The Who - Tommy (1969)

Yeah, I know. The classic Who album. The pinball wizard. The great rock opera. Whatever. This album had been so thoroughly propped up on an untouchable musical throne that, after hearing it for the first time, I thought I was a court jester being played for a codpiece fool. Seriously, this isn't a great album -- it's not terrible, either, but that's not saying much, is it? "Overture" is fantastic. I remember being quite excited to hear such a strong beginning, and then remember spending the next half hour waiting for "Pinball Wizard" to come on. Sure, "Sparks" and "Christmas" are fairly decent numbers, and "Underture" at least tries to be as good as "Overture," but the pomp was obviously draining what power the album possessed and pissing on it. Bad rock opera, bad. After the glorious "Pinball Wizard", it's merely more of the same little narrative vignettes and poor musicianship. "Go To The Mirror!" is a great tune though, as is "Tommy, Can you Hear Me?" I really enjoy "I'm Free" and that's about it. This is simply a monstrous album, long-winded and most certainly diluted. My good friend Borges once remarked that writing cumbersome novels was relatively wasteful in expressing an idea when it could easily been done in a few concise pages. Perhaps Pete decided he really really wanted to build a portcullis when all he needed was a privacy fence. Ditto for Thomas Mann and his stupid magic mountain. C+

The Who - Who's Next (1971)

Every time I look at this album, I think of a pissing Rimbaud in "Evening Prayer." Surely, any album whose cover depicts a band's just having pissed on a monolith has got to be excellent as well, right? A nod of approval from the heliotropes. But let's get to the real meaty beaty big and bouncy here: this album flat-out rocks. No clavichords, Mellotrons, flutes, brass quartets, intricate time signatures, overtures -- nope, not a whiff of rock opera here -- which is to say, no pretensions and especially, no filler. Ok, there's violin and some synth. Big schtooping deal. (I never said I wasn't a fan of Tommy or Passion Play or Days Of Future Passed.) It's there to give the music more power, not the illusion of majesty, which is all the difference, really, from a bloated rock opera and a great rock 'n' roll album. Besides, this album isn't trying to tell a story; every track is its own all-inclusive revelation. Perhaps that's why they're almost all radio staples.

Yet, everything I can say of this album is tautological, a bit of a retread, a mere puffing of pretty smoke. What can I add? -- that "Baba O'Riley" is beyond classic; that "Bargain" is, er, classic. "Going Mobile," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "The Song Is Over," "Getting In Tune" -- classics. Oh, and those are just the absurdly amazing songs. "Love Ain't For Keeping" and "My Wife" are damn good themselves; they're simply not played as often on the radio as the others. Still. Call me what you will, but I can feel 'ol Pete laying down a thunderous windmill on that first chord struck in "Baba O'Riley"

or right before Daltrey's final shriek in "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Sure, you can hear it, I know, but can you feel it? These songs are just synergistic. Don't be fooled by Tommy or Quadrophenia or any other concept album. Just because someone intends to connect the dots for you doesn't mean you can't connect them for yourself. Who's Next is just a big fat juicy cheeseburger greasing down the sides of your head and you can't help but lick the grease. Start to finish. One heart attack at a time. Exaltation. Exhaustion. Joy. Enlightenment. Long live rock. A+