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TOMMY
The Who

DVD Audio Dolby Digital 5.1

Review by Mark Wiechman

Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet

Album ****

While no one can deny the innovations and genius of the Beatles, Pete Townsend accomplished something Lennon & McCartney did not, individually or collectively: a full-length rock opera—and he wrote it all himself, words and music.  Technically it is not an opera unless the roles are actually acted out instead of sung, but recently Tommy was mounted successfully on Broadway, so I won’t call the semantics police.  I was fortunate enough to see the production, and even from the worst seats in the house, it was loud and enthralling, finally bringing Townsend’s vision to fulfillment.  While he may have risen to notoriety as a guitar-smasher, he is actually one of the few true geniuses of modern music. 

See me…feel me…touch me…heal me…

But this great work almost never happened.  In 1968 the Who were half a million dollars in debt, and like Fox’s desperate all-or-nothing gamble on The Sound of Music, the Who wagered everything on a story about a boy who becomes deaf, dumb, and blind after witnessing a brutal murder.  He then becomes a pinball prodigy and following his cure, attains messianic status, but not for long.  In the end he must find the strength within himself to go on.  I can only imagine the record label executives pondering this one.   To me, there are several emotional themes---the isolation of the individual, exploitation of the young and innocent, and the desperate search for meaning in life.  Normally we would look for these in the darker literary works of the twentieth century, but instead we find them pumped full of testosterone, rocking the walls, and demanding the listener to find answers instead of despair.  Over budget and behind schedule, even lacking some overdubs the band wanted to do, the album was a huge success and continues to inspire young rockers who spend hours trying to play or sing Pinball Wizard half as well as the original.

This strange story of abuse and triumph works not just on a composition level but also because of the incredible chords pounding from Townsend’s guitar, Daltrey’s soaring vocals, Moon’s bombastic yet precise drumming, and the bass (and brass, even!) from Mr. John Entwistle, whose bass lines seem to reinvent the instrument every few bars.  DVD-Audio will reveal mistakes and shortcomings even better than normal stereo CD’s, but the greats shine even better, as Tommy surely does here.

The best reason to purchase this two-disc set is that Tommy only takes up the first disc.  The second has numerous unheard tracks, including a demo of Pinball Wizard and a studio version of Young Man Blues, very cleanly recorded and G-rated.  It is quite a contrast with the better-known live version. 

Complete songlist:

Disc One: 1) Overture, 2) It’s a Boy, 3) 1921, 4) Amazing Journey, 5) Sparks, 6) Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker), 7) Christmas, 8) Cousin Kevin, 9) The Acid Queen, 10) Underture, 11) Do You Think It’s Alright? 12) Fiddle About, 13) Pinball Wizard, 14) There’s a Doctor, 15) Go to the Mirror, 16) Tommy Can You Hear Me? 17) Smash the Mirror, 18) Sensation, 19) Miracle Cure, 20) Sally Simpson, 21) I’m Free, 22) Welcome, 23) Tommy’s Holiday Camp, 24) We’re Not Gonna Take It, 25) See Me/Listening to You.

Disc Two, Out-Takes and Demos: 1) I Was, 2) Christmas (out-take three), 3) Cousin Kevin Model (version 1), 4) Young Man’s Blues5) Tommy Can You Hear Me? (alt. version), 6) trying to Get Through, 7) Sally Simpson (out-takes), 8) Miss Simpson, 9) welcome (take 2), 10) Tommy’s Holiday Camp (band’s version), 11) We’re Not Gonna Take It (alt. version), 12) Dogs (part 2).  Stereo Only Demos:  13) It’s a Boy 14) Amazing Journey, 15) Christmas, 16) Do You Think It’s Alright, 17) Pinball Wizard.

Audio ****

I have listened to this album more times than I can count, and the 5.1 mix manages to have the same balance as the original stereo version but as with all good 5.1 mixes the listener will notice many things which may have escaped notice before.  Keith Moon’s power has never shown so brightly, yet the tightness of almost every riff is even more apparent.  His technique may have been unorthodox, but he never played one note out of place.   I hear piano on a few tunes that I never noticed before…and I play piano!!!

Note that this set also includes the “original” stereo mix, which was reportedly lost years ago but discovered when this DVD was prepared.  Of course, with the 5.1, who cares about the stereo mix?  Both are good but The Who in 5.1 rocks.  A good excuse to buy a powered subwoofer, methinks….

Extras: