Tommy
| The Who
Tommy
Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Who, a double album first released in May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend as a rock opera that tells the story about a "deaf, dumb and blind" boy, including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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BBC
2002 Every slip, every bum note and every wobbly vocal (Townshend took up far more of the vocal duties on this album) merely makes it more precious. Tommy we can hear you...
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Sputnik Music
2018 There are moments of brilliance that shine through occasionally, and when the album is good it's REALLY good.
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Classic Rock Reviews
2014 Tommy is a must hear for music enthusiasts, is historically significant to the annals of rock and roll, and is immensely satisfying to both your ears and your mind.
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Consequence of Sound
2009 Its the epitome of a concept album.
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All Music
Despite the complexity of the project, he and the Who never lost sight of solid pop melodies, harmonies, and forceful instrumentation, imbuing the material with a suitably powerful grace.
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NME
2016 Bloated, cheesy, overblown and cartoonishly offensive by today’s standards sure, but ‘Tommy’ contains some of The Who’s finest moments.
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Album Liner Notes
2018 This original album offers plain, unadulterated, spine chilling, quality rock music.
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Uncut UK
2013 Tommy remains magnificent, the best (pace Arthur, Quadrophenia, Ziggy) of rock’s erratic operatic turns.
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Pop Matters
2004 The result of his efforts was the 1969 album Tommy, a monumental achievement for its time. Regarded as brilliant by many in the music press.
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Louder Sound
The band’s instrumental interplay is nothing short of electrifying. An ambitious high concept that brought sixties pop to adulthood and presaged seventies prog.
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Starling
But apart from these little problems, there's absolutely nothing wrong about this album.
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No Depression
2017 The rock opera itself holds up well. But the music is as much of a treat as it was when the group first recorded it.
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Madcap 156
Yes, Tommy may not quite be a masterpiece, but it’s an album born of boundary-pushing, maturation and creativity. It deserves respect, and very nearly justifies its place in the rock canon.
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Philly
2018 Tommy, however, is only 49. The Who’s majestic rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who becomes a pinball-playing cult figure that turned the British band into a global phenomenon came out in 1969.
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Mojo 4 Music
2013 Pete Townshend’s story about a sensory-deprived boy messiah contained some of The Who’s best work but also sounded like it meant something; Best of the lot, though, are Townshend’s remarkable and highly revealing original demos – worth lighting several candles for.
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Sputnik Music
2010 Despite the spectacular harmonization between lead singer Roger Daltrey and Townsend, the vocals (like the music) are deficient in developing a sort of raw poignancy that would be expected of an album such as this.
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Pop Matters
2014 It's like a love letter to both the Who and fans, and it belongs in every music lover's collection.
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Sputnik Music
2005 Once you get past the glitz and glam of a competent storyline being placed into a musical production, it is really just an average rock n roll album. Not much else other than acoustic guitars, vocals telling a plot of a helpless little boy who should've died, and good rhythms.
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