Saturday, October 16, 2010

Another Blast From the Past

Some symphonic rock opera--for those who are interested in such a combination of things.

The Who put out three rock operas. the first one was their second overall album. It was released in 1966 and was utterly shallow in its theme. A Quick One was aptly titled and was about nothing more than an extramarital affair. Big deal, happens all the time. Nothing creative and intrinsic about that, is there?

But the 1969 Tommy is what I call no less than a masterpiece, and it helped pioneer an entire niche in the rock world.

This is the first act and movement:



1973 saw the release of their third rock opera called Quadrophenia. Try as I might, I can only find a couple of Who songs that I can say are better than this one:



Enjoy.
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14 comments:

  1. Z10/16/10, 12:53 AM

    Not a huge WHO fan but that second song's very good...and I did like a lot of TOMMY.
    thanks....I liked listening to RAIN ON ME.......I think the lyrics are terrific.

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  2. LA Sunset10/16/10, 5:44 AM

    Thinking back to the early days of the Who, they were somewhat of an acquired sound. They were one of the first of the punk rockers, long before the modern concept of punk rock was developed.

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  3. Anonymous10/16/10, 9:50 AM

    Well ... it looks like the first shirt has gotten stuck in another rut.

    Five years of metal/acid/ hard/instrument destruction rock in a row! Corporal Binotts said this would happen.

    Gunny

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  4. Anonymous10/16/10, 3:31 PM

    I am a huge fan of the WHO; this was an interesting departure from their regular fare. I'm just thrilled you share my taste in music. Maybe we could get together for a few drinks some time?

    B. Frank

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  5. Anonymous10/16/10, 7:02 PM

    I suppose this could be enjoyable if I were 30 years younger and stoned out of my mind ... but that's just one man's opinion. But I did love the term "symphonic rock opera."

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  6. Cpl. Binotts10/16/10, 8:42 PM

    No Gunny......I didn't say that. Rumor Control has it that the Commander said it. I was just repeating it?

    Why are you and the CO always leaving 1st Shirt out of the loop?

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  7. ~Leslie10/16/10, 9:31 PM

    The 1st one was okay, creative --at least in the measures-- until they started singing...

    The 2nd again, started out well, but I don't care for the vocals, my opinion at least.

    :)

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  8. LA Sunset10/16/10, 9:44 PM

    //I suppose this could be enjoyable if I were 30 years younger and stoned out of my mind .//

    Or you could be the same age you are now and drink a 12 pack of St. Pauli Girl and enjoy it just fine.

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  9. LA Sunset10/16/10, 9:46 PM

    //The 2nd again, started out well, but I don't care for the vocals, my opinion at least.//

    They do have a raw edge to them. They aren't for everyone. I grew up in an era with disillusionment. Something close to like it is right now.

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  10. Rocket10/17/10, 1:08 PM

    Good Luck! Hope your team loses tonite.

    ReplyDelete
  11. LA Sunset10/17/10, 1:29 PM

    //Good Luck! Hope your team loses tonite.//

    Same to you, but more of it.

    But I won't know until morning. 0430 comes early for me.... and tomorrow I am staring at what will probably be a very long day. Sleep is my only friend.

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  12. Rocket10/17/10, 5:16 PM

    Greg

    Mazel Tov!

    Just eeked it out!

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  13. Rocket10/17/10, 5:19 PM

    LA

    I went to Auschwitz and Berlin last week

    pix are here

    http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j9/rivierarocket/Auschwitz/

    http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j9/rivierarocket/Birkenau/

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  14. LA Sunset10/18/10, 5:21 AM

    Great pics Rocket,

    Looks so dismal and depressive, even after all of these years.

    Thanks for sharing.

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