What I Am Listening To

Most articles on The Who, when singling out the band’s defining work will point to Tommy. Yes, the rock opera Tommy was groundbreaking, rebellious and beautiful all at the same time. I love listening to it, and the musical journey it takes me on. But ask me what the ‘best’ Who album is, the one that shows who (sorry) they are as musicians, personalities, individuals and contains the most complete work as a group and I’ll choose Quadrophenia every time. From the first sounds of the ocean on I Am The Sea, the listener knows they are in for something special. Its an overture in the purest sense, foreshadowing what is to come but grounded in the power of nature, not guitars and drums. The faint sounds of french horns, piano, and an echo of voices lull you into calm, only to be awakened by Roger Daltry’s voice asking the question every teenager asks himself and the world, “Can you see the real me?” A few beats later and Keith Moon’s drums and John Entwistle’s bass wake you up, shake you up, and let you know the band is going to confront that question head on, holding back nothing. And you should expect nothing less from a band that, through the personal and intimate writing of guitarist Pete Townshend, never shied from asking and answering the questions that lie inside all of us. Who are we for real, what do I mean to those around me, and how can I fit into this world of ours? Quadrophenia explores those questions in seventeen tracks that go from the unrestrained power of The Real Me to the spare Helpless Dancer. Of course highlights well known to any classic rock fan are the more popular songs 5:15 and Love, Reign O’er Me, both well worth their praise. But songs Drowned, Bell Boy, and Dr Jimmy are too often overlooked. But they all are examples of the power of this band, its strength of performance, its cheeky humor (Keith Moon’s vocals on Bell Boy) and the precision of Townshend’s lyrics. From start to finish, from the crashing waves of I Am The Sea to Daltry’s screaming finish to Love, Reign O’er Me the album is a force of nature, and of a band at its peak.