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Customer Review: The Who's classic rock opera gets a 35th birthday celebration fit for a king!
The Who's fourth studio(and fifth overall) album Tommy was released in May of 1969. The Tommy album was the make or break for the group because if Tommy had failed, The Who would have probably disbanded due to lack of funds. Guitarist Pete Townshend came up with a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind kid named Tommy whom becomes those aforementioned things after witnessing an event as a child that traumatized him(his father killing his step-father whom he considered his father). Alot of classics appear on this album like the Overture, the classic Top 20 hit Pinball Wizard, Amazing Journey, the Underture(best instrumental on here which is basically a repeat of the album's other instrumental Sparks), Go to the Mirror, I'm Free, Cousin Kevin(one of bass player John Entwistle's greatest compositions), Fiddle About(about the perverted Uncle Ernie), Tommy's Holiday Camp(another excellent ditty written by drummer Keith Moon whom did an excellent rendition in the film version of Tommy in 1975) and the classic finale We're Not Gonna Take It/See Me Feel Me. The other tracks on the album It's a Boy, 1921(You Didn't Hear It), Eyesight to the Blind, Christmas, The Acid Queen, Do You Think It's Alright, There's a Doctor I've Found, Tommy Can You Hear Me?, Smash the Mirror, Sensation, Miracle Cure, Sally Simpson and Welcome are all great pieces as well though tend to be overlooked. The album made The Who legends for good and peaked at #4 on the Billboard chart and was their first Gold seller(eventually Platinum). In 1996, the album was re-released as a remastered CD but used different masters for the remixed reissue. In October of 2003(just in time for Tommy's 35th Anniversary), Geffen Records(formerly known as MCA) re-released the album as a 2-disc Hybrid SACD with the original mix on the CD layer and a killer 5.1 mix on the SACD layer and this version uses the very original tapes that were found in Universal's vault after being said that the original tapes were destroyed by Kit Lambert in a fire. As a result of the discovery of the original tapes, the sound quality is amazing on here. Disc two has great outtakes and demos like I Was, The Who trying to record Sally Simpson with hilarious results and instrumental versions of Tommy Can You Hear Me and Tommy's Holiday Camp among many other rarities plus a cool booklet with rare photos. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Superb CD! Am glad to own it but 2channel SACD transfer should be better
5 stars for Tommy redbook CD layer and 3 stars for the stereo SACD transfer. What can I say this is a classic album that I have wanted to purchase on CD for sometime. For me it is very important to have the best remastering I can find. By that I mean closest to the original vinyl, but with the benefits of digital music. Tommy is an immensely enjoyable album so I went for this Deluxe hybrid SACD release. This Tommy is probably as good as it gets on CD but the stereo SACD layer was a bit of a let down. I am a huge fan of SACD's but on Tommy I was much happier listening to the non SACD stereo layer. In standard CD playback this is a very impressive and enjoyable remastering. I have not heard the 1996 reissue that other reviewers claim will be the same as the non SACD layer of this disc but liner notes claim the stereo layer was also remastered in 2002. It would surprise me if the 1996 Tommy was this good but I can not say for sure. The stereo SACD playback was dynamic crisp and detailed, it just did not have the flesh and life found in the standard stereo layer. This is the first SACD I have purchased that I do not playback with SACD when possible. As for the bonus tracks maybee they could have been better chosen, but they are never the less a pleasant addition. (This review makes no judgement on the 5.1 playback as it does not interest me )


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