142-600: Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who , released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records . It is the group's third rock opera , the previous two being the "mini-opera" song " A Quick One, While He's Away " (1966) and the album Tommy (1969). Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. Quadrophenia
284-446: A " psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind " boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader. The film featured a star-studded ensemble cast , including the band members themselves (most notably, lead singer Roger Daltrey , who plays the title role), Ann-Margret , Oliver Reed , Eric Clapton , Tina Turner , Elton John , Robert Powell and Jack Nicholson . An independent production by Russell and Robert Stigwood , Tommy
426-420: A "live" sound. Recordings, including live, may contain editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology , artists can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones ; with each part recorded as a separate track . Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of
568-475: A 20-minute wait, Moon reappeared onstage, but after a few bars of "Magic Bus", collapsed again, and was immediately taken to hospital. Scot Halpin , an audience member, convinced promoter Bill Graham to let him play drums, and the group closed the show with him. Moon had a day to recover, and by the next show at the Los Angeles Forum , was playing at his usual strength. The group began to get used to
710-412: A 74% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , based on 34 reviews, with an average grade of 6.90/10. The critical consensus reads: " Tommy is as erratic and propulsive as a game of pinball, incorporating the Who's songs into an irreverent odyssey with the visual imagination that only director Ken Russell can conjure." Vincent Canby of The New York Times declared: "It may be
852-694: A Gottlieb Buckaroo also from 1965, used by Elton John. The machines' scoring displays were modified from their originals for the scene, to accommodate for large scores. Other locations on Portsdown Hill , which overlooks Portsmouth and local churches were used. All Saints in Commercial Road was used for the Sally Simpson wedding scene, whilst the meeting in the same sequence was filmed at the Wesley Hall in Fratton Road. The Eyesight to
994-458: A brown heavy paper sleeve with a large hole in the center so the record's label could be seen. The fragile records were stored on their sides. By the mid-1920s, photo album publishers sold collections of empty sleeves of heavier paper in bound volumes with stiff covers slightly larger than the 10" popular records. (Classical records measured 12".) On the paper cover in small type were the words "Record Album". Now records could be stored vertically with
1136-412: A collection of pieces or songs on a single record was called an "album"; the word was extended to other recording media such as compact disc, MiniDisc , compact audio cassette, 8-track tape and digital albums as they were introduced. An album (Latin albus , white), in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees, edicts, and other public notices were inscribed in black. It
1278-403: A compilation of songs created by any average listener of music. The songs on a mixtape generally relate to one another in some way, whether it be a conceptual theme or an overall sound. After the introduction of Compact discs, the term "Mixtape" began to apply to any personal compilation of songs on any given format. The sales of Compact Cassettes eventually began to decline in the 1990s, after
1420-424: A current or former member of a musical group which is released under that artist's name only, even though some or all other band members may be involved. The solo album appeared as early as the late 1940s. A 1947 Billboard magazine article heralded " Margaret Whiting huddling with Capitol execs over her first solo album on which she will be backed by Frank De Vol ". There is no formal definition setting forth
1562-561: A customer buys a whole album rather than just one or two songs from the artist. The song is not necessarily free nor is it available as a stand-alone download, adding also to the incentive to buy the complete album. In contrast to hidden tracks , bonus tracks are included on track listings and usually do not have a gap of silence between other album tracks. Bonus tracks on CD or vinyl albums are common in Japan for releases by European and North American artists; since importing international copies of
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#17327730948401704-415: A dissociative state where he outwardly appears "deaf, dumb, and blind", though internally he finds himself experiencing the world through a psychedelia -like state ("Amazing Journey"). Later, at a Christmas party, Nora is distressed that Tommy "doesn't know what day it is" ("Christmas"). Over 16 years, Nora and Frank make several fruitless attempts to bring the now older Tommy out of his state, taking him to
1846-634: A dual role as both Uncle Ernie and as himself along with Entwistle and Townshend miming on their respective instruments in the "Eyesight to the Blind" and "Pinball Wizard" segments. About his role as the Specialist, Jack Nicholson stated: "In my whole career there was only one time when a director said to me, 'OK, come right down the pike and just look beautiful, Jack.' That was Ken Russell on Tommy ." Filming finished in September 1974. Russell then edited
1988-461: A faith healer (" Eyesight to the Blind ") and a drug dealer (" The Acid Queen "). They become increasingly lethargic at the lack of effect, place him with some questionable babysitters ("Cousin Kevin" / "Fiddle About") and eventually leave Tommy standing at the mirror one night, allowing him to wander off. He follows a vision of himself to a junkyard pinball machine ("Sparks") and begins to play. Tommy
2130-619: A fan of the Who after a concert in Brighton , but is disillusioned by his parents' attitude towards him, dead-end jobs and an unsuccessful trip to see a psychiatrist . He clashes with his parents over his use of amphetamines , and has difficulty finding regular work and doubts his own self-worth, quitting a job as a dustman after only two days. Though he is happy to be "one" of the mods, he struggles to keep up with his peers, and his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend. After destroying his scooter and contemplating suicide, he decides to take
2272-461: A few hours to several years. This process usually requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or " mixed " together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation , to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", have reverberation, which creates
2414-605: A machine gun burst." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded Tommy two-and-a-half stars out of four, calling the film "a disappointing, slap-dash pictorialization of the fine music of the Who [with] no cinematic flow." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called the film "an overwhelming, thunderous, almost continuously astonishing achievement, coherent and consistent from first frames to last." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote that
2556-639: A mini-opera called "Long Live Rock – Rock Is Dead", but the material was considered too derivative of Who's Next and sessions were abandoned. In an interview for Melody Maker , guitarist and bandleader Pete Townshend said "I've got to get a new act together… People don't really want to sit and listen to all our past". He had become frustrated that the group had been unable to produce a film of Tommy (a film version of Tommy would be released in 1975) or Lifehouse (the abortive project that resulted in Who's Next ), and decided to follow Frank Zappa 's idea of producing
2698-586: A musical excerpt from The Thunderer , a march by John Philip Sousa , which Nevison recorded while watching a brass band play in Regent's Park . Assembling the field recordings in the studio was problematic; at one point, during "I Am the Sea", nine tape machines were running sound effects. According to Nevison, Townshend produced the album single-handedly, adding that "everything started when Pete got there, and everything finished when Pete left". Townshend began mixing
2840-494: A musical soundtrack that could produce a narrative in the same way as a film. Unlike Tommy , the new work had to be grounded in reality and tell a story of youth and adolescence that the audience could relate to. Townshend became inspired by "Long Live Rock – Rock Is Dead"'s theme and in autumn 1972 began writing material, while the group put out unreleased recordings including " Join Together " and " Relay " to keep themselves in
2982-640: A pop star called Poppy Day who becomes a messianic figure, and reworked some of that script's sequences for Tommy . He also used scenes from another unfilmed script of his, Music Music Music about a composer who writes music for TV commercials (this turned into what became known as the "baked beans" scene with Ann-Margret). Russell made several changes to the story: It was announced that Roger Daltrey would play Tommy and Keith Moon would play Uncle Ernie. Various rumours spread over who would play other characters with names such as David Bowie , Elton John , Barbra Streisand and Mick Jagger being mentioned. Daltrey
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#17327730948403124-419: A single artist, genre or period, a single artist covering the songs of various artists or a single artist, genre or period, or any variation of an album of cover songs which is marketed as a "tribute". Tommy (1975 film) Tommy is a 1975 British psychedelic musical fantasy drama film written and directed by Ken Russell and based on the Who 's 1969 rock opera album of the same name about
3266-522: A single case, or a triple album containing three LPs or compact discs. Recording artists who have an extensive back catalogue may re-release several CDs in one single box with a unified design, often containing one or more albums (in this scenario, these releases can sometimes be referred to as a "two (or three)-fer"), or a compilation of previously unreleased recordings. These are known as box sets . Some musical artists have also released more than three compact discs or LP records of new recordings at once, in
3408-497: A small role because "Russell's films intrigue me, some I like very much, some I don't like at all, and I want to find out what makes them tick." Russell originally considered Peter Sellers for the role of The Specialist. Russell says Pete Townshend wanted Tiny Tim to play Pinball Wizard but Stigwood overruled him. Elton John initially turned down the role of the Pinball Wizard and among those considered to replace him
3550-487: A small selection of songs remained in the set list; live performances of "Drowned" and "Bell Boy" filmed at Charlton Athletic football ground on 18 May were later released on the 30 Years of Maximum R&B box set. In June 1996, Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle revived Quadrophenia as a live concert. They performed at Hyde Park, London as part of the Prince's Trust "Masters of Music" benefit concert, playing most of
3692-433: A solo album for several reasons. A solo performer working with other members will typically have full creative control of the band, be able to hire and fire accompanists, and get the majority of the proceeds. The performer may be able to produce songs that differ widely from the sound of the band with which the performer has been associated, or that the group as a whole chose not to include in its own albums. Graham Nash of
3834-525: A specialist for Tommy ("There's a Doctor") who concludes that Tommy's state is triggered emotionally rather than physically and explains the only hope is to continue having Tommy face his reflection (" Go to the Mirror! "). An increasingly frustrated Nora promptly throws Tommy through the mirror ("Smash the Mirror!") causing him to snap to full consciousness (" I'm Free "). Tommy reveals that his experiences have transformed him and decides that he wants to transform
3976-414: A studio. However, the common understanding of a "live album" is one that was recorded at a concert with a public audience, even when the recording is overdubbed or multi-tracked. Concert or stage performances are recorded using remote recording techniques. Albums may be recorded at a single concert , or combine recordings made at multiple concerts. They may include applause, laughter and other noise from
4118-406: A theme such as the "greatest hits" from one artist, B-sides and rarities by one artist, or selections from a record label , a musical genre , a certain time period, or a regional music scene. Promotional sampler albums are compilations. A tribute or cover album is a compilation of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may involve various artists covering the songs of
4260-427: A train to Brighton, where he had enjoyed earlier experiences with fellow mods. However, he discovers the "Ace Face" who led the gang now has a menial job as a bellboy in a hotel. He feels everything in his life has rejected him, steals a boat, and uses it to sail out to a rock overlooking the sea. On the rock and stuck in the rain, he contemplates his life. The ending is left ambiguous as to what happens to Jimmy. 1972
4402-516: A trend of shifting sales in the music industry , some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album . An album may contain any number of tracks. In the United States, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In
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4544-430: A way of promoting the album. Albums have been issued that are compilations of older tracks not originally released together, such as singles not originally found on albums, b-sides of singles, or unfinished " demo " recordings. Double albums during the seventies were sometimes sequenced for record changers . In the case of a two-record set, for example, sides 1 and 4 would be stamped on one record, and sides 2 and 3 on
4686-469: Is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music ) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette ), or digital . Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records (78s) collected in a bound book resembling a photo album ; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl long-playing (LP) records played at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm . The album
4828-580: Is any vocal content. A track that has the same name as the album is called the title track. A bonus track (also known as a bonus cut or bonus) is a piece of music which has been included as an extra. This may be done as a marketing promotion, or for other reasons. It is not uncommon to include singles, B-sides , live recordings , and demo recordings as bonus tracks on re-issues of old albums, where those tracks were not originally included. Online music stores allow buyers to create their own albums by selecting songs themselves; bonus tracks may be included if
4970-416: Is no small achievement." In a retrospective review, Perry Seibert of AllMovie gave the film four stars out of five and described it as "continuously watchable, but the film version of Tommy sacrifices the fragile emotional core of Pete Townshend's work for grandiose spectacle." The original release of Tommy used a sound system devised by sound engineer John Mosely called "Quintaphonic Sound". At
5112-555: Is not necessarily just in MP3 file format, in which higher quality formats such as FLAC and WAV can be used on storage media that MP3 albums reside on, such as CD-R-ROMs , hard drives , flash memory (e.g. thumbdrives , MP3 players , SD cards ), etc. The contents of the album are usually recorded in a studio or live in concert, though may be recorded in other locations, such as at home (as with JJ Cale's Okie , Beck's Odelay , David Gray's White Ladder , and others), in
5254-438: Is recognised by Frank and the media as a pinball prodigy ("Extra, Extra, Extra"), which is made even more impressive with his sensory-impaired state. During a championship game, Tommy faces the " Pinball Wizard " with The Who as the backing band. Nora watches her son's televised victory and celebrates his (and her) success and luxury, but finds she can't fully enjoy it because of Tommy's extreme condition ("Champagne"). Frank finds
5396-402: Is recorded on both the "A" and "B" side of the tape, with cassette being "turned" to play the other side of the album. Compact Cassettes were also a popular way for musicians to record " Demos " or "Demo Tapes" of their music to distribute to various record labels, in the hopes of acquiring a recording contract . Compact cassettes also saw the creation of mixtapes , which are tapes containing
5538-780: Is shot down during a mission. "Captain Walker" is listed as missing in action and is presumed dead, although—unknown to his family—the badly burned Walker is still alive. Back in England, Nora goes into labour and gives birth to a son, Tommy, on V-E Day ("Captain Walker/It's a Boy"). Five years later, in 1950, Nora begins a new relationship with Frank, a holiday worker she and Tommy meet at a holiday camp. Tommy looks up to his "Uncle" Frank and expresses his desire to run his own holiday camp some day ("Bernie's Holiday Camp"). On New Year's Eve, Nora and Frank dream of their future ("1951 / What About
5680-403: Is the only Who album entirely written by Pete Townshend . The group started work on the album in 1972 in an attempt to follow up Tommy and Who's Next (1971), both of which had achieved substantial critical and commercial success. Recording was delayed while bassist John Entwistle and singer Roger Daltrey recorded solo albums and drummer Keith Moon worked on films. Because a new studio
5822-596: The 1975 Cannes Film Festival , but was not entered into the main competition. In 1975, the film won the award for Rock Movie of the Year in the First Annual Rock Music Awards . In the prologue, set in 1945, a montage displays the honeymoon of Group Captain Walker and his wife, Nora ("Prologue - 1945"). After his leave ends, Walker goes off to fight in World War II as a bomber pilot , but
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5964-627: The Rosemont Horizon in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois . The recording was later released as a part of Live Phish Volume 14 . The band also covered the tracks "Drowned" and "Sea and Sand" on their live album New Year's Eve 1995 – Live at Madison Square Garden . In June 2015, Townshend produced an orchestral version of the album entitled Classic Quadrophenia . The album was orchestrated by his partner Rachel Fuller and conducted by Robert Ziegler, with instrumentation provided by
6106-555: The Royal Albert Hall on 30 March 2010 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust series of ten gigs. This one-off performance of the rock opera featured guest appearances from Pearl Jam 's Eddie Vedder and Kasabian 's Tom Meighan . In November 2012, the Who started a U.S. tour of Quadrophenia , dubbed " Quadrophenia and More ". The group played the entire album without any guest singers or announcements with
6248-594: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra . Tenor Alfie Boe sang the lead role, supported by the London Oriana Choir , Billy Idol , Phil Daniels, and Townshend. All tracks are written by Pete Townshend Taken from the sleeve notes: The Who Additional musicians Production Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Studio album An album
6390-520: The iPod , US album sales dropped 54.6% from 2001 to 2009. The CD is a digital data storage device which permits digital recording technology to be used to record and play-back the recorded music. Most recently, the MP3 audio format has matured, revolutionizing the concept of digital storage. Early MP3 albums were essentially CD-rips created by early CD- ripping software, and sometimes real-time rips from cassettes and vinyl. The so-called "MP3 album"
6532-580: The "Bernie's Holiday Camp" sequence; smoke from the fire can be seen drifting in front of the camera in several shots. Russell also used a brief exterior shot of the building fully ablaze during the scenes of the destruction of Tommy's Holiday Camp by his disillusioned followers. The Pinball Wizard sequence was shot at the Kings Theatre in Southsea and the two pinball machines used were a 1965 Kings & Queens by Gottlieb—used by Roger Daltrey—and
6674-443: The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album has been ranked at No. 267 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time . It is also ranked at No. 86 on VH1 's list of the 100 greatest albums of all time. Townshend now considers Quadrophenia to be the last great album that the Who recorded. In 2011, he said the group "never recorded anything that was so ambitious or audacious again", and implied that it
6816-524: The 1970s. Appraising the concept in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said most "are profit-taking recaps marred by sound and format inappropriate to phonographic reproduction (you can't put sights, smells, or fellowship on audio tape). But for Joe Cocker and Bette Midler and Bob-Dylan -in-the-arena, the form makes a compelling kind of sense." Among
6958-532: The 2004 DVD release of the film, Ken Russell stated that the opening and closing outdoor scenes were shot in the Borrowdale valley of the English Lake District , near his own home, the same area that he had used to double for rural Austria and Bohemia in his earlier film Mahler , in which Robert Powell had starred. Much of the film was shot on locations around Portsmouth , including
7100-443: The 25-minute mark. The album Dopesmoker by Sleep contains only a single track, but the composition is over 63 minutes long. There are no formal rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as "albums". If an album becomes too long to fit onto a single vinyl record or CD, it may be released as a double album where two vinyl LPs or compact discs are packaged together in
7242-516: The Ace Face. Unlike the Tommy film, the music was largely relegated to the background, and was not performed by the cast as in a rock opera. The film soundtrack included three additional songs written by Townshend, which were Kenney Jones ' first recordings as an official member of the Who. The film was a commercial and critical success, as it conveniently coincided with the mod revival movement of
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#17327730948407384-609: The Blind sequence was filmed at St Andrews Church in Henderson Road in Southsea. The other church featured was Warblington Church near Havant in Hampshire. The famous scene in which Ann-Margret's character hallucinates that she is cavorting in detergent foam, baked beans, and chocolate reportedly took three days to shoot. According to Russell, the detergent and baked bean sequences were "revenge" parodies of real-life TV advertisements he had directed early in his career, although
7526-525: The Boy?"), but, late that evening, the returning Captain Walker surprises the couple in bed, leading to a struggle where Frank kills the Captain (in the original album synopsis, the Captain kills Frank). Realising that Tommy has witnessed the murder through the reflection of a mirror, the couple coerce Tommy into believing he did not see or hear anything and will tell no one. The heat of the moment panics Tommy into
7668-483: The British tour, especially Moon. Before the show, he was offered some tranquillisers from a fan. Just after the show started, the fan collapsed and was hospitalised. Moon's playing, meanwhile, became incredibly erratic, particularly during Quadrophenia where he did not seem to be able to keep time with the backing tapes. Towards the end of the show, during "Won't Get Fooled Again", he passed out over his drumkit. After
7810-496: The Hollies described his experience in developing a solo album as follows: "The thing that I go through that results in a solo album is an interesting process of collecting songs that can't be done, for whatever reason, by a lot of people". A solo album may also represent the departure of the performer from the group. A compilation album is a collection of material from various recording projects or various artists, assembled with
7952-424: The Seventies (1981), Christgau regarded Quadrophenia as more of an opera than Tommy , possessing a brilliantly written albeit confusing plot, jarring but melodic music, and compassionate lyrics about "Everykid as heroic fuckup, smart enough to have a good idea of what's being done to him and so sensitive he gets pushed right out to the edge anyway". Chris Jones, writing for BBC Music , said "everything great about
8094-560: The UK in 2013, ending in a performance at Wembley Arena in July. In September 2017, Townshend embarked on a short tour with Billy Idol , Alfie Boe , and an orchestra entitled "Classic Quadrophenia". Quadrophenia was revived for a film version in 1979, directed by Franc Roddam . The film attempted to portray an accurate visual interpretation of Townshend's vision of Jimmy and his surroundings, and included Phil Daniels as Jimmy and Sting as
8236-587: The UK on 29 October, but fans found it difficult to find a copy due to a shortage of vinyl caused by the OPEC oil embargo . In the UK, Quadrophenia reached No. 2, being held off the top spot by David Bowie 's Pin Ups . The album reached No. 2 on the US Billboard chart, the highest position of any Who album in that country, being kept from No. 1 by Elton John 's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road . The album
8378-504: The US and UK followed, employing most of the same players but with Billy Idol replacing Edmondson, Simon Townshend replacing Gilmour and P. J. Proby replacing Glitter during the second half of the tour. 85,000 fans saw the ensemble perform Quadrophenia at Madison Square Garden over six nights in July 1996. A recording from the tour was subsequently released in 2005 as part of Tommy and Quadrophenia Live . The Who performed Quadrophenia at
8520-591: The United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" if it either has more than four tracks or lasts more than 25 minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs . Albums such as Tubular Bells , Amarok , and Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield , and Yes's Close to the Edge , include fewer than four tracks, but still surpass
8662-508: The Who is contained herein." In 2013, Billboard , reviewing the album for its 40th anniversary, said: "Filled with performances packed with life and depth and personality, Quadrophenia is 90 minutes of the Who at its very best." The album has sold 1 million copies and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America . In 2000 Q magazine placed Quadrophenia at No. 56 in its list of
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#17327730948408804-467: The Who), guitarists David Gilmour (who played the bus driver) and Geoff Whitehorn , keyboardists John "Rabbit" Bundrick and Jon Carin , percussionist Jody Linscott , Billy Nicholls leading a two-man/two-woman backing vocal section, and five brass players. During rehearsals, Daltrey was struck in the face by Glitter's microphone stand, and performed the concert wearing an eyepatch . A subsequent tour of
8946-413: The album can be cheaper than buying a domestically released version, Japanese releases often feature bonus tracks to incentivize domestic purchase. Commercial sheet music is published in conjunction with the release of a new album (studio, compilation, soundtrack, etc.). A matching folio songbook is a compilation of the music notation of all the songs included in that particular album. It typically has
9088-621: The album for the first time since 1974. The concert was not billed as the Who, but credited to the three members individually. The performance also included Gary Glitter as the Godfather, Phil Daniels as the Narrator and Jimmy, Trevor MacDonald as the newsreader, Adrian Edmondson as the Bell Boy and Stephen Fry as the hotel manager. The musical lineup included Townshend's brother Simon , Zak Starkey on drums (his first appearance with
9230-882: The album in New Musical Express as the "most rewarding musical experience of the year". Reaction in the US was generally positive, though Dave Marsh , writing in Creem gave a more critical response. Lenny Kaye , wrote in Rolling Stone that "the Who as a whole have never sounded better" but added, "on its own terms, Quadrophenia falls short of the mark". In a year-end top albums list for Newsday , Robert Christgau ranked it seventh, and found it exemplary of how 1973's best records "fail to reward casual attention. They demand concentration, just like museum and textbook art." Retrospective reviews were also positive. Writing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of
9372-637: The album in August at his home studio in Goring along with Nevison. The album was preceded by the single "5:15" in the UK, which benefited from a live appearance on Top of the Pops on 4 October 1973 and was released the next day. It reached No. 20 in the charts. In the US, "Love Reign O'er Me" was chosen as the lead single. Quadrophenia was originally released in North America on 26 October and in
9514-602: The album in May, but missed recording sessions and generally lacked discipline. By mid-1973, Daltrey demanded that Lambert leave the Who's services. The band recruited engineer Ron Nevison , who had worked with Townshend's associate John Alcock, to assist with engineering. To illustrate the four-way split personality of Jimmy, Townshend wrote four themes , reflecting the four members of the Who. These were "Bell Boy" (Moon), "Is It Me?" (Entwistle), "Helpless Dancer" (Daltrey) and "Love Reign O'er Me" (Townshend). Two lengthy instrumentals on
9656-566: The album is never dubbed over the film. All the songs were rerecorded featuring the film's cast – including Nicholson and Reed, neither of whom were known for their singing ability (Reed's character's songs were cut from Oliver! , and Nicholson's in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever appeared only in the now-lost roadshow version) – performing the songs in character. Of the Who, Daltrey performs as Tommy, Moon performs as Uncle Ernie, and Townshend sings narration in place of recitative . The song order
9798-526: The album's artwork on its cover and, in addition to sheet music, it includes photos of the artist. Most pop and rock releases come in standard Piano/Vocal/Guitar notation format (and occasionally Easy Piano / E-Z Play Today). Rock-oriented releases may also come in Guitar Recorded Versions edition, which are note-for-note transcriptions written directly from artist recordings. Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one-half of
9940-551: The album, Townshend bought a cello and over two weeks learned how to play it well enough to be recorded. Entwistle recorded his bass part to "The Real Me" in one take on a Gibson Thunderbird and spent several weeks during the summer arranging and recording numerous multi-tracked horn parts. Having been forced to play more straightforwardly by Johns on Who's Next , Moon returned to his established drumming style on Quadrophenia . He contributed lead vocals to "Bell Boy", where he deliberately showcased an exaggerated narrative style. For
10082-470: The album, the title track and "The Rock", contain the four themes, separately and together. The instrumentals were not demoed but built up in the studio. Who author John Atkins described the instrumental tracks as "the most ambitious and intricate music the group ever undertook." Most tracks involved each of the group recording their parts separately; unlike earlier albums, Townshend had left space in his demos for other band members to contribute, though most of
10224-463: The album. If a pop or rock album contained tracks released separately as commercial singles , they were conventionally placed in particular positions on the album. During the sixties, particularly in the UK, singles were generally released separately from albums. Today, many commercial albums of music tracks feature one or more singles, which are released separately to radio, TV or the Internet as
10366-479: The amount of participation a band member can solicit from other members of their band, and still have the album referred to as a solo album. One reviewer wrote that Ringo Starr 's third venture, Ringo , "[t]echnically... wasn't a solo album because all four Beatles appeared on it". Three of the four members of the Beatles released solo albums while the group was officially still together. A performer may record
10508-510: The audience, comments by the performers between pieces, improvisation, and so on. They may use multitrack recording direct from the stage sound system (rather than microphones placed among the audience), and can employ additional manipulation and effects during post-production to enhance the quality of the recording. Notable early live albums include the double album of Benny Goodman , The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert , released in 1950. Live double albums later became popular during
10650-633: The backing tapes, and the remainder of gigs for the US tour were successful. The tour continued in February 1974, with a short series of gigs in France. The final show at the Palais de Sports in Lyon on the 24th was the last time Quadrophenia was played as a stage piece with Moon, who died in 1978. Townshend later said that Daltrey "ended up hating Quadrophenia – probably because it had bitten back". However,
10792-510: The baked bean sequence also references one of the cover photos and a parody radio ad from The Who's 1967 album The Who Sell Out . Russell also recalled that Ann-Margret's husband, Roger Smith , strongly objected to the scene in which she slithers around in melted chocolate. During the filming, Ann-Margret accidentally struck her hand on the broken glass of the TV screen, causing a severe laceration, and Russell had to take her to hospital to have
10934-507: The basic magnetic playback equipment. Each theatre that showed Tommy using the Quintaphonic system accordingly had to be specially prepared to take the film. In this respect there is a similarity between Tommy and Walt Disney 's Fantasia , for which a special sound system ( Fantasound ) had been devised and required each theatre that showed it in the original release to be specially prepared. Also, like Fantasound, Quintaphonic Sound
11076-406: The best selling live albums are Eric Clapton 's Unplugged (1992), selling over 26 million copies, Garth Brooks ' Double Live (1998), over 21 million copies, and Peter Frampton 's Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), over 11 million copies. In Rolling Stone ' s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , 18 albums were live albums. A solo album , in popular music , is an album recorded by
11218-446: The cassette tape throughout the 1970s and early 1980s; the popularity of the cassette reached its peak during the late 1980s before sharply declining during the 1990s. The cassette had largely disappeared by the first decade of the 2000s. Most albums are recorded in a studio , although they may also be recorded in a concert venue , at home, in the field, or a mix of places. The time frame for completely recording an album varies between
11360-411: The casting and acting great, and the name cameos most showmanly." Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, commenting that its message is muddled and hypocritical, but that its focus is on well-executed, grandiose spectacles rather than any pretense at meaning. He called the pinball tournament sequence "the movie's best single scene: a pulsating, orgiastic turn-on edited with the precision of
11502-401: The character of Jimmy from an amalgamation of six early fans of the group, including Lyons, and gave the character a four-way split personality , which led to the album's title (a play on schizophrenia ). Unlike other Who albums, Townshend insisted on composing the entire work, though he deliberately made the initial demos sparse and incomplete so that the other group members could contribute to
11644-469: The compound, wrathfully demand Tommy teach them something useful. Tommy does so, artificially deafening, muting, and blinding everyone, only to inadvertently provoke a riot. The followers kill Nora and Frank and destroy the camp in a fire (" We're Not Gonna Take It "). Tommy finds his parents in the debris and mourns before escaping into the mountains from the beginning of the film. He ascends the same peak where his parents celebrated their honeymoon, celebrating
11786-440: The earlier film. Russell recalled that Townshend initially baulked at Russell's wish to have The Who performing behind Elton in the "Pinball Wizard" sequence (they did not perform the audio there), and also objected to wearing the pound-note suits, which were in fact stitched together from novelty pound-note tea-towels. On The Who's involvement with the film, members Daltrey played the title character; Moon played, in essence,
11928-624: The field – as with early blues recordings, in prison, or with a mobile recording unit such as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio . Most albums are studio albums —that is, they are recorded in a recording studio with equipment meant to give those overseeing the recording as much control as possible over the sound of the album. They minimize external noises and reverberations and have highly sensitive microphones and sound mixing equipment. Band members may record their parts in separate rooms or at separate times, listening to
12070-640: The film and supervised the recording of the soundtrack. When it was done, Russell said: "I think it's probably the one thing I've ever done that satisfies me aesthetically. The fact that it's a rock opera as well is a tremendous bonus because people will come see it." The film was a box-office hit. By August 1975, it had earned US$ 27 million (equivalent to $ 119 million in 2023) in the US alone. The film made over US$ 1 million (equivalent to $ 4 million in 2023) in France . Russell later called it "the most commercial film I've ever made". The film holds
12212-407: The final running order of the album, and a selection of songs in 5.1 surround sound . The box set came with a 100-page book including an essay by Townshend about the album sessions, with photos. At the same time, the standard two-CD version was re-released with a selection of the demos as bonus content; some Disc Two tracks were moved to Disc One to accommodate space for these demos. In 2014, the album
12354-505: The finale of "Love, Reign O'er Me", Townshend and Nevison set up a large group of percussion instruments, which Moon played before kicking over a set of tubular bells , which can be heard on the final mix. During the album production, Townshend made many field recordings with a portable reel-to-reel recorder. These included waves washing on a Cornish beach and the doppler whistle of a diesel train recorded near Townshend's house at Goring-on-Thames . The ending of "The Dirty Jobs" includes
12496-489: The finished arrangement. Work was interrupted for most of 1972 in order to work on Lou Reizner 's orchestral version of Tommy . Daltrey finished his first solo album, which included the hit single " Giving It All Away ", fueling rumours of a split in the press. Things were not helped by Daltrey discovering that managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp had large sums of money unaccounted for, and suggested they should be fired, which Townshend resisted. In order to do justice to
12638-500: The form of a prototype. Compact Cassettes became especially popular during the 1980s after the advent of the Sony Walkman , which allowed the person to control what they listened to. The Walkman was convenient because of its size, the device could fit in most pockets and often came equipped with a clip for belts or pants. The compact cassette used double-sided magnetic tape to distribute music for commercial sale. The music
12780-480: The form of boxed sets, although in that case the work is still usually considered to be an album. Material (music or sounds) is stored on an album in sections termed tracks. A music track (often simply referred to as a track) is an individual song or instrumental recording. The term is particularly associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks; the term is also used for other formats such as EPs and singles . When vinyl records were
12922-455: The four core members. To obtain the required instrumentation without additional musicians, the group elected to employ taped backing tracks for live performance, as they had already done for " Baba O'Riley " and " Won't Get Fooled Again ". Initial performances were plagued by malfunctioning equipment. Once the tapes started, the band had to play to them, which constrained their styles. Moon, in particular, found playing Quadrophenia difficult as he
13064-593: The late 1970s. There have been several amateur productions of a Quadrophenia musical. In 2007, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama performed a musical based on the original album at the Sherman Theatre , Cardiff , featuring a cast of 12 backed by an 11-piece band. In October 1995, the rock group Phish , with an additional four-man horn section, performed Quadrophenia in its entirety as their second Halloween musical costume at
13206-588: The later '30s, record companies began releasing albums of previously released recordings of popular music in albums organized by performer, singers or bands, or by type of music, boogie-woogie , for example. When Columbia introduced the Long Playing record format in 1948, it was natural the term album would continue. Columbia expected that the record size distinction in 78s would continue, with classical music on 12" records and popular music on 10" records, and singles on 78s. Columbia's first popular 10" LP in fact
13348-504: The left and right tracks of a four-track magnetic striped print of the Cinemascope type. A discrete centre channel was also recorded on the centre track of the print. The fourth (surround) track on the striped print was left unused. In addition, John Mosely used dbx noise reduction on the magnetic tracks. Unlike the usual multiple small surround speakers used in cinemas, the Quintaphonic system specified just two rear speakers, but of
13490-492: The longer 12-inch 78s, playing around 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of his new seventeen-minute composition Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The recording was issued on both sides of a single record, Victor 55225 and ran for 8m 59s. By 1910, though some European record companies had issued albums of complete operas and other works,
13632-483: The mid-1930s, record companies had adopted the album format for classical music selections that were longer than the roughly eight minutes that fit on both sides of a classical 12" 78 rpm record. Initially the covers were plain, with the name of the selection and performer in small type. In 1938, Columbia Records hired the first graphic designer in the business to design covers, others soon followed and colorful album covers cover became an important selling feature. By
13774-487: The mid-1960s to the late 1970s when the Compact Cassette format took over. The format is regarded as an obsolete technology, and was relatively unknown outside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation , along with Ampex , Ford Motor Company , General Motors , Motorola , and RCA Victor Records . It
13916-432: The most overproduced movie ever made, but there is wit and reason for this. It is the last word in pop art ... Everything, including the sound level, is too much. But even this works in an odd way. The victim of the movie is as much the person sitting in the audience as it is Tommy." Variety called the film "spectacular in every way ... The production is magnificent, the multitrack sound (tradenamed Quintaphonic) terrific,
14058-528: The music of the original album: "...had a certain obscure dignity and integrity, and these qualities don't withstand the Russell treatment. On record Tommy seemed a bit mysterious. On screen it's just banal." Jonathan Rosenbaum of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "even at its most lacklustre and tasteless junctures, Tommy is never boring, and always full of energy; and given the very loose framework and imprecise plot that Russell has to work with, this
14200-450: The music – he disliked rock music in general – but he loved the theme of the film, being about a messiah. According to Russell, several scripts had been written by the time he came on the project. He later wrote "some were well written, some were not, but they all had one thing in common - a big negative. They were not about a deaf dumb and blind boy's spiritual journey from darkness to light." Russell did up his own treatment of
14342-418: The original album artwork. The original mix had been criticised in particular for Daltrey's vocals being buried, so the 1996 CD was completely remixed by Jon Astley and Andy Macpherson. In 2011, Townshend and longtime Who engineer Bob Pridden remixed the album, resulting in a deluxe five-disc box set . Unlike earlier reissues, this set contains two discs of demos, including some songs that were dropped from
14484-443: The other parts of the track with headphones to keep the timing right. In the 2000s, with the advent of digital recording , it became possible for musicians to record their part of a song in another studio in another part of the world, and send their contribution over digital channels to be included in the final product. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing or multi-tracking are termed "live", even when done in
14626-414: The other. The user would stack the two records onto the spindle of an automatic record changer, with side 1 on the bottom and side 2 (on the other record) on top. Side 1 would automatically drop onto the turntable and be played. When finished, the tone arm's position would trigger a mechanism which moved the arm out of the way, dropped the record with side 2, and played it. When both records had been played,
14768-464: The practice of issuing albums was not widely taken up by American record companies until the 1920s. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records (the term "record album" was printed on some covers). These albums came in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than
14910-406: The primary medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves and many album covers or sleeves included numbers for the tracks on each side. On a compact disc the track number is indexed so that a player can jump straight to the start of any track. On digital music stores such as iTunes the term song is often used interchangeably with track regardless of whether there
15052-472: The public eye. In the meantime, bassist John Entwistle released his second solo album, Whistle Rymes , singer Roger Daltrey worked on solo material, and Keith Moon featured as a drummer in the film That'll Be the Day . Townshend had met up with "Irish" Jack Lyons, one of the original Who fans, which gave him the idea of writing a piece that would look back on the group's history and its audience. He created
15194-404: The record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums. The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as 8-track tape , cassette tape , compact disc , MiniDisc , and digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of
15336-623: The record not touching the shelf, and the term was applied to the collection. In the early nineteenth century, "album" was occasionally used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Robert Schumann 's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. With the advent of 78 rpm records in the early 1900s, the typical 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so almost all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items generally were released on
15478-524: The recording of Quadrophenia , the group decided to build their own studio, Ramport Studios in Battersea . Work started on building Ramport in November 1972, but five months later it still lacked an adequate mixing desk that could handle recording Quadrophenia . Instead, Townshend's friend Ronnie Lane , bassist for Faces , loaned his mobile studio for the sessions. Lambert ostensibly began producing
15620-451: The recording, and lyrics or librettos . Historically, the term "album" was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage, the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78s were bundled in book-like albums (one side of a 78 rpm record could hold only about 3.5 minutes of sound). When LP records were introduced,
15762-497: The records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78s by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums, typically with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album. By
15904-452: The release and distribution Compact Discs . The 2010s saw a revival of Compact Cassettes by independent record labels and DIY musicians who preferred the format because of its difficulty to share over the internet . The compact disc format replaced both the vinyl record and the cassette as the standard for the commercial mass-market distribution of physical music albums. After the introduction of music downloading and MP3 players such as
16046-469: The resulting 1979 film adaptation was successful. The album has been reissued on compact disc several times, and seen several remixes that corrected some perceived flaws in the original release. The original release of Quadrophenia came with a set of recording notes for reviewers and journalists that explained the basic story and plot. The narrative centres on a young working-class mod named Jimmy. He likes drugs, beach fights and romance, and becomes
16188-635: The rising sun (" Listening to You "). Tommy was written in 1968 and recorded by the Who in 1969. Three years later a version of the opera was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. The two albums sold ten million copies between them. Film rights were bought by Robert Stigwood who secured financing from Columbia. Beryl Vertue of the Stigwood Organisation was executive producer. Stigwood also arranged for Ken Russell to direct. Russell admitted he did not like
16330-429: The same type as those used at the front. One problem that arose was that by the 1970s the four-track magnetic sound system was largely moribund. Only a few theatres were equipped with the necessary magnetic playback heads and other equipment; of those that did in many cases, it was not in working order. Thus, in addition to installing the extra electronics and rear speakers, John Mosely and his team had to repair and align
16472-495: The scene near the end of the film featuring the giant 'pinballs', which were, in fact, obsolete buoys found in a British Navy yard, which were simply sprayed silver and filmed in situ. The Bernie's Holiday Camp ballroom sequence was shot inside the Gaiety Theatre on South Parade Pier . Exterior shots were filmed at Hilsea Lido (Russell had worked there before making The Boy Friend ). The Sally Simpson interior sequence
16614-484: The set. Both Daltrey and Townshend felt they had to describe the plot in detail to the audience, which took up valuable time on stage. A few shows later in Newcastle upon Tyne , the backing tapes to "5:15" came in late. Townshend stopped the show, grabbed Pridden, who was controlling the mixing desk, and dragged him onstage, shouting obscenities at him. Townshend subsequently picked up some of the tapes and threw them over
16756-587: The stage, kicked his amplifier over, and walked off. The band returned 20 minutes later, playing older material. Townshend and Moon appeared on local television the following day and attempted to brush things off. The Who played two other shows in Newcastle without incident. The US tour started on 20 November at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The group were nervous about playing Quadrophenia after
16898-407: The story as he saw it. He said: "This in no way deviated from his [Townshend's] original but plugged in the gaps where I found the story obscure or just non existent." Russell said Townshend liked most of his suggestions and wrote new material. Russell and Townshend worked on the film together for a year. Russell had been working on a script called The Angels , which was to star Mia Farrow about
17040-479: The synthesizers on the finished album came from his ARP 2500 synthesizer and were recorded at home. The only song arranged by the band in the studio was "5:15". According to Nevison, the ARP 2500 was impossible to record in the studio, and changing sounds was cumbersome due to a lack of patches , which required Townshend to work on these parts at home, working late into the night. To obtain a good string section sound on
17182-475: The then regular Who line-up (including Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino , who replaced Entwistle following his death in 2002) along with five additional musicians. The tour included additional video performances, including Moon singing "Bell Boy" from 1974 and Entwistle's bass solo in "5:15" from 2000. After Starkey injured his wrist, session drummer Scott Devours replaced him for part of the tour with minimal rehearsal. The tour progressed, with Devours drumming, to
17324-504: The time that the film was in production, various " Quadraphonic " (four-speaker) sound systems were being marketed to the domestic HiFi market. Some of these were so-called matrix systems that combined the four original channels into two, which could be recorded on or transmitted by, existing two-channel stereo systems such as LP records or FM radio . John Mosely used one of these systems ( QS Regular Matrix from Sansui) to record front left, front right, back left, and back right channels on
17466-464: The user would pick up the stack, turn it over, and put them back on the spindle—sides 3 and 4 would then play in sequence. Record changers were used for many years of the LP era, but eventually fell out of use. 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8: commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology popular in the United States from
17608-582: The world ("Mother and Son" / "Miracle Cure"). Tommy goes on lecture tours that resemble glam-rock gospel shows and spreads a message of enlightenment by hang glider, gaining friends and followers everywhere he goes ("Sally Simpson" / "Sensation"). Tommy and a more enlightened and elated Nora and Frank welcome converts to their house, which quickly becomes too crowded to accommodate everyone. Tommy opens an extension for his religious campus ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp"). The converts, confused about Tommy's odd practices and his family's commercial exploitation of
17750-589: The wound stitched, although she was back on set the next day. The film also includes a scene in which Mrs. Walker watches a parodic TV advertisement for the fictional product "Rex Baked Beans"; the costumes in this segment were originally made for the lavish masked ball sequence in Richard Lester 's version of The Three Musketeers , and the dress worn by the Queen in the Rex ad is that worn by Geraldine Chaplin in
17892-467: Was David Essex , who recorded a test audio version of the "Pinball Wizard" song. However, producer Robert Stigwood held out until John agreed to take the part, reportedly on condition that he could keep the gigantic Dr. Martens boots he wore in the scene. John later wore the boots in a brief scene in the music video for his song Nikita , which was directed by Russell. Filming started April 1974 and took place over twelve weeks. In his commentary for
18034-592: Was Frank Sinatra's first album, the four-record eight-song The Voice of Frank Sinatra , originally issued in 1946. RCA's introduction of the smaller 45 rpm format later in 1948 disrupted Columbia's expectations. By the mid-1950s, 45s dominated the singles market and 12" LPs dominated the album market and both 78s and 10" LPs were discontinued. In the 1950s albums of popular music were also issued on 45s, sold in small heavy paper-covered "gate-fold" albums with multiple discs in sleeves or in sleeves in small boxes. This format disappeared around 1960. Sinatra's "The Voice"
18176-495: Was a further development of the similar Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge created by Earl "Madman" Muntz . A later quadraphonic version of the format was announced by RCA in April 1970 and first known as Quad-8, then later changed to just Q8. The Compact Cassette was a popular medium for distributing pre-recorded music from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. The first "Compact Cassette" was introduced by Philips in August 1963 in
18318-419: Was cast at Russell's specific request, over the wishes of Daltrey's own management. In December, it was announced Ann-Margret would play Tommy's mother. Ann-Margret was cast because, according to Russell, "I needed a superb singer." Jagger was reportedly offered the role of The Acid Queen but insisted on singing three of his own songs, so the role was given to Tina Turner . Jack Nicholson agreed to play
18460-404: Was filmed in the Wesley Hall in Fratton Road, Portsmouth. The exterior intro sequence to the scene, however, shows Sally Simpson buying a badge and entering South Parade Pier. On 11 June 1974, the pier caught fire and was badly damaged while the production was filming there. According to Russell, the fire started during the filming of the scene of Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed dancing together during
18602-511: Was forced to stick to a click track instead of watching the rest of the band. The group only allowed two days of rehearsals with the tapes before touring, one of which was abandoned after Daltrey punched Townshend following an argument. The tour started on 28 October 1973. The original plan had been to play most of the album, but after the first gig at Stoke-on-Trent , the band dropped "The Dirty Jobs", "Is It in My Head" and "I've Had Enough" from
18744-414: Was from this that in medieval and modern times, album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, autographs, sketches, photographs and the like are collected. This in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item. The first audio albums were actually published by the publishers of photograph albums. Single 78 rpm records were sold in
18886-399: Was issued in 1952 on two extended play 45s, with two songs on each side, in both packagings. The 10-inch and 12-inch LP record (long play), or 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record often had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, and it was adopted by
19028-474: Was never used again (five-channel audio, in the form of 5.1 surround sound , eventually made a comeback). Tommy was later released with mono, conventional four-track magnetic and Dolby Stereo soundtracks. The Quintaphonic Sound mix was restored for the DVD and Blu-ray release of the film. Unlike some other filmed rock operas (such as the only partially re-recorded soundtrack of Pink Floyd 's The Wall ),
19170-407: Was not finished in time, the group had to use Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio . The album makes significant use of Townshend's multi-track synthesizers and sound effects , as well as Entwistle's layered horn parts. Relationships between the group and manager Kit Lambert broke down irretrievably during recording and Lambert had left the band's service by the time the album was released. Quadrophenia
19312-413: Was originally released as a two- LP set with a gatefold jacket and a booklet containing lyrics, a text version of the story, and photographs taken by Ethan Russell illustrating it. MCA Records re-released the album as a two-CD set in 1985 with the lyrics and text storyline on a thin fold-up sheet but none of the photographs. The album was reissued as a remastered CD in 1996, featuring a reproduction of
19454-465: Was released by Columbia Pictures in the US on 19 March 1975 while in the UK it was released by Hemdale Film Corporation on 26 March 1975. Ann-Margret received a Golden Globe Award for her performance and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress . Pete Townshend was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in scoring and adapting the music for the film. The film was shown at
19596-441: Was released on Blu-ray Audio featuring a brand-new remix of the entire album by Townshend and Pridden in 5.1 surround sound as well the 2011 Deluxe Edition stereo remix and the original 1973 stereo LP mix. Critical reaction to Quadrophenia was positive. Melody Maker ' s Chris Welch wrote "rarely have a group succeeded in distilling their essence and embracing a motif as convincingly", while Charles Shaar Murray described
19738-400: Was released to a positive reception in both the UK and the US, but the resulting tour was marred with problems with backing tapes replacing the additional instruments on the album, and the stage piece was retired in early 1974. It was revived in 1996 with a larger ensemble, and a further tour took place in 2012. The album made a positive impact on the mod revival movement of the late 1970s, and
19880-411: Was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era . Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983, being gradually supplanted by
20022-411: Was the last album to feature good playing by Keith Moon. The band toured in support of Quadrophenia but immediately encountered difficulties playing the material live. To achieve the rich overdubbed sound of the album on stage, Townshend wanted Chris Stainton (who had played piano on some tracks) to join as a touring member. Daltrey objected to this and believed the Who's performances should only have
20164-422: Was the least active year for the Who since they had formed. The group had achieved great commercial and critical success with the albums Tommy and Who's Next , but were struggling to come up with a suitable follow-up. The group recorded new material with Who's Next collaborator Glyn Johns in May 1972, including "Is It in My Head" and "Love Reign O'er Me" which were eventually released on Quadrophenia , and
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