For me, at their best, they are right there with Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd for the best sound and production ever. These bands ate just on another level.
The four themes fade in and out briefly in "I am the Sea" and then are explored more fully in the instrumental "Quadrophenia", which sets them up nicely for the remainder of the album. Glad you are enjoying this masterpiece; however, when you listen through the album again in the future you should not pause between songs as the transitions are brilliant when left to flow naturally.
I loved your commentary! The song Quadrophenia is pretty much an overture that introduces the musical themes you'll hear throughout the rest of the album. Typically, an overture is at the beginning of an opera or musical but the who used "I Am the Sea" as a tease for some lyrics that will come back. And they The Real Me to introduce you to the main character, Jimmy. The four main musical themes represent four sides of Jimmy's personality, Quadrophenia meaning a 4- way personality split. Each personality also signs with one of the 4 members of The Who. This is totally next level music, not just in the rock genre but in music in general.
One of the best albums ever made. The Who brought it to the next level. The OX’s bass work is beyond everything he ever did. Moon’s drumming is genius level. Daltrey’s vocals are amazing. Can you imagine the amount of work Pete put into the composition of this entire album ?
I’m not exaggerating, I fell asleep to this every night of my 16th year. It helped me survive a deeply hard time. I am forever grateful to Pete Townsend for this gift.
You were not alone friend! This album is so good I made all my kids listen to it to help them through the perils of adolescence just as it did me. Pete was channeling the Muse when he wrote this album.
I used to drift off to it too, every night after work. Wife bought me the CD after we retired. Listening to it in my comfy chair one evening, not sure which track it was, but when it finished I woke suddenly and jumped up to turn the LP disc over for the next side.
I was at the November 11th 1973 show at the London Lycium Ballroom. First time for a quadrophonic PA setup. They played 3 classics to start the show Can't Explain, Summertime Blues and My Generation before performing 12 songs from the album. Closing the show with My Generation again, Pinball Wizard, See Me, Feel Me, then the normal finale Wont get fooled again. What a night! Been to almost 30 shows since. Happy Days.
To understand this properly listen to the entire thing. The instrumental is the four main themes from the work, each representing a facet of the bands' split personality. If you're looking for "easy", you're in the wrong place.
The beach fight refers to an actual incident where 1000 mods and rockers fought on the beach in Brighton. The Quadrophenia film does an amazing job on presenting this. The behind the scenes says that the actors were encouraged to really let loose and have a real fight. It's an amazing movie.
I enjoyed the movie, found the street riot scenes exhilarating and spot on, but I liked the flow of the album better and could envision how I would film it from the album. The movie soundtrack differs from the original. No guess as to my preference.
This is WAY off topic, but I've been a Who fan for over 45 years. They are my favorite band of all time. Today, for the first time, I saw a photo of John Entwistle smashing his bass guitar at the end of a Who concert back in 1968. Obviously Pete is famous for smashing his guitars. But I never even heard about John smashing his bass. And in the photo I saw, he isn't just smashing the bass, he's smashing it with gusto!
So.. as a young guitarist this album changed my ideas of what music was and could be. Forever. btw... "Leaping" along is a drug reference. zoot suit was a mod favorite
Great reaction and review! The Quadrophenia track is still one of the most moving 'songs', I've ever heard in my 55 years of listening to a wide variety of music. Good luck with your journey!
Loved the reaction John, loved the emotion! Nearly 50 yrs and I still get goosebumps. A lifetime top 5 album for sure. As others are saying Townshend was a genius composer.
It's like learning about symphonies and classical music, but music that kids today can form bands to make today! Listen to this, kids! John will tell you about it along the way. This is what music can be and what you create. :))😊
This album hit a nerve for me right in the middle of my Led Zep, Deep Purple, etc intro phase as a teenager in the late 70s. It still pulls me in every time. Noting else like it.
In opera there is often an introductory piece called the Overture. It generally can include small samples of some or all of the musical themes or songs to come woven into a single piece of music. Here Quadraphenia(the song) is in fact the Overture for the rock opera of the same name. And yes, it's sublime. As is the entire album. It's only the single greatest and highest peek of achievement ever reached in the entire history of rock'n'roll, that's all.
Nobody in the history of British rock music has ever expressed the alienation of the (specifically) English urban working class more than The Who and the lyrics of Pete Townshend. This album is the ultimate expression of that pain and helplessness.
Hey,John--great album react...enjoying it,bro. Again-if you love the song Quadrophenia and proggy stuff like Yes/Starcastle,ELP,Kansas,Rush,etcetc... you need to check into Neal Morse and his many prog works. His Neal Morse Band albums are incredible-all 4 of them. He started in Spock's Beard (wrote everything- 6 albums). Also in Transatlantic with Mike Portnoy,and Flying Colors with Steve More (and Portnoy). And lots of solo prog albums along the way. Maybe a good start would be NMG - The Grand Experiment or Spock's Beard's Day For Night or V albums. Jump in--you'll adore his stuff! Cheers, T
History note: The story of Quadrophenia is set in the mid-'60s. While the US bounced back from wartime rationing pretty quickly after WWII ended, the UK had only ended it around a decade before.
The song Quadrophenia is an Overture for the whole work, interweaving themes and motifs from songs throughout the work. The reason the synths on Who's Next in 1971 seem "primitive" by comparison is that Pete Townshend was inventing their use in such a rhythmic device in a song, especially in rock. Up to that point synths were mainly used to make noises. Literally. And he recorded that Who's Next synth stuff at his home studio. His home demo recordings were used on the album and for the backing tapes. Quadrophenia was after he had worked with synths for a longer period and was working on a whole cohesive work, and had John Entwistle writing and performing brilliant brass parts on trumpet and French Horn. One of the all time great albums, Keith Moon at his studio peak, John Entwistle fully engaged because the horn arrangements and sizzling bass work was the result. Daltrey never sounded better, nor did Townshend's extremely precise guitar work. Everything he plays is note perfect and with astounding attack, feel, and variety of style. A shame it never came together live until long after Moon died. But still an amazingly powerful piece of music to see live without Moon and Entwistle.
Just Another Chapter in the Genius of Pete's writing&composition's.I'd join but You Look,act,same intellect,facial,hair of My Dearly Departed lil Brother.Your Awesome Dude&Hope You Understand.Sorry.
mods always claimed to be 'individuals',modern scooter boys the same,but they basically wore a uniform mods were modern and distanced themselves from their folks mores and attitudes great music from the movement but they let themselves down by riding around on hair dryer powered toys with junk stuck on them and they painted a target on the back of their fishtail parkas,which was never a good idea in london the bikers carried battries in their jackets not too dangerous though,a scooters top-end is about 15mph
I guarantee that the tempo is too fast, Ice listened to this album maybe 100 times. Spotify does this to everything. I switched to Tidal which does a much better job preserving the music's integrity
QUADROPHENIA, IS A BRITISH FILM ABOUT 60S MODS, AND THE JIMMY THE MAIN CHARACTER, IS BECOMING DISILLUSIONED WITH THE LIFE, AND HIS MENTAL HEALTH QUADROPHENIA, 4 PERSONALITYS. SHOULD SEE THE FILM MATE ..🇮🇲👍🇮🇲
This was the mountain top for Pete Townshend. In fact, the period between 1969-73 rivals the output of any single composer.
For me, at their best, they are right there with Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd for the best sound and production ever. These bands ate just on another level.
The four themes fade in and out briefly in "I am the Sea" and then are explored more fully in the instrumental "Quadrophenia", which sets them up nicely for the remainder of the album. Glad you are enjoying this masterpiece; however, when you listen through the album again in the future you should not pause between songs as the transitions are brilliant when left to flow naturally.
@john Slop.. do yourself a solid and do what the man says. This is a masterpiece of the angst of youth. Amazing amazing amazing.
I loved your commentary! The song Quadrophenia is pretty much an overture that introduces the musical themes you'll hear throughout the rest of the album. Typically, an overture is at the beginning of an opera or musical but the who used "I Am the Sea" as a tease for some lyrics that will come back. And they The Real Me to introduce you to the main character, Jimmy.
The four main musical themes represent four sides of Jimmy's personality, Quadrophenia meaning a 4- way personality split. Each personality also signs with one of the 4 members of The Who.
This is totally next level music, not just in the rock genre but in music in general.
Arguably on of the best studio albums. It's amazing the talent that came out of Britain in the 70's.
One of the best albums ever made. The Who brought it to the next level. The OX’s bass work is beyond everything he ever did. Moon’s drumming is genius level. Daltrey’s vocals are amazing. Can you imagine the amount of work Pete put into the composition of this entire album ?
Not sure you realize the drug references such as 'leaping along' and 'box of blues'. This album swims in amphetamine. That's what the Mods did!!
The entire industry did
One side effect was stuttering. This is what they were referencing all the way back in "My Generation."
I’m not exaggerating, I fell asleep to this every night of my 16th year. It helped me survive a deeply hard time. I am forever grateful to Pete Townsend for this gift.
You were not alone friend! This album is so good I made all my kids listen to it to help them through the perils of adolescence just as it did me. Pete was channeling the Muse when he wrote this album.
Good. My favorite band. Glad they helped
I used to drift off to it too, every night after work. Wife bought me the CD after we retired. Listening to it in my comfy chair one evening, not sure which track it was, but when it finished I woke suddenly and jumped up to turn the LP disc over for the next side.
I was at the November 11th 1973 show at the London Lycium Ballroom. First time for a quadrophonic PA setup. They played 3 classics to start the show Can't Explain, Summertime Blues and My Generation before performing 12 songs from the album. Closing the show with My Generation again, Pinball Wizard, See Me, Feel Me, then the normal finale Wont get fooled again. What a night! Been to almost 30 shows since. Happy Days.
To understand this properly listen to the entire thing. The instrumental is the four main themes from the work, each representing a facet of the bands' split personality. If you're looking for "easy", you're in the wrong place.
The beach fight refers to an actual incident where 1000 mods and rockers fought on the beach in Brighton. The Quadrophenia film does an amazing job on presenting this. The behind the scenes says that the actors were encouraged to really let loose and have a real fight. It's an amazing movie.
I enjoyed the movie, found the street riot scenes exhilarating and spot on, but I liked the flow of the album better and could envision how I would film it from the album. The movie soundtrack differs from the original. No guess as to my preference.
This is WAY off topic, but I've been a Who fan for over 45 years. They are my favorite band of all time. Today, for the first time, I saw a photo of John Entwistle smashing his bass guitar at the end of a Who concert back in 1968. Obviously Pete is famous for smashing his guitars. But I never even heard about John smashing his bass. And in the photo I saw, he isn't just smashing the bass, he's smashing it with gusto!
I’ve never heard of John smashing his Guitar, been a Who Fan since 75
Yes- first song is an Overture…you will hear all the parts later in individual songs…I highly recommend listening to the entire album!!
Quadrophenia and Live at Leads are my fav Who albums.
So.. as a young guitarist this album changed my ideas of what music was and could be. Forever.
btw... "Leaping" along is a drug reference.
zoot suit was a mod favorite
Great reaction and review! The Quadrophenia track is still one of the most moving 'songs', I've ever heard in my 55 years of listening to a wide variety of music. Good luck with your journey!
Quadrophenia is also a movie, which has character's that are played by actors, it's a whole story, and it's really worth watching!
Loved the reaction John, loved the emotion! Nearly 50 yrs and I still get goosebumps. A lifetime top 5 album for sure. As others are saying Townshend was a genius composer.
Pete is a great composer.
“Leaping” is a reference to being high. Which is later mentioned when his Mom finds some “blues”
An Overture..is a musical composition of the entire story to come....name one damn band to do that before or since. !! It's a ROCK OPERA BABY!..
You get so into it! Your facial expressions say it all! And this song is one I have not heart before, it is wicked!
It's like learning about symphonies and classical music, but music that kids today can form bands to make today! Listen to this, kids! John will tell you about it along the way. This is what music can be and what you create. :))😊
This album hit a nerve for me right in the middle of my Led Zep, Deep Purple, etc intro phase as a teenager in the late 70s. It still pulls me in every time. Noting else like it.
Got this record when I was 15 in 1976. Just amazing all the way through. Not a bad tune.
my favourite album of all time. even done in opera version
Must do Quadraphina in it's entirety!
The instrumental "Quadrophenia" was the overture to the album (rock opera) and contains themes from the many songs in the record.
In opera there is often an introductory piece called the Overture. It generally can include small samples of some or all of the musical themes or songs to come woven into a single piece of music. Here Quadraphenia(the song) is in fact the Overture for the rock opera of the same name. And yes, it's sublime. As is the entire album.
It's only the single greatest and highest peek of achievement ever reached in the entire history of rock'n'roll, that's all.
This song is compoed from the 4 personalities in Jimmy (the 4 songs)
It's a masterpiece by Pete Townsend and the rest of the band for sure! The late John Entwhistels bass playing is phenominal.
Nobody in the history of British rock music has ever expressed the alienation of the (specifically) English urban working class more than The Who and the lyrics of Pete Townshend. This album is the ultimate expression of that pain and helplessness.
Banger!
Love the P-bass in the background!
The greatest album of all time!
The only tractor, to listen to the OVERTURE, !!! ❤❤❤❤
The greatest album ever made by a country mile
Blues are a kind of speed. They are blue pills. "Leaping" is slang for being out of your head on speed, such as blues.
For more splendid synthy rock music check out more Genesis, specifically "Deep in the Motherload"
Hey,John--great album react...enjoying it,bro. Again-if you love the song Quadrophenia and proggy stuff like Yes/Starcastle,ELP,Kansas,Rush,etcetc... you need to check into Neal Morse and his many prog works. His Neal Morse Band albums are incredible-all 4 of them. He started in Spock's Beard (wrote everything- 6 albums). Also in Transatlantic with Mike Portnoy,and Flying Colors with Steve More (and Portnoy). And lots of solo prog albums along the way. Maybe a good start would be NMG - The Grand Experiment or Spock's Beard's Day For Night or V albums. Jump in--you'll adore his stuff! Cheers, T
This album is Pete Townshends masterpiece.
Townshend has been using synths since 1967
Quadrophenia. Is snippets of the album
G'day John, if you loved the track "Quadrophenia" so much, then expect just as good when you get to "The Rock" on side 4 after "Doctor Jimmy".
History note: The story of Quadrophenia is set in the mid-'60s. While the US bounced back from wartime rationing pretty quickly after WWII ended, the UK had only ended it around a decade before.
John Entwistle on horns
Dude u gotta do Emerson Lake and Palmer Tarkus ❤️✌🏼
The song Quadrophenia is an Overture for the whole work, interweaving themes and motifs from songs throughout the work. The reason the synths on Who's Next in 1971 seem "primitive" by comparison is that Pete Townshend was inventing their use in such a rhythmic device in a song, especially in rock. Up to that point synths were mainly used to make noises. Literally. And he recorded that Who's Next synth stuff at his home studio. His home demo recordings were used on the album and for the backing tapes. Quadrophenia was after he had worked with synths for a longer period and was working on a whole cohesive work, and had John Entwistle writing and performing brilliant brass parts on trumpet and French Horn. One of the all time great albums, Keith Moon at his studio peak, John Entwistle fully engaged because the horn arrangements and sizzling bass work was the result. Daltrey never sounded better, nor did Townshend's extremely precise guitar work. Everything he plays is note perfect and with astounding attack, feel, and variety of style. A shame it never came together live until long after Moon died. But still an amazingly powerful piece of music to see live without Moon and Entwistle.
Best album ever IMHO. Townshend and the rest of the group at their best. Weird that it did very little when it was first released
serious jamming
Check out quadrophenia live with brass it will blow your mind
I can't wait for your reaction tomorrow to "I'm one"
The most powerful bass I have ever heard is on Quadrophenia, the cut is The Real Me, next would be the Punk and the Godfather
I got your face in that song. feel the same.
An Overture
Just Another Chapter in the Genius of Pete's writing&composition's.I'd join but You Look,act,same intellect,facial,hair of My Dearly Departed lil Brother.Your Awesome Dude&Hope You Understand.Sorry.
First person to catch the song. Mymay
An overture
Watch the movie and it all makes sense.
Box of blues -- box of amphetamine pills.
Watch the movie
Blues were amphetamines by the way.
Everyone got alot from the Who
mods always claimed to be 'individuals',modern scooter boys the same,but they basically wore a uniform
mods were modern and distanced themselves from their folks mores and attitudes
great music from the movement but they let themselves down by riding around on hair dryer powered toys with junk stuck on them
and they painted a target on the back of their fishtail parkas,which was never a good idea in london
the bikers carried battries in their jackets
not too dangerous though,a scooters top-end is about 15mph
Vespa GS was capable of 60+ mph Lambretta TV 60+ mph
I guarantee that the tempo is too fast, Ice listened to this album maybe 100 times. Spotify does this to everything. I switched to Tidal which does a much better job preserving the music's integrity
QUADROPHENIA, IS A BRITISH FILM ABOUT 60S MODS, AND THE JIMMY THE MAIN CHARACTER, IS BECOMING DISILLUSIONED WITH THE LIFE, AND HIS MENTAL HEALTH QUADROPHENIA, 4 PERSONALITYS. SHOULD SEE THE FILM MATE
..🇮🇲👍🇮🇲
Best album ever IMHO. Townshend and the rest of the group at their best. Weird that it did very little when it was first released