TOMMY

Heading into 1969, The Who had now traveled a bumpy road which included success and failure. Their previous album, "The Who Sell Out" was delightfully original, and featured a very unique concept. That album's single, "I Can See For Miles", was what really got American eyes on their work. Still this wasn't enough for the band to continue making albums as well as destroying everything in their path when touring. So their upcoming album, "Tommy", was pretty much what would decide the fate of the group. Pete Townshend had been writing material for this album for some time, and incorporated events similar to what happened when he was younger (abuse and molestation). Teamed with an inventive producer in Kit Lambert, the group set out to create a work that the rest of the world was quite unfamilar with. The starting track is among the group's best work, and it delivers the themes that will be featured throughout the album. Other highlights include "Amazing Journey" which nicely segues into the pounding instrumental titled "Sparks". "Acid Queen", the epic instrumental "Underture", the rocking "Go to the Mirror!", the catchy "Sally Simpson" and the grand finale "We're Not Gonna Take It" round off what became a groundbreaking album. Disability, abuse, religion, spirituality, drugs and false idolization are the main themes covered here. There is no denying the brilliance and creativity in Townshend's writng. Keith Moon lays down some seriously good drumming throughout the entire album, but most of the time the drums are mixed a little to low. John Entwistle is without a doubt one of the finest bassists in popular music, but here shows more restraint. Roger Daltrey's voice still had not reached its peak, but fits in nicely here. The playing here is nowhere as tight as it would be in future works, and the production is definitely nothing outstanding, but it's the concept, the ideas and the writing that propels Tommy.