Now this double album will really take you back to the late 1960's!
This was the time of great music, much of it revolved around psychedelica rock - much of the music were "singles releases", these were the heady days of The Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who and I can even remember Steppenwolf (who could forget the song "Magic Carpet Ride") but one artist was yearning for something more than just pumping out 'singles' all the time - to give their music a meaning in life, tell a story ...
That artist was Pete Townshend and he wanted to create a masterpiece, music with some meat to it. He created the masterpiece called Tommy.
This double album is a slightly later incarnation of the original Tommy, being fused classical music with contemporary rock but its not just about the music, there is a story to tell and that story resonated with many of the young people in those days.
He was a kid who had suffered trauma as a young man (his Dad murders his mother's lover) and Tommy completely withdraws from the world, isolating himself emotionally - effectively becoming "deaf, dumb & blind". He then totally relies upon his senses of touch and his imagination. Tommy is such a problem to his parents that they desert him and he subsequently suffers sadism and sexual abuse at the hands of extended family members along with some drug experimentation (LSD) supplied by other family members.
Life goes on for Tommy and he discovers that because his sense of touch has been greatly enhanced by his self isolation from the "outside world", he becomes a "Pinball Wizard" - remember them? Pinball machines (we used to call them "Pinnies") were everywhere and especially attractive to the young generation due to the sounds they made, flashing lights and "action", I don't see many of these around any more.
Tommy spent a lot of time staring into a mirror in his house, looking at his own reflection. One day, that mirror is smashed and this removes Tommy's mental block from the real world ... he is back to reality. After all of his experiences, Tommy begins a religious movement and is for a time very successful, however eventually the followers leave his religion and Tommy once again retreats into himself, rejected by the world.
So here we have a rock opera/musical that actually had real meaning and many kids of my generation could relate to various aspects of the story. It was also a big boost for Pete's band, The Who because their popularity was beginning to sag a little and this musical broke the mould of "standard rock fare" which was so common back in the day.
Tommy, the rock musical didn't just die with the initial release in 1969 ... it also was reworked as a ballet, a motion picture and in the 1990's it was presented as a Broadway musical.
This is the Orchestral/Rock fusion version of Tommy.
So what can you expect on this version? Classical music for sure which is fused with electric guitar, drums etc and of course vocals by well known artists. The dynamic range of the recording is very wide so don't be surprised if you have the volume turned up for the quieter passages and then suddenly the room explodes with sound!
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Choir: Chambre Choir
Solo artists included Pete Townshend, Steve Winwood, Roger Daltrey, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart and many others ...
TOMMY (Lou Reizner Production) Double Album Box Set
ODE Records
Cat# ODL 99001/2
1973
Australian release
Great music, great concept and great packaging!
This is a box set, meaning there is an outer stiff cardboard slip-cover and within this is the two vinyl records within metallic Silver sleeves inserted into a embossed gatefold cover. But that's not all, there is also a very nice large format high quality litho printed book of 28 pages. Full of very psychedelic photographs and drawings plus lyrics.
So what's the condition after 50 years?
Outer slip box set cover is in good condition with three sides having no seam splits but the bottom edge had a small split which has been repaired across the entire length of the bottom edge - the box is stable and sound with only light wear showing from normal handling. Both inner sleeves are in good condition and the gatefold cover is in very good condition. The book is clean with no pages missing! If I was to make any comment, it would be that I can see what appears to be faint "spotting" which happens to paper products over the years and there are no undue "hey I'm old!" odours coming from the package.
New inner plastic sleeves
Both vinyl are in good (minus) condition, visually inspected under a bright White halogen light source and I can see a couple of marks or scratches on both albums. Just looking at your records is not a great way to judge the condition so I then played the ENTIRE release, every track on each record (both sides), and there are no issues with underlying surface noise but I do hear the occasional click/pop event and also at one point I think I heard a very short mistrack (part of one word while being sung) This copy was actually quite dirty (in the grooves) so I have actually cleaned this in the Monk THREE times, each time it played better than the last but perhaps further improvement could be achieved with further cleaning using a good quality cleaning machine.
Even with these clicks/pops now and again (not click click click from serious scratching) this double album is a good play.
New outer protective sleeve for the album and book
Box set has also been placed into a sealed clear plastic pack to ensure the condition remains very good cosmetically.
TRACKS: Overture, It's A Boy, 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, Eyesight To The Blind, Christmas, Cousin Kevin, The Acid Queen, Underture, Do You Think It's All Right, Fiddle About, Pinball Wizard, There's A Doctor I've Found, Go To The Mirror Boy, Tommy Can You Hear Me?, Smash The Mirror, I'm Free, Miracle Cure. Sensation, Sally Simpson, Welcome, Tommy's Holiday Camp, We're Not Gonna To Take It, See Me Feel Me
