Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Quadrophenia

The randomizer's love of Simon & Garfunkel has been well documented, so it was no surprise that last time it spit out the pair's swan song, Bridge Over Troubled Water. But here's some insider information: the next album the randomizer had queued up was yet another Paul Simon work. When a situation like that arises, I usually go record shopping, so that I can reshuffle the deck (so that the new albums are not just at the end of the list) and avoid listening to back to back albums from the same artist. I did that. And now I can confirm with relative certainty: the randomizer is fucking with me. No, it's not Paul Simon. It's the Who. Again. With a rock opera. Again. It's Quadrophenia.

Release date: October 19, 1973
Singles: 5.15; Love, Reign O'er Me; The Real Me

As you may recall, we recently looked at the Who's first rock opera, Tommy. While it is somewhat annoying to me to have the Who's other rock opera, Quadrophenia, come up again so soon, it does at least give us the opportunity to compare the two since they are both relatively fresh in our minds. Huzzah for silver linings!

It seems the Who learned a lot from Tommy, as Quadrophenia is a stronger album overall. While you can figure out the story pretty easily from listening to the lyrics in the former, the lyrics are much more vague in the latter. The latter also focuses more on repeated musical themes that tie the album together, specifically the four "personalities" of the lead character, Jim, that correspond to the four members of the band. Having a vaguer, and also somewhat simpler story allows Pete Townshend and company more freedom in their songwriting, and the result is better music. I imagine it's much easier to write a hit song about riding the train high than it is to write one about a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who is really good at pinball.

Rating: 8 side mirrors up - Quadrophenia may not be the most famous rock opera by the Who, but it is the best. Like Tommy, it is a double album, so it takes a good chunk of time to listen to it, but it's well worth it. This is some of the Who's best work.

Being a rock opera, they of course made a movie out of it. Unfortunately, unlike Tommy, the movie was not a musical, and we do not get cover versions from the likes of Tina Turner or Elton John (although Sting is in the movie). However, the album is not completely unlike Tommy. There is still a song with the word "rape" in it several times: "Doctor Jimmy (containing "Is It Me?")." Enjoy!