worn out on the songs afret decades of radio play. It's brilliant in all aspects, writing, vocals, music, execution.
Extraneous “opera” bits don’t diminish the ambition or the number of matchless bangers.
I adore See Me, Feel Me...and I forgot it was part of the last track rather than a stand alone. Ambitious and the quintessential rock opera.
It's amazing that The Who ever convinced anyone they were a rock band. I haven't heard this in forever and man is it weird, even by rock-opera standards. But it's better than The Wall, I guess? (Can it be that Quadrophenia isn't on the list?)
Mom: No son, we have opera at home The opera we have at home:
Actually quite liked that
151/1001 The Who - Tommy Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ I have a friend who was obsessed with this album at college and tried it back then, but did nothing for me then and on re-listen, it hasn't done an awful lot more for me. I get why it's included, as it's one of the first rock operas, yes it tells an effective story, but it never engages me musically unfortunately. Pinball Wizard is the only real standout.
Overall Rating - 4.29/5 (8.58/10). Great album. If the content is disturbing, so is a lot of Classical Opera. They structured it like a Classical Opera, and it works.
A difficult dated story - I'd have picked Quadrophenia over this...good but not great
But much
Not a fan of concept albums. Yet to hear one I liked. Way, way, way too long. It's a 1 because I didn't finish it and I am not gonna put it on again.
got bored and didnt finish it
Very distinct sound that is uniquely "The Who". Enjoyed the listen but would not come back to it regularly.
Bailed after 9 songs, as I could see there were still many many more to come. I am not really a fan of 'Rock' or Opera, so that was never going to work for me. Pretentious without being interesting. Overblown.
Spotify tried to serve me up three and a half hours of this. No ta. I pressed on with the original release. The storyline is BONKERS. I tried to ignore this and focus on the music instead. Rock and opera should never appear in the same sentence. It's a mess of an album that lectures you. YOU MUST LISTEN! I'd rather buzz off me tits with some drum 'n' bass tbh.
Not a patch on Quadrophenia.
The first time ever the acoustic guitar was good and necessary. Mesmerizing. Don't understand the hate from the other reviewers lol
Some classic tunes.
Surprisingly easy to listen to.
Reminds me of our misspent youth…overwrought and dramatic…fantastic!
It's the Who's Tommy. Nuff said.
While I personally prefer the movie soundtrack version (hot take!!), this album still holds such a special place in my heart. Just a fun time with some WEIRD moments that make it even more endearing. A deserved classic.
This might get me some hate. This is a terrible album.
Solid concept album. A bit overrated. Who's other records are better.
Too long, overblown, a bit pompous, a bit tedious and a bit directionless. There are some cool instrumental licks interspersed here and there, and the concept surrounding the album is interesting at the very least, but the album never seems to have any idea of where it actually wants to go and I had to research/read into the concept whilst listening to make any sense of it. As soon as the album begins to build up a head of steam following a central idea, it falls into a perpetual loop of wanking itself into a coma - rinse and repeat.
Fun! ★★★★
22/11/2025 Take the album for what it was without the exceptional length. It was good. Spotify listeners: 7.2 million
Ooh - one good song and a lot of pantomine nonsense. I was traumatised as a child when I watched the movie version. Listening back now doesn't improve things.
I really wanna give this album credit for the ambition of it. I think it was one of the first, if not the first, album to try to tell a cohesive story through its runtime. Without this album there’s probably no The Wall, or really any other really plotted concept albums. And that’s really respectable, but also I didn’t love a lot of this album. It’s got its great moments undoubtably, and I’d say I liked the album a lot, but it’s drunk its own koolaid a little bit. It’s 25 songs, and it’s almost 80 minutes, and it really doesn’t need all that time. There are songs you can trim or cut entirely and it would be a better listening experience. I still liked it though, it’s just better in theory than in practice. Favorites: 1921, Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker), Sally Simpson
Great collection of songs, not the most coherent concept but still enjoyable
Even among all the great albums that came out in 1969 The Who's Tommy stands out. The Beatles are my favorite band but in 1969 The Who managed to release a better album than The Beatles THAT is how on fire The Who were in 1969. Insanely good. I have had few more pleasurable experiences in life than blasting Tommy and/or hearing Tommy through headphones. Try it NOW! What an amazing journey!
First Rock Opera on the list - I liked it
While I realize the historical significance of this album, I found it tedious. I felt I was listening to different versions of ‘Pinball Wizard’ even though they were completely different songs.
Piiiitkä levy, mut tää on jo sitä parempaa Whoota jos vertaa siihen ekaan mikä tässä generaattorissa tuli! Eihän tuolla hirveesti mitään isoja lekoja muuten oo ku omasta mielestä ehkä koko Whon tuotannon paras biisi Pinball Wizard.. Nostetaan nyt kuitenkin hövelillä tuulella tää neloseen
Mielikuva bändistä oli semmosta 70-luku rokkia ja alkuun olikin ihan menevää meininkiä. Puolessa välissä tuntui muuttuvan 60-lukurokiksi vähän semmosta biitleskopiojuttua ja tulikin tarkastettua julkaisuvuosi ja sehän oli -69 *tirsk*. Ei oikein loppulevy napostellut ja meni vähän fiiliskin siinä samalla sitten. 2,5 voisi olla totuus, mutta känkkäränköissä heti aamussa annetaan kakkonen
Kovaa yritystä mutta ei lennä ihan maaliin.
Oopperaa. Rokkioopperaa. Nyt on tääkin sit kuultu kokonaan. Pitäs varmaan nähä jossain jämsän kesäteatterissa tää niin aukeis enempi. Musassa ei sillai oo vikaa, mut parempii ne kuka:n normibiisit on. Eli taas särmätöntä arvosanaa.
Ihan menevää rokettirollia. Alkusoitolle aina peukku ylöspäin, ihan sama minkälaisesta taidepläjäyksestä onkaan kyse. Tästä ei itseasiassa entuudestaan ollut tuttu mikään muu kuin flipperivelho. Ehkä tätäkin pitäisi ihan ajatuksella kuunnella, että saisi vielä enemmän irti. Nyt jäi yhtenäisestä teemasta huolimatta vähän hajanaiseksi kokonaisuudeksi. Pidän edelleen Meat Loafin Bat Out of Helliä parhaana rock-oopperana, hyvänä kakkosena Green Dayn American Idiot. Tämä menee sitten ehkä kolmanneksi.
Not a big who fan.
I have it, and know it by heart.
Stylistically incoherent
Loved this. The overture really set the mood and the through story is interesting. I'm gonna do some reading about the album and give it another albun because I think there is so much to explore. The album is creative, it's experimental at moments, it pushes some musical boundaries for the time period. Also I've never heard of an "underture" before but that made me laugh, and the musical interlude was so cool. Feels like a trailblazer kind of album. I want to know more about Tommy
3.5/5 Nice, solid British rock album. One iconic song in here. You definitely hear influences from the Beatles / Led Zeppelin / Rolling Stones / Cream and many other related groups for the late 60s 70s. Solid era for music imo, I grew up listening to this type of stuff lots so I may be biased. The first bit of disc 1 which I assume was side A of the record, flowed together nicely. You can tell this was made during an era when people listened to albums not just disjointed singles. The backup vocals oscillating going “Ah ah ah ah” in Christmas is pretty fuckin rad. Some lyrics in We’re Not Gonna Take It were a bit gross, didn’t age well. Overall enjoyed listening to this album as background music, not sure I’d go back to any song tbh, maybe the pinball wizard one cause the hook goes hard and it’s kinda funny. The Who and this genre has a lot of influence in my music making.
First off, 'Overture' is fucking rad- what a journey- what an open. Sounds like the sgt peppers of rock and roll. Man, the recording and sound of those horns are so satisfying- analogue, mellow and colorful, so pleasing. Variation of sonic elements and creativity of these songs is excellent. The pacing and variety of this album laughs in the face of cookie cutter, replicable song formulae. This is a Rock and Roll symphony. From one movement to another, taking to you to different sonic planes, a 3 minute radio song to a ten minute psychedelic cruise on an analogue ocean. This shit got me writing like a pitchfork critic vying for his daily bread. The songwriting on this record is pleasantly varied, flows organically and ebbs/flows in a way that stirs emotion. The expression feels organic and authentic. Many of the elements used are exceptionally creative, I'm listening to the fantastically strange staccato backing vocs on 'Christmas' as I write this. Bring back this sound man! I need more eight track tape records in 2025. The soft colour of everything is perfection. Old school meet new school. Fuck digital bro. Really enjoying how warm and dark certain elements of the mix are. The god damn analogue saturation. OOF. The overall analogue tape colour of the production is extremely enjoyable. The hard panning of elements is intriguing, reminiscent of George Martins mixing with the Beatles. Mf is hard panning the entire drum set to the left channel. Wild. Cant get phase issues if the entire kick is only on one side - right? Conceptually, love the idea of a rock opera. Been listening to the music mostly this pass through- but would love to follow the narrative on a second listen. Sucker for a concept album. Particularly narrative surrounding more esoteric spiritual type shit, Gurus, Woodstock, Hippies, Rock and Roll, exemplifies the 60s-70s. I will be listening to this many more times.
My experience of Quadrophenia colours this quite badly. I don't think this comes anywhere close to that. Some good tracks, a lot of pomp and bombast and some frankly weird stuff.
### **Tommy** – *The Who* (1969) **In-Depth Review: Lyrics, Music, Production, Themes & Influence** --- #### **Overview** Released in 1969, *Tommy* is The Who’s fourth studio album and the first full-length rock opera. Composed primarily by Pete Townshend, it tells the story of a "deaf, dumb, and blind boy" who becomes a messianic figure after discovering a supernatural talent for pinball. Inspired by Indian spiritual master Meher Baba and the structure of classical opera, *Tommy* was a radical departure from traditional rock albums of the era. --- ### **Lyrics** **Pros:** - **Economical storytelling**: The lyrics are sparse yet evocative, often functioning like operatic recitatives. Lines like *“Captain Walker didn’t come home / His unborn child will never know him”* convey deep emotional weight in just a few words . - **Thematic depth**: The album explores trauma, abuse, spiritual awakening, fame, and disillusionment. The recurring motifs (*“See me, feel me, touch me, heal me”*) act as both narrative anchors and emotional crescendos . **Cons:** - **Narrative opacity**: The story can be difficult to follow without external context or repeated listens. Some critics argue the plot is “thin” or “reprehensible,” especially in its handling of abuse and disability . - **Problematic themes**: Modern listeners have raised concerns about the portrayal of trauma, particularly in tracks like *“Fiddle About”* and *“Cousin Kevin”*, which depict abuse in a stylized, almost theatrical manner . --- ### **Music** **Pros:** - **Genre fusion**: *Tommy* blends hard rock, psychedelia, vaudeville, and classical structures. Tracks like *“Amazing Journey”* and *“Sparks”* showcase dynamic shifts and instrumental virtuosity . - **Instrumental brilliance**: Keith Moon’s drumming is explosive and jazz-influenced; John Entwistle’s bass is melodic and aggressive; Townshend’s guitar work ranges from delicate acoustic passages to thunderous power chords . **Cons:** - **Inconsistent pacing**: At 24 tracks and over 75 minutes, the album can feel bloated. The *“Underture”*, while ambitious, is often cited as unnecessarily long and meandering . - **Melodic unevenness**: Some songs serve more as narrative devices than standalone compositions, leading to moments that feel underdeveloped or repetitive . --- ### **Production** **Pros:** - **Innovative for its time**: The use of recurring musical motifs, layered vocals, and studio effects (like phasing and reverb) creates a cohesive sonic world. The *“Overture”* and *“Underture”* act as orchestral synopses of the album’s themes . - **Live energy in studio**: Despite its conceptual nature, the album retains The Who’s raw live energy, especially in tracks like *“Pinball Wizard”* and *“I’m Free”* . **Cons:** - **Technological limitations**: By modern standards, the production can sound muddy or flat. The mix sometimes struggles to balance the dense instrumentation, particularly in the more chaotic sections . --- ### **Themes** **Core Themes:** - **Trauma and silence**: Tommy’s muteness is both a metaphor for childhood trauma and a critique of societal neglect. - **Messianism and exploitation**: The album critiques how society idolizes and then abandons those it elevates. Tommy’s cult-like following and eventual rejection mirror the rise and fall of 60s counterculture icons . - **Spiritual seeking**: Influenced by Meher Baba, Townshend weaves in ideas of inner enlightenment, though these are often subverted by the narrative’s cynicism . --- ### **Influence** - **Genre-defining**: *Tommy* is widely regarded as the first true rock opera, paving the way for albums like *The Wall* (Pink Floyd) and *Jesus Christ Superstar* . - **Cultural impact**: It spawned a 1975 film (dir. Ken Russell) and a 1993 Broadway musical, both of which expanded the narrative and introduced the story to new audiences . - **Legacy debate**: While some hail it as a masterpiece, others see it as a flawed blueprint—ambitious but uneven. Its influence is undeniable, but its artistic success remains divisive . --- ### **Final Verdict** | Aspect | Rating | Notes | |--------------|--------|-------| | **Lyrics** | 8/10 | Poetic and thematic, but narratively opaque. | | **Music** | 8.5/10 | Brilliant musicianship, but pacing issues. | | **Production**| 7.5/10 | Innovative for 1969, but dated today. | | **Themes** | 9/10 | Deep, dark, and still relevant. | | **Influence**| 10/10 | A cornerstone of progressive rock and concept albums. | --- ### **Pros & Cons Summary** **✅ Pros:** - Groundbreaking concept and structure - Musically ambitious and instrumentally rich - Emotionally resonant themes - Landmark influence on rock and musical theater **❌ Cons:** - Narrative can be confusing or alienating - Some tracks feel like filler - Problematic handling of abuse and disability - Overlong and occasionally self-indulgent --- **Bottom Line:** *Tommy* is not a perfect album, but it is a **necessary** one. It’s a flawed, feverish, and often brilliant piece of rock history that demands engagement—not just passive listening. Whether you see it as a mess or a masterpiece, it’s impossible to ignore.
Not the best Who album.
Rock opera is a really cool idea and this album seemed to start artists dipping their toes in it. The story telling is done well and easy to follow trough the album. But The Who are a bit rubbish and boring, don't excite me enough to want to listen to more of their stuff.
It's a bore Mrs Walker it's a bore. The only song anyone knows from this is also shit
I mean, this album basically invented the rock opera, and changed the idea what rock music can be, and proved rock music can be theatrical and long form. I'm not sure if other musicians would've been able to be as accepted if it wasn't for Tommy, artists like Bowie, Pink Floyd, Meatloaf. I'm not sure would have had the same reception if The Who hadn't set a precedent. The album as a whole is amazing, some songs get fairly disturbing, but thats OK, it's part of the story.
Bit of a long winded way to get people to listen to Pinball Wizard
Until today I had never heard this album. It is great that The Who were able to conceive of something so grand even if it is not executed as well as some of their other albums. I think that the rock opera album is an interesting genre and this may not be the best one but is the first or among the first, and that coupled with the first half of this album is why I rate this as a 3.
Generic rock album.
I feel incredibly whelmed. I guess it's a start into concept albums.
I guess it's an opera because there aren't any songs in it. Well... one. I don't understand music enough to know how to appreciate this.
Never listened to this because I hate Pinball Wizard, but it was a cool record, and when PW dropped in it was actually exciting to hear, the same way when No One Knows starts during Songs for the Deaf
I'm a big Who fan and play quite a few of their tracks in my covers band but had never actually listened to this album. I sort of enjoyed this but felt like a massive self indulgence punctuated by a few decent tracks. I've never worked out how they were such an amazing live band, possibly one of that best of all time, but they failed to get that raw brilliance down in much of their studio recordings.
Quite a dark, sobering story to tell. I wonder as a Who fan at the time how this would have been received to knock out a rock opera like this. Tackling abuse is always a hard battle, straddling crude and upsetting with thoughtful reflections, but that's kind of the point. Not much to refer to as a single. I felt like I needed to listen to it, and am glad to have seen it through. I didn't necessarily enjoy it as an experience all that much though.
Not a big rock opera guy
Obviously great, but I’m personally not super into it and respect it more than love it myself.
That would have been absolutely amazing if I had heard it at Woodstock. I think I'll watch the movie as a result of listening to the whole album but it's not as mind-blowing in the 2020's as I imagine it was back in the day.
There is too much of this.
I know it’s a musical but it’s soooooo looooongggg
Didn’t necessarily think I would but I still really like Tommy!
I love this album. Listening to it, there is some parts that could have been cut out, especially in the back half.
8/10
I've never listened to this entire album and I enjoyed it. It is unique as a "Rock Opera"/Concept album. This is definitely not the Who's best music, but listening to Tommy is not a terrible way to spend 75 minutes.
I spent a long time listening to this one to really let it sink it, as I found it to be quite a complex work. It's pretty cool, but didn't set me alight. Favourite tracks: 1921, Cousin Kevin, Pinball Wizard, I'm Free.
A very expansive record and totally deserved its status as a classic, although there's no deniable it definitely came from the 60's, but every song grew on me, which some parts are cheese-y, but it's all packaged and cohesive. It paved the way to a lot of extensive concept albums from bands like Dream Theater and Pink Floyd. How coincidence the album of the day happened to be the album I felt like listening to.
Tommy is a concept album telling the story of a disabled boy called, suprise suprise, Tommy. While the idea of the album is interesting, its 24 song, 1 hour 14 minute long length is perhaps too long for a mediocre rock opera. It is not bad, and has standout tracks such as "Overture", but the overall sounds feels repetitive and a little dry, with key features including vocal harmonies and drums front and centre. For a band with such a glorified history as "The Who", it is doubtless a little underwhelming.
Love it. Own it.
This was an audacious album that hit huge and established a whole new form for rock. I never liked it, the Who always had a couple of really weak songs on the early albums, songs that made them sound like a folk act instead of a swaggering heavy rock band. To my ears that's what this album was filled with, excepting Pinball Wizard and the "Listening to You" build at the very end, the rest nearly all seemed written only to fill in the plot and narration, produced to sound harmless. BUT they played nearly the whole album on the road for a couple of years which was supposed to be pretty amazing. After listening again to the whole album yesterday, I realized the Super Deluxe version had the whole live recording. And yeah, it's amazing, it actually sounds like the Who. I still don't like the material, but the performance difference from the studio version is incredible.
So many songs, so little variation.
After reading about the concept of this album and the fact that it's a rock opera, I knew I was in for a strange listen. It's cool that they undertook such an ambitious project and had a vision, but it feels like they missed the mark. Musically, it is completely adequate. The vocals and overall story are where they lost me. The lyrics are way too on the nose. It reminds me of a bad movie or TV show where the characters are essentially narrating everything they are thinking and feeling because the creators don't know how to communicate any of that symbolically through music, set, lighting, body language, etc. Each track on the album sounds pretty musically similar and the lyrics are just saying exactly what happened to Tommy. This album would be much cooler if the lyrics were a bit more symbolic instead of literal and if some emotional context was communicated through the harmony, tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, etc. A lot of the songs are so literal that they come across as incredibly corny and some of them actually make me cringe. The story of Tommy is also whack and doesn't make any sense. I can still appreciate that the concept is creative and respect the fact that they tried something different. This is one of the first rock operas ever created, so at least they were trying to innovate and expand the genre. I do like a few of the songs: Overture, Pinball Wizard, Go To The Mirror!, and Smash The Mirror. 4.5/10.
Cool to learn that this album was mostly a spiritual rebirth for Pete Townsend getting tired of making only singles to gain radio play. The rest of the band just accepting their new spirituality and to roll with it. Some of the classics like Pinball Wizard will also get my dad telling you verbatim stories about The Who. That you will hear every time the song plays. Seems to be a trend in my Dad’s music listening history. Though personally this album had some great tracks on it. Overall it was somewhat repetitive sounding and I doubt I’ll go out of my way to listen to it again.
Tommy is a decent album. There are definitely some good songs on here. But there is also some not so good songs
Better than their debut album thats for sure. The intro for pinball wizard is one of my favorite song intros of all time, great song too, definitely the best on the album. I appreciated the conceptualness of this one, although I wasnt able to pick up much other than Tommy was blind, deaf, dumb and good at pinball lmfao. The purely instrumental songs were great, I think when it comes to the vocals a lot of it sounds the same, which is the same trap The Who falls into in their debut album. Some songs annoyed me, and I think its a bit too long for what you get, could be trimmed down. 6.5/10
Looking forward to this, I actually do not know this album at all. My first rock opera maybe? Overture was a great cinematic start. Some silliness in here for sure. About halfway through, getting a little bored. Pinball Wizard obviously a banger. But I stopped after that and never came back to it. Maybe some day. 3.2/5
Masterpiece
Not a fan
Some good songs here and there but the rest was a tough listen. The uncle songs *shudder*
Very high concept. Quite a strange idea for an album but did enjoy it
Thought this album sounded terrible and wooden at first. It wasn't until listen 3 that i realized the equalizer settings were just weird and had washed out all the sparkle from the guitar and any edge from the voice. PSA for the Spotify listeners: make sure the equalizer is NOT set to 'rock'! >:(
It’s cool, there are some quality songs on here. Although it’s tough to rate based on the whole rock opera thing, it’s very different than an album. I’ll give it the old 3+ but stop short of 4.
This is one of those "classics" that's really overrated crap. Should have been a single with Pinball Wizard as the A side and Sparks as the B side.
A classic album for a reason. A terrific listen throughout. Yes, the instrumentation sounds kinda same-y as the album trucks along, but it keeps it contained and direct in the story. Arguably the first rock opera, so its influence alone could nail it at 5 stars. But it's also a great album in a vacuum. "Overture" and "Underture" are fantastic, "Christmas" has been one of my favourite The Who songs for a long time, and "Pinball Wizard" is a quintessential classic rock track. The short minute-long story driving songs make the album roll along well and tell a great story, and there's still quality rock songs in between. An ambitious story performed incredibly well.
At first I thought wow this will be an incredibly imaginative, instrumental exploration of what could have been a visual tale… but I couldn’t get through this and I’ll never try to listen to it again. Maybe having two concept albums back to back wasn’t helping my listening experience here, but this also 1000% felt self indulgent. Comes off like a strange drug trip narrative that a brain-fried friend tries to recount to you and no one could possibly know what he’s talking about except for himself. Favourite song(s): Least favourite(s): ^quite honestly I have no distinct choices it was all so bleh
if you write a rock opera you get your virginity back
i’m glad this site finally forced me to listen to this!!! been a blind spot that i should’ve covered years ago. and it’s pretty damn cool. the music actually doesn’t do crazy much for me but the work as a whole is undeniable. and it has pinball wizard
And lo, ‘Sgt. Pepper’ begat ‘Tommy’, which begat Prog Rock, which begat ‘The Wall’. ‘Tommy’ is a good album, way better than I expected. For 1969 it sounds surprisingly modern, ahead of its time, and incredibly polished. The 74-minute runtime flies by. I like it a lot. Does it all hang together perfectly as a unified whole? No, but it’s still a major achievement, a must listen, and miles ahead of what most of their contemporaries were dishing up during the same era.
Fett
I still like The Who alright, and this record wasn’t bad at all, but I found myself struggling to engage with the story they were trying to tell…and while Pinball Wizard is great, I guess I felt like there wasn’t much else on this record to get really excited about. 3/5
Who wants to sit around listening to an hour of wank about uncles fiddling their nephews, cousins doing physical abuse and a 'gypsy' queen who foists drugs and sex on a kid? Is this fun for people?
Bueno
On paper, I should love this more. But even though it's a sprawling affair with tons of brilliant ideas (confession time: I have a knack for opulent and imperfect concept and double albums), it's hard to immerserve myself into the occasionally meandering execution. Also, the storyline… It feels undercooked.
Eu basicamente ouço música pra curtir e me divertir. Nesse álbum curti um pouco, mas não o suficiente e ainda terminei cansado (pulei uma ou duas músicas no processo)
Classic Who. Undeniably Pete Townsend. A blast from my youth. So many good times tumbling about with the lads. Loved listening to this and Quadrophenia. Not a perfect album, certainly odd in spots. Wasn’t that the point?
оч круто, раньше такое не слушала. в стиле своего времени но с изюминкой
it was okay
Not my cup of tea
très très cool, toujours cette voix pas hyper assurée
6/10… Rock opera
I think if you’ve heard The Who and don’t already love or hate them, this isn’t going to change your mind. I like the concept of a concept album but I couldn’t really be arsed following the story.
I have listened to this probably more than any other album ever. Don't listen much anymore because of that and it's not my top Who album, but still 5 stars!
It's fine, but a lot of unnecessary tracks. The concept is wonderful though. Especially "Pinball Wizard".
Fantastic album and show. Not many of this length can keep my attention. Didn’t really need the third disk of the super deluxe version, but it didn’t take away from anything. Impressive that this was composed by PT when he was only 23 years old! And it still holds up today.
I'll admit, I'm pretty critical of The Who, but I appreciate the concept behind this album and I really appreciate the skill and unique style of Entwhistle and Moon. Still maintain the other two are overrated though.
It is less compelling without the visual element for me, the music is cohesive but feels one note for me when trying to listen while doing something else - it really requires my full attention to pick up all the different things going on. The underture is where it got going in this listen.
Badly needed an editor. It felt like it kept going narrative verse, 30 secs instrumental, narrative verse, 1 minute instrumental. Irritating, meandering and bloated.
I am generally a sucker for the 60s-70s great concept rock album, but this was very indulgent. Pinball Wizard is and remains an all time track, the rest are a bit much. Always been more of a Quadrophenia man.
I've heard this album many times, but probably not at all in the past 20 years or so. Yeah it's a little weird, but it's still a great, distinctive album.
I've never heard the full album or seen the film before. I was expecting a lot more really, it was ok without being amazing. I can imagine it was groundbreaking at the time, so I'll go with 3 stars rather than 2.
The Who have a super classic sound that transports you back in time. The second live disc makes you feel like you are in the crowd experiencing the moment. This is not my favorite genre of music, but I would always stop to listen to the Overture!
Liked it a lot!
The rare example of a concept that actually works. Yes, The Who was sick of making radio-friendly singles and wanted to achieve something more, but this still feels like a rock album and not a half-baked experiment.
Amazing. Always.
I saw the movie when I was probably too young, but it started my life long love for The Who. This album is ground-breaking and it was at the top of my Who chart until I discovered and dug into Quadrophenia, which is apparently not part of this 1001 album list. I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Of all the major concept albums/rock operas that came out in the late '60's and '70's I think this one is probably the weakest and my least favorite. The Who were way better at writing major one off hits than cohesive story telling albums. Pinball Wizard is a classic, but some of the filler tracks are just annoying. That said, you can start to hear sounds on this that they would later come to perfect on their hits from Who's Next and later albums.
7/10
Classic
I’ve come to learn I really can’t stand The Who from doing this list. They’re a decent singles band, but Jesus this album fucking sucks. I love a long overwrought concept album but this was bloody awful. I can’t believe it’s held in such high regard.
waste of time for me
Its The Who. Classic Rock. Solid.
Impressive and sometimes disturbing I’ve listened to this many times, but never this closely.
I already like a concept album and I like this one especially, having seen the musical revival bring the absolute batshit plot to life.
A camp counselor of mine was obsessed with this album when I was 9 and I remember really wanting to like it then, but I never really got it...and still don't get it (or really care to...oops!). Too long, too all over the place. Sort of became like background music after the first hour.
Good jams. Bizarre story.
What an unhinged premise. I don’t know how to feel but Pinball Wizard is a great song.
as much as I want to love The Who, i still feel like you had to be there with most of their output.
I am really sorry to say this but I just didn’t enjoy it too much and found myself wanting it to be over. There are some cool tracks and I really like ‘pinball wizard’, but stuff like ‘fiddle about’ and ‘there’s a doctor’ just help to fill out the rest of the album with fodder. There is literally zero need to have 24 tracks on one album.
I hear the beginnings of the 80s power ballads. could use a little more variety?
fun story telling and great sound
A bit conceptual, even for me, but all great music.
Just not a fan of concept albums. Some great songs but a lot of nonsense as well
I have a hot take on The Who, which is that they really only have one great album. I think Who’s Next is one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and The Who have a handful of great songs, but Tommy and Quadrophenia have never captured my attention in many attempts. I will say this spin highlighted a few more interesting moments on Tommy, particularly Overture and Underture. Tommy the song is always fun, but overall a record that doesn’t hit in its classic status for me.
Such a strange band, the Who. In my opinion this album deserves its place in the list. And there are fantastic passages, riffs etc. But then sections that are creepy, outdated, too long.
This is my favorite. Who album ever I've spent so much time in the car listening to this album front to back all of it is great
If you're going to have a Who rock opera on this list it needs to be Quadrophenia which is light years ahead of Tommy. I know this is a concept album, but there are really only 3 good songs: - Acid Queen, I'm Free and Pinball Wizard, which is still a belter. A poor album, a poor movie and an average stage show.
this was a really good concept album that went through themes of struggle, transformation and growth, some bangers too
The concept album seems to have a lot of filler. Unfortunately not feeling this even though I like The Who and it’s supposed to be one of their best albums.
So long, each song is a separate narrative which is fun
Tidlig rockopera, respekt og alt det der, fortjener helt sikkert en plads på listen. Vi ville helt sikker ikke have The Wall eller The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway uden den. Stadig kedelig i længden. Pinball Wizard er en banger
Ingen anelse om hvad den handlede om men jeg synese altså det var ret fed!
This is just bad... Thin sounding. His voice doesn't fit this style at all. Instruments are boring. Most songs are boring as well. Tommy.. dude.. Just give up..
Enjoyable. Crisp vocals and enjoyable riffs. I also got a bit more into the lyrics of this and found a new Christmas song. I don't think I've ever listened to an album all the way through that it a story about a character - so an interesting first for me.
Great production. Wanted to go with 3 first but 4 it is.
Little overstuffed, but obviously some classic tracks and they really paved the way for other rock operas that I just musically enjoy more.
This might be the biggest swing in opinion from expectation to reality. I used to really like this album, but it's just really weird and creepy as I listen now. Just not really something I would want to hear again - Used to like this one, but do I still? - More annoying than I remember. I think the whole 'concept album' thing used to really wow me... - Music is fine, but the content is weird and creepy now. Maybe that's on purpose but it doesn't make me want to listen again
On a preliminary listen, Tommy is about a nonverbal autistic kid who loves pinball who grows up to be a cult leader. It's some kind of story I guess, but I honestly think the album is overrated. I can't overstate it's importance to pop and rock, but I don't think it's an objectively amazing project. I'm bumping it up mainly for it's influence. Best Songs: Pinball Wizard Worst Songs: Tommy's Holiday Camp
Great
Their first rock opera has some great songs like pinball wizard but does get dragged down by guitar *anking.
Better than Coldplay
People love this album. I don't. It's got its moments of greatness, but it's not Quadrophenia.
Yeah this one is really damn good. They have so many offerings on this list and I got two in a row (in a 5 day span where I had two Pere Ubu albums and two The Who albums with one random in-between). This one was much better than The Who Sell Out. Still doesn't quite reach a 5 for me, but it's close.
The quintessential (and, I believe, first) rock opera. Tommy is the story of a boy who witnesses a murder and loses his senses as a result. His life is filled with abuse and torture before miraculously regaining his senses and becoming a cult leader. It’s a twisty turvy story that will break your heart. The Who’s style may not be for everyone, and this album is firmly placed in the psychedelic rock era of the late 60s/70s, but the story is something everyone should hear at least once. And, for an added bonus, go watch the old movie that brought the album to the screen. It’s a trip!
Ah yes, the "rock opera". Cute idea. Pretty good album
Quite a cohesive concept album. Pinball Wizard is famous and was the best song on the album. The song before was unpleasant. Leaning to Four, but maybe too generous.
Good but blended together
I can die without listening to this album, but not bad "Im Jesty Acid Queen"
This was an absolute slog to get through, that's hitting skip partway through a few tracks. Gotta respect the rock opera concept album thing as a... concept, but nothing about the listening experience was enjoyable. Going in, I would have told you I liked "Pinball Wizard," but now I feel like I never want to hear it again—it's just going to make me relive the rest of this album and I'd rather not. Best: "Pinball Wizard" Worst: "Fiddle About"
When I first saw the song count, I groaned. I typically don’t like long albums so this had a high bar to reach. After getting into it a lot of the songs are shorter so while still a longer album not as much as the song list might imply. Before going into this, I knew the song Pinball Wizard. I also vaguely knew that they had made a play about the kid in Pinball Wizard. I didn’t know that the entire album basically is the self contained story of Tommy. Which is all really cool. However, this album is the first time so far in these listens that I have wanted to stop listening to the album. I dislike this album immensely. The lyrics do nothing for me and no much of it seems like a teenager wrote it and talented musicians performed it. I really liked the song Pinball Wizard before this and it did give me a brief respite in the middle of the album but ignorance was bliss because I like that song less after a full listen. This album has very few redeeming qualities to me, I do appreciate the concept album style of this but the story feels shallow at best. I fully understand why it is on the list but I never want to listen to these songs again.
An unforgettable album certain to ruin anyone's day. Tales of misplaced sexual energy and misuse of power jump perspective nearly every song through an impressively choked gamut of sinister characters. I am reminded that evil can come from anyone, and especially those we collectively most trust and idolize. Difficult to stomach but relentless messaging that I choose to interpret as an important reminder to stay aware. Being welcome is not the same as being safe, and though I was more comfortable learning that from Little Red Riding Hood the lesson here is more visceral. There are no allies here, not even Sally's parents. The musical themes are repeated beautifully and carefully, and I appreciate the placement of Tommy's Holiday Camp with its mustache twirling fanfare and We're Not Gonna Take It with its recursion of the cast bringing the story full circle by taking a step back from the overindulgence of the earlier tracks to remind us of Uncle Ernie & crew's unsalvageability, not that we needed it. The only thing more chilling than Uncle Ernie is his possible ubiquity. Were I to hear this album again, it would be too soon.
oodness that was a dark experience. This might be only album where I actively hate every song but one, and I still want to give it 5/5 stars. This is not a musical album, this is dark musical theater you can listen to instead of watch. I was ready to write this album off as a 1/5 stars, this music sucks, about 7 songs in. But I started getting invested by "Christmas" immediately followed by "Cousin Kevin". Towards the latter part of the album, I couldn't focus on the other stuff I was doing, I was just sitting there listening to this musical. I'm still not convinced a good way to write a musical is via a feature length album, but I have to give it to The Who for how innovative that is in 1969. Each song by itself was awful though with the sole exception of Pinball Wizard (which has a much darker twist to it now that I've heard its full album). However, I really don't think The Who cared about making the music all that good. I'm hard pressed to believe there's a single person on the planet that thinks "Fiddle About" is a good song for its music as opposed to its importance to the albums story. The numerous 20-30 second songs spread throughout the album seem to cleanly separate the "acts" of this "show", and summarize the next steps in the story for people not paying close attention, a really nice touch (even though the songs suck).
Ive always thought of The Who as boring. This listen didn't change my mind at all. D'Angelo died yesterday. I'm gonna listen to Voodoo now.
Hey, another Who. It's been a good while since the last one - nearly two hundred albums since I listened to My Generation, which I gave a scandalous 1/5 rating to. Why? I've no clue. I musta been off my gourd when I listened to it, I guess. The title track of that album occasionally pops into my head, so it's probably not a 1/5 by my current standards. I'm curious to see what this middle point in their included discography will sound like. It's another hour-tenner. Right after Kanye's The College Dropout, no less. I need a break. Timeskip because we do those now. I am redefining the review medium through my exploration of abstract, avant-garde storytelling techniques. This truly holds a mirror to our own society or however the bloviating goes. Anyways, this was pretty alright. Maybe I shouldn't have sat out on this one yesterday. This style of pop rock is generally within my ballpark - the acoustic and electric guitars have a nice sound to 'em. Some pretty good percussion, too. Obviously, this thing is much too long and it kind of completely comes apart as it nears the end, though the avarice that this album has for my time and attention could lessen overtime as I come to appreciate this music more. I'm open to giving it a relisten sometime down the line. "Overture" is a solid opener - I love me a good instrumental track. The guitars go a long way in giving the track a satisfying sense of forward momentum, and the piano/horns are a nice touch. "Underture" is another good tune, no surprises there. I had to do a double take when I read the track name. Truth be told, none of the other songs really stuck out to me, though the album is an admirable kind of listenable from start to finish. I'm too laaaaazyyyy to check the book for this entry, so I'm gonna shirk my gatekeeping duties and let this one mosey on through. I cosign this inclusion.
Tämä levy löytyy omasta hyllystä ja on tullut kuunneltua tätä jo 40 vuotta. Tämä on yksi The Who:n parhaista levyistä. Osaan tämän etu- ja takaperin ulkoa.
Totally different vibe vs my generation
nuts
ADOREI! É um álbum muito bom, bem construído, bem completo, várias nuances.
Notevole
2/5
Liked the concept and cohesiveness, liked the music more than my generation, but it's still the who, who i am moderately lukewarm on, still
Really did not like this. Frustrating having never properly listened to The Who before. Felt like music you'd hear at the theatre.
Ik snap dat deze plaat een behoorlijke staat van dienst heeft met het populariseren van het fenomeen 'rock-opera'. Maar los van dat ik überhaupt ver weg wil blijven van opera's, heb ik nooit de pull-factor gezien van het rock aspect. Het sleept mij in ieder geval niet mee. Wel een paar geinige songs, maar net als dat ik met het jaar minder ga hebben met de band, is 'Tommy' ook geen naslagwerk waar ik vaak op terug ga vallen. 5/10 Highlights: Pinball Wizard We're Not Gonna Take It
Ik denk dat Tommy mijn favoriete plaat van the Who is. Ik vind dit één van de weinige écht geslaagde concept albums met een overkoepelend verhaal. De nummertjes zijn kort, pittig en hebben ook wel iets theatraals zonder in een progrock straatje te belanden. Melodieën en riffs komen terug over de plaat en je gaat als luisteraar langs verschillende moods. Er zitten wat prikkelende dingen in, maar vooral zijn er ook gewoon heel wat sterke liedjes - opzichzelfstaand. Dus, vet om weer eens helemaal van start tot finish te hebben geluisterd. 8/10 Highlights 1921 Pinball Wizard Go to the Mirror! We're Not Gonna Take It
Wow--this is a lot to get through. I saw Tommy in London in the 90s. As a musical theater experience, it's fine. The album that inspired it all? Ugh. Not something I would ever listen to again. The best I can say is that it's interesting. It's certainly a concept. I'm just not invested and nothing about the music is making me care. Some songs are too short; others are too long. I know this is important, but I just don't connect with it.
Classic rock, realized that it's a concept album which tells a story
Good. Does not sound like anybody else.
super
3/10
It was better than Who's Next but not as good as Live at Leeds. It's surprising how much I prefer a live album of a certain artist over studio albums - it never happens besides The Who, interesting. I am sure Tommy was a great inspiration for The Wall for example, which is a great thing. Anywho, this is a GREAT album, but it's not as perfect as many people say.
Great to relisten to after may years. Still slays.
Having heard about the album, but not having heard the album, I was very enthusiastic about this album. I really like rock operas in general, and so I was looking forward to finally listening to it in its entirety. However, it was very underwhelming to me. It felt very samey throughout the entire album, and I found myself bored with it quite quickly. The music is still good, and the songs can be enjoyable separately. Therefore this album cannot score any higher for me than it does. Was expecting at least a 4/5, but it falls short of that. 3/5
I already knew this album, but I was glad to give it a refresh. I enjoyed it far more this time than the last, partly thanks to this list and the new perspective it gave me. I don’t care much for "rock operas" in general. It’s a nice concept on paper, but I think it’s almost inherently doomed to fail - mainly because it’s usually too long, which dramatically increases the chances of having a ton of filler or weak songs. You also need a lot of time on your hands to appreciate them : it's meant to be listened as a whole, it makes little sense to just play a couple of tracks ; but not everyone has the the time or the mental space to sit through 75-90 minutes of music. Very few bands can pull it off – even the masterpiece that is The Wall is a weak link in the otherwise perfect discography of Pink Floyd. However, The Who kind of did it right. They obviously drew a lot from The Pretty Thing’s S.F. Sorrow (Pete Townshend denied it, but I don’t believe it for a second), another contender for the "reasonnably well-done rock operas" hall of fame. The Who added a layer of professionalism to the more dilettante approach of SF Sorrow, but also lost a bit of the crazyness in the process. Tommy is better structured (less LSD, probably) but also less spontaneous. I couldn’t care less about the "story", to be honest ; but I really loved the construction and the overall mood of the album. It’s musically very competent and well-balanced, alternating quiet, psychedelic and dynamic moments with gusto. The long psychedelic tracks like Underture are my favorites, and the short instrumental intermissions are very well done, giving the listener time to breath between the songs. There are a lot of awesome tracks, especially towards the end, and almost no bad song, which is remarkable. And I love the cover art ! I probably won’t listen to this record very often despite its obvious qualities, mainly because it's too long and convoluted (even a bit chaotic at times) for a casual listen. But it is indeed a landmark album. 8/10
Quite long and unaven which makes it difficult to grasp. It's a rock opera and I ddn't even lokked at the lyrics... can't really find really good songs or tracks . How ibfluencial this was? not sure, my first impression after Two listenings : overrated.
A bit annoying, nothing particular, not bad either
I’ve never felt so much like I only skimmed through an album. I’m biased by the only two Who songs I really know (I’m Free and Pinball Wizard) which share that same riff reminding you it’s part of a concept. My single listen was clearly not enough to take it all in. I often get the awkward feeling that the music is just there to serve the lyrics, rather than the other way around, whereas what I usually love about The Who is their musical energy. It’s still fairly easy to listen to and must have been pretty revolutionary back in 69, but in 2025, I struggled to make it to the end but I could come back to it.
This is alright! Not a favorite, but not at all bad.
It's a cool album with a great concept, it's just too long. There are some great songs on here. From the standpoint of a whole album, it's a little challenging for me.