The full-blown rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy that launched the band to international superstardom, written almost entirely by Pete Townshend. Hailed as a breakthrough upon its release, its critical standing has diminished somewhat in the ensuing decades because of the occasional pretensions of the concept and because of the insubstantial nature of some of the songs that functioned as little more than devices to advance the rather sketchy plot. Nonetheless, the double album has many excellent songs, including "I'm Free," "Pinball Wizard," "Sensation," "Christmas," "We're Not Gonna Take It," and the dramatic ten-minute instrumental "Underture." Though the album was slightly flawed, Townshend's ability to construct a lengthy conceptual narrative brought new possibilities to rock 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. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Track List
(try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17,18,20 and 21)
you have to give them credit though, when Quadrophenia came out, they had more recording equipment. Tommy was done when they couldn't edit or do anything that made Quadrophenia sound better, so for a raw album, this was amazing.
In usual fashion Unterberger is "slightly flawed" with his review. Agree, Quadrophenia is far better; but what better way to take the first step to refine his rock opera writing skills than what Pete took with Tommy. I like this original recording way more than the double album movie sound track due to Pete's acoustic guitar work even though Tina Turner & Eric Clapton contributed solid songs on the sound track.
The critic mentions that the album is "slightly flawed" and that the concept has the "occasional pretension". That's funny. That's sort of like saying that Niagara Falls is a "moist" spot in the earth.