Yes. It Really Is That Good.
When The Who take to the stage tonight at The Royal Albert Hall in London, it may very well be their final performance. Thanks to guitarist, singer-song writer, Pete Townshend's ever worsening tinnitus ( a condition that causes a constant ringing of the ears) a legendary band may go out on a relative whimper.
But if tonight were to be the final chapter, it would, in some strange way, seem almost natural. For the first time since 1997, the band will play their sprawling, and often times challenging, rock opera Quadrophenia in its entirety. If you're gonna go out, might as well celebrate your crowning achievement as a band right?
Released in November of 1973, the album is set in 60s era Britain. Here we meet our young anti-hero, Jimmy, who has a knack for pills, American R&B and causing mischief around town while riding on his trusty scooter. His relationship with his parents is "meh" at best, and he's always afraid of the day he has to grow up.
But the biggest conundrum facing Jimmy is his quadrophonic personality. His four distinct emotional states reflect each member of The Who. A tough guy (vocalist Roger Daltrey), a hopeless romantic ( bassist John Entwistle), a lunatic (drummer Keith Moon) and a hypocrite (Townshend).
The story's climax comes when the dreaded day of maturation arrives. Jimmy doesn't know how to function so he decides to do something he's never done before. I won't give away the ending, just do yourself a favor a listen to it!
Time has been good to Quadrophenia. Upon its initial release it was given decent to mediocre reviews. Critics praised Townshend's ability to perfectly translate teenage angst and self loathing into the best lyrics he ever wrote. Yet the album was marked down for being long (a double album with a running time of 82 minutes), over dramatic and the story too scatter shot to fully understand.
Now, almost four decades, after the fact the album has gotten the praise it deserves. WhenQuadrophenia was remastered in 1996, Rolling Stone's review said:
But if tonight were to be the final chapter, it would, in some strange way, seem almost natural. For the first time since 1997, the band will play their sprawling, and often times challenging, rock opera Quadrophenia in its entirety. If you're gonna go out, might as well celebrate your crowning achievement as a band right?
Released in November of 1973, the album is set in 60s era Britain. Here we meet our young anti-hero, Jimmy, who has a knack for pills, American R&B and causing mischief around town while riding on his trusty scooter. His relationship with his parents is "meh" at best, and he's always afraid of the day he has to grow up.
But the biggest conundrum facing Jimmy is his quadrophonic personality. His four distinct emotional states reflect each member of The Who. A tough guy (vocalist Roger Daltrey), a hopeless romantic ( bassist John Entwistle), a lunatic (drummer Keith Moon) and a hypocrite (Townshend).
The story's climax comes when the dreaded day of maturation arrives. Jimmy doesn't know how to function so he decides to do something he's never done before. I won't give away the ending, just do yourself a favor a listen to it!
Time has been good to Quadrophenia. Upon its initial release it was given decent to mediocre reviews. Critics praised Townshend's ability to perfectly translate teenage angst and self loathing into the best lyrics he ever wrote. Yet the album was marked down for being long (a double album with a running time of 82 minutes), over dramatic and the story too scatter shot to fully understand.
Now, almost four decades, after the fact the album has gotten the praise it deserves. WhenQuadrophenia was remastered in 1996, Rolling Stone's review said:
Quadrophenia is the Who at their most symmetrical, their most cinematic, ultimately their most maddening. Captained by Pete Townshend, they have put together a beautifully performed and magnificently recorded essay of a British youth mentality in which they played no little part, lushly endowed with black and white visuals and a heavy sensibility of the wet-suffused air of 1965.
Yes. He's Just that Awesome.
I suppose the initial mixed reactions were caused mostly in part by The Who themselves. As a live piece, the album was a disaster. The floating, intricate synthesizers that served as backing tracks often skipped or came in out of sequence with the rest of the band. Also The Who thought their audience too stupid to fully grasp the story of Quadrophenia. So between each song Daltrey and Townshend wouldl describe the story in detail killing whatever momentum they had built up to that point.
Though it sold well, the band quickly retired the album playing only a a few tracks at gigs for the next 30 years. This obviously never set well with the band because they spent 2 years in the 90s playing the album straight through - only this time it took The Who plus a horn section, two keyboard players, a second percussionist and back up singers to get the job done.
For all of it's chaotic, maddening and complex nature, Quadrophenia will always remain timeless because it deals with basic and universal themes - growing up, fitting in and belonging. When haven't you "worked yourself to death to fit in" at one point in your life?
Jimmy claims to never be able to "get that even tanned look on my face", his "fingers are clumsy" his voice "too loud", yet his "ill fitting clothes" help him to "blend in the crowd". He may not like the fashion or the time frame in which he lives iin, but he goes along with it to get the girl and be accepted.
He's (almost) always high, paranoid, angst ridden, filled with hate, love and incredibly sensitive at the same time. He's an outsider by nature who does whatever it takes to find a home - regardless of where it is.
And it's these basic longings expressed in Quadrophenia that make the album, and The Who themselves, timeless.
Be Jealous. Be VERY Jealous.
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