Have to admit I didn't understand the album when I first bought it. I was in my early twenties and life circled around job, women and alcohol. I listened to Sabbath, Purple and Zeppelin - stuff that reinforced the life style and didn't make me think too much. This 2 LP set was complicated and demanding so after just a few plays I put it away and forgot about it. Life was good and I didn't wanna hear about mental disorders or inner travel. First a decade later I gave it another chance and found out what a great album it was. As a rock-opera it's a follow-up to "Tommy", but this time in a much more elaborated form. The libretto works on two levels. It handles the adventures of a schizofrenic teenager - Jimmy - with four different personalities in mid-sixties England. But it's also the group reminiscing their past. Each one of Jimmys presonalities represents a member ( lunatic - Keith Moon, romantic - John Entwistle, beggar - Pete Townshend, tough guy - Roger Daltrey). So you both get a story of the mentally disturbed boy Jimmy, his way towards healing, and memories from The Who:s early days. The plot and music sticks well together and it has some really great tunes. I often experience listening to musical pieces as journeys. This may not be the easiest trip with a rock band, but one interesting and rewarding. The production and mixing involved a whole staff with Townshend in the lead and audio on this UK issue is very good. First US release on MCA (MCA2-10004). Of the 1:st UK release the earliest had flat matt labels as shown here, the rest ridged matt. Cover is thin matt f/o with a large 44 page book containing pictures and lyrics. (WÖH*)(TRÄC*)(RÖKÖ*)
Last great The Who album. Sometimes I think it's better than 'Tommy'.
SvaraRaderaWojtek.
I agree it's up there with Tommy and in some ways better. It may be the last great album they made, but I'm also fond of "Who By Numbers", wich has same very nice songs.
Radera