Mommy

Overall Album Score: 9.5 out of 10

Tommy can you hear me?

Tommy can you heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear me?

Tommy can you heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear me?

Ahm... sorry about that...

This is probably The Who's most celebrated album not only by everybody on the planet but myself also. It took me a little bit of convincing to come up with that conclusion, but I have come up with that conclusion just the same! (I actually found Tommy a little bit easier to get into than the Who's Who's Next as well as Quadrophenia.) And, in fact Tommy became the first Who album I ever fell in love with.

I'm sure that you are aware that this is one of rock-and-roll's first rock operas (The Pretty Things beat them one year before this with S.F. Sorrow). Nevertheless, this is certainly the most famous rock opera ... even though this plot is as confusing as hell. The plot, you're either going to understand, you're going to *think* you understand, or you won't make heads-over-tails with it. That's all there is to it! It might help if you see the film version (which might answer some of your questions about Tommy, but it'll probably bring up a whole lot of new ones). Either that, or you could catch the stage play the next chance you get. I did see Tommy performed on stage once, which was pretty good. The song "1921" was confusing in that play, because it refers to post-WWI when the play changed it to post-WWII ... oh well! I think they do that in the movie, too.

Anyway, I'm rambling. The point I was trying to make is that I'm not even going to try telling you what this concept is about. That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself (...and, if you're anything like me, you'll really enjoy formulating a Tommy theory of your own!)

The plot really isn't the reason I like Tommy, anyway! It's for the music!

Every corner you turn in here, you'll find an interesting riff, an insanely catchy melody, a wonderful guitar line, breathtaking beauty ... Quite plainly, Tommy is one of the most listenable rock albums on the planet.

The only major flaw that Tommy has is the length, however. YES, it is common practice in musicals (or operas or whatever) to recycle themes at various different points in the work. Tommy is no exception to this. Sometimes, these themes might be repeated too much making it seem like it was added just to fill the double album.

But, even me, who has one of the shortest attention spans on the planet can become engrossed in Tommy, and I'll listen to it all the way through if I have the time to do it ... I certainly have the willingness...

Overall Album Score: 9.5 out of 10 (I really like Tommy. This is probably one of the few times where I enjoy the album phenomenally more than I enjoy the individual songs within them ... but these are some wonderful songs.)

Average Song Score: 9.0 (A great combination of tunes! ... This is in spite of the fact that many of these songs exist just to carry out the album's plot.)

Album Tilt: 10 (I am a HUGE fan of Tommy. I'm giving it a 10 here because I don't just like the songs ... I like the idea ... I even enjoy the plot. This is even among my favorite albums.)

Artist Rating: 9.5 (A major artistic achievement, this. It's one of the most ambitious projects of rock-and-roll.)

Track Reviews

Overture 9/10

Well, hey! This is an opera, isn't it? Every good opera has to have an overture to it. If it doesn't, then it's certainly no bloody opera that I would go to! This one basically gives us a preview of some of the major musical themes that we would hear later on in the album. It was, of course, very well done. It isn't simply an ill-placed-together laundry line that goes through the 'big hits.' The Who knew better than that! After that, while this track is still going, we get the taste of the first real song on here. It introduces the theme of the plot, and sports some mighty-fine acoustic guitar strumming! This is real nice!

It's a Boy 4.5/5

This is only 40 seconds long. Mrs. Walker has a boy. Yippie doo.

1921 10/10

Alright! As you can probably tell, I really like this one! Not only is the melody utterly splendid (with effortlessly written hooks). It's even moving! ... This is one of those songs that gets stuck in my head quite a lot ... and that's a good thing. Indeed, this is super! It's one of the album's many surefire classics.

Amazing Journey 9/10

This one doesn't grab my soul quite like "1921," but "Amazing Journey," nevertheless has a creative melody and innovative-like instrumentation. This is also an abstract song (and so I let my imagination run a-soaring with it). Again, this is another exceptional song. (There's going to be a lot of those.)

Sparks 9/10

Sparks? That was a pretty good band, wasn't it! ... Er ... Wait, we were still discussing Tommy. This is an instrumental that is decent, entertaining, etc, whatever. Of course, it's expertly played. I'm not sure why there are so many danged instrumentals in this thing, really! Oh well. This is pretty good. (And we heard part of this song previous to this in The Who Sell Out.)

Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker) 9/10

And this one's being sung! Again, this is another strong song ... it's not particularly special when you compare it to the rest of the tracks on here. But, considering that this is part of a rock opera, and this is supposed to be one of the plot-connecting bits of it, it's both enjoyable and well-written melodically speaking.

Christmas 9.5/10

Ooooooooh yeah! This is another one of the major highlights from Tommy! The chorus to this one, especially, is very good ... catchy ... memorable ... (That vocal effect is also pretty neat.) In the middle of this song, we get the "Seeeeeeeeee meeeeeeeee..." bit (which is kind of famous) and also rather touching. The end of this, it revisits the same sort of thing that started it. Very nice!

Cousin Kevin 8/10

This is the start of all those weird sequences where Tommy keeps on getting abused by a bunch of people ... hmmhmhmhmhm ... Yep. This song is certifiably creepy! I'm not sure I like this dreary melody, either. Nevertheless, it's a very good effort.

Acid Queen 8.5/10

Oh man ... Did I completely ruin my image of this album by watching the movie! I've seen that movie before even listening to the album. (What can I say? I was a movie fan before I was a music fan.) And, all I remember about this is a very disturbing scene with Tina Turner. Ooooooof! Just the same, "Acid Queen" is another mightily fine Who song. We do likeah dee Who.

Underture 8/10

Yikes! A 10-minute long instrumental! Is this supposed to be filler? I guess so. This one's fine as long as you can coast with it. It's the same "Sparks" theme again. ... It wasn't a bad theme.

Do You Think It's Alright? 4/5

I think it's alright to leave the boy with Uncle Ernie.

Fiddle About 7/10

Sorry. But I really don't like this one! The melody is rather trite and the subject matter is absolutely disturbing! Oh well. It doesn't even last two minutes.

Pinball Wizard 10/10

Another highlight of the album! (This was probably the most popular song from here, too, and that's for good reason.) Ooooohhhh... and this song has everything! It has a great melody, a great set of riffs, great attitude, and immaculately performed. This is a classic from the era of rock-and-roll for sure!

There's a Doctor 4.5/5

Yeah ... it doesn't surprise me. Doctors are multiplying like rabbits these days.

Go to the Mirror 9.5/10

Seeee meeeeee, feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel me, tuuutch meeeeeeeeee, heeeeeeeel me! Haven't I heard this before? I thought so. It's still great!

Tommy Can You Hear Me? 8.5/10

This is another short song that's quite fun to listen to. It was added for the plot, so it's not significant on the musical scale.

Smash the Mirror 8.5/10

Well, this definitely isn't one of the big highlights from the album ... but it's still mightily fun to listen to. (It's not very long, either.)

Sensation 9.5/10

...and it fades into "Sensation." This one also has a very nice melody to it. Yep.

Miracle

This is 12 seconds long. I'm not even going to count it.

Sally Simpson 9.5/10

Boy! This album is sure jam-packed full of strong classics! The melody is great, the instrument-playing is sharp and solid. This one's actually an acoustic one ... and the level of its excitement doesn't even deter due to this fact. In fact, you don't really notice that it's acoustic unless you're not paying attention.

I'm Free 10/10

I really like this one, too! This one has a nice little chorus to it. I especially like that piano in here, though. It only chimes in for a few brief moments, but that's what it needed to give it that extra kick. It also has some wonderfully creative guitar lines and ... oh, this is the stuff that made The Who a legend.

Welcome 9/10

I realize that this track is generally considered the worst thing on here. But so help me! I really enjoy it! It features a sort of Christmas carol thing that's really pretty. (Come on! You can't deny that this is pretty!) And even the other bits are rather interesting ... but not always quite as special. More accurately, people dislike this one because it's on the operatic side of 'the rock opera.' And, more accurately, I like this because I like 'operatic.'

Tommy's Holiday Camp 4/5

Hmhmhmhmmmm! This is a goofy Keith Moon composition (with help from Townshend). It's a decent diversion. It's not over a minute long, though.

We're Not Going to Take It 10/10

We're not gonna take it! Hey! We're not gonna take it! We're not going to take it ANYMOOOOOOOOORE! Oh ... this doesn't have anything to do with that stupid Twisted Sister song. (I saw this guy on CSPAN once campaigning for Arnold Schwarzenegger! Hah!)

Getting back on the right track, "We're Not Going to Take It" is the album's super 7-minute finale! I don't really so much like the beginning of this. Three minutes into it, however, we get that "Seeeeeeeeeee Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" bit, and it picks up steam after that! We've heard the end of this track before, but for some reason, it's more stirring and emotional now.

Thuh Endde.

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