Poll, Reign O'er Me: The Who Quadrophenia Poll

The bass in "The Real Me" makes my day every time I hear it. Sometimes it sounds like it was mixed higher than the vocals!

Real Me. That bass is absolutely insane. But almost voted for Drowned. This is a great album

"5:15"

Can I vote for the booklet? Specially the LP version.

OW this is hard - going with 'Cut My Hair' and queuing this up to listen to today, 'cause the whole rekkid so great. Tied with 'Sell Out' for fave Who rekkid for me ...

kinda wanna go for I'm One cuz of Freaks n Geeks

5:15

Punk Meets the Godfather, followed by Quadrophenia

The best song is 'oh shit I'm Sting and a bellhop just tossed my scooter around.'

The b-side of "Join Together" has this amazing live version of "Baby Don't You Do It" which is basically where "The Real Me" came from.
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/1809

Considered "The Punk Meets The Godfather" (Townshend's vocal on the bridge may be my fave vocal of his anywhwere), but ended up voting for "Sea And Sand."

'sounds like “Live At Leeds” and the songwriting credits should’ve read Holland-Iommi-Holland instead.'

Awesome line

at least im not the only one going S&S

"5:15"

impossible. one of my all time favorite albums.

inside outside
leave me alone

inside outside
nowhere is home

inside outside
where have i been?

out of my brain on the fiiiiiiiive fifteen!

I'm a pretty big fan of the Who, but I must say this is not one of my faves. In fact, I bought it, sold it, bought it ten years later, played it once and sold it again. I think "I'm One" was probably the best track, if memory serves.

I'm interested in hearing the "Baby Don't You Do It" live version, though...

Tempted to vote for the entire album, because, more than most albums, this is a whole that hangs together and becomes meaningless one and one.

WHO IS SHE? I'LL RAPE IT

Tempted to vote for the entire album, because, more than most albums, this is a whole that hangs together and becomes meaningless one and one.

QFT.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pissed I missed the chance to vote for Love Reign O'er here, it's a beautiful song. Punk and the Godfather also gets me in raptures, especially the bit where it slows down and pete sings about owning the dancehall's broken glass and empty seats

crap, too late to vote for "I've Had Enough."

Listening to this in its entirety for the first time in years and finding in myself loving it more than I've ever done. Would have went for 'Love Reign O'er Me', because it's my favourite Who song without a doubt.

Y'know, I think this actually may be their best album...

I saw them perform it in 1995 on a reunion tour thing at Madison Square Garden, and it was one of the very best arena rock shows I have ever seen.

Kind of amazing:

Yeah, “The Real Me” was the first take. I was joking when I did that bass part. The band said, “Wow, that’s great, that’s great!” And I was just messing around. They just loved the song. I was sitting on top of my speaker cabinet playing a silly bass part and that’s the one they liked.

i bought this album for $5, having never knowingly heard a note of the who before in my life, why because the album art looked intertsing. it came with an entire booklet of photos illustrating the story (NOT stills from the movie iirc). i was like 15 or 16 years old, awkward, romantically unsuccessful, the perfect situation to get into this record.

it immediately became my favorite album. i taped it and listened to it everywhere. i sat with the booklet (which contained the lyrics) for hours, days, weeks. i listened to this album when i hiked up mount leconte with my family. i still remember flopping myself down on the wool blanket in the leconte lodge, mist everywhere, this album in my headphones, feeling like life was big and wide and unusual and unexplored.

it's weird for me to think of this album as discrete songs. with all the reprises and motifs sneaking between songs it all really feels like one big thing. which isn't to say you can't love some parts better than others. elvis telecom totally OTM here:

"The Punk Meets The Godfather" (Townshend's vocal on the bridge may be my fave vocal of his anywhwere)

there's a kind of free-flowing clearness to this, and to the harmony, that reminds me of pete seeger of all people

that said i don't think i've listened to more than a song or two of this album, by happenstance, in more than 20 years

it came with an entire booklet of photos illustrating the story (NOT stills from the movie iirc)

Correct, those were taken specifically for the album, which predated the movie by six years. The photographer was Ethan Russell, who also took the Who's Next cover photo.

The BBC documentary Can You See The Real Me? is well worth seeking out (I believe it's split up into several parts on youtube). Fascinating as always to hear Pete talk about a project's development, but lots of background info on the mod scene as well, and something of a surprise/what-if? at the end.

I would have voted for 'The Dirty Jobs' in this poll, which to me is one of the bands most underrated songs, but the title track is such a wonderful, expertly composed piece of music. I think it's far superior to Tommy as a rock opera on a musical level - all the themes are well worked out and the end result gels better.

And yep, I had a pretty similar experience/reaction to the record as you, Tracer, though I was already a Who fanatic (but it was more expensive -- $11.81 -- and didn't have the book).

it's weird for me to think of this album as discrete songs. with all the reprises and motifs sneaking between songs it all really feels like one big thing.

Yeah, definitely. Sad and strange that the 1973 shows were as disjointed as the album was cohesive. The late-'90s tours finally gave it the live presentation it deserved.

Was this the tour when Moon ended up passing out at the kit?

there was only one?

i think every western teenager likes to fancy that their restless individuality is trapped in a homogenous grey dystopia of repression. and as chance would have it early 70s england seems like it kind of actually was that to an extent

A few years back a friend of mine was going to see Pete Townshend and his wife do one of their "living room" or webcast or whatever shows from a tiny club here. I find out at the last minute that it's also some sort of fan meet and greet, and that if I showed up an hour or so early I could meet Pete. So I figure, cool, I'll do that, and more so, I'm going to have him autograph something for me. So I go to another friend's record store on the way and buy some beat up copy of Quadrophenia for a buck or so. I show up to the event and it turns out to be like a $500 a ticket thing (I didn't have to pay) where Who fans show up with boatloads of stuff for Pete to sign, and to his credit, he made the rounds and basically signed everything not nailed down. I felt funny saying hi and having him sign my beat up Quadro sleeve, but I did, and he seemed a bit bemused that it was all I had for him to sign, after all the playing cards, stills, singles, etc. Have it framed and hanging in my kitchen.

Anyway, I saw them the last time they toured the album in its entirety, and they were great, especially since Roger got his throat fixed. Amusingly (to me, at least), until that show I must have been one of a handful of people to have seen solo Roger live and solo Pete live but not the Who.

Was this the tour when Moon ended up passing out at the kit?

― ...so music and chicken have become intertwined (Turrican), Monday, April 10, 2017 11:24 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yep, starts at 1:30 here:
https://youtu.be/PnuxSKsNy3M

there was only one?

Ha, the two most famous incidents are San Francisco '73, where he actually got through most of the show ok, and Boston '76 where he collapsed after two songs.

Since Keith was (according to Pete) a raving coke addict, passing out during shows was actually a rare occurrence. But he also consumed whatever he was handed which, in the case of the '73 show, was booze mixed with animal tranquilizers.

Surprisingly faithful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te-jTA8g8Ys

This album also feels like the end of something, too. It's The Who's last big artistic statement, but also - even though they managed to record a couple more albums with Moon after this - it was the last time the band sounded this potent. The Who by Numbers and Who Are You are fine, but it seemed like Townshend was writing material that was more suited for a solo album and that was increasingly becoming unsuitable for Daltrey's voice (with exceptions) ... also the deteriorating condition of Moon affected the performances a great deal.

This album also feels like the end of something, too.

Pete felt similarly (start at 6:47)
https://youtu.be/cf-RfSZ-xOs

def my favorite who record

def not my favorite who record

Had never heard this until the movie came out. I was just the right age, 18, so I loved both. I think I'd still like the movie fine (haven't seen it in ages), and I imagine the songs would still work in that context. Less sure of the album on its own--a lot of horns, a lot of preening Daltrey.

A lot of great songs, clem.

I haven't seen the movies of either Tommy or Quadrophenia for a while, I think Quadrophenia is obviously the better of the two (there's certainly plenty of memorable moments in the Tommy movie, but on the whole I thought it kinda sucked) but if I had to choose between the movie and the LP, I'd choose the LP.

I was reading a "best Who songs list" online, and the writer said that he always skips side 2 of Quadrophenia after "I'm One". Is that a common opinion? I see that none of those songs got votes here.
"Is It In My Head?" predates the rest of the album and doesn't have anything to do with the story, and I guess I could see a Who fan put off by "Helpless Dancer". But "I've Had Enough" is the centrepiece of the story, and they're all good songs.

I've never encountered that opinion before. I agree about "Helpless Dancer" (I like it, but can definitely see how others wouldn't), but everything else on that side works. "Is It In My Head" fits perfectly, despite predating the story/concept, and "I've Had Enough" was so central that it was used for the climax of the film.

My issue with the record is how the drums were recorded (apart from "Is It In My Head" and "Love, Reign O'er Me," recorded in 1972 by Glyn Johns). The bass drums don't pop, the snare doesn't crack, and the cymbals are too prominent. I sometimes thought the issue was with Moon's performance, but on the live 1973 recordings I've heard, he's on fire, maintaining the peak he set in 1971 (and on a newly-expanded kit). His playing here is, for me, superior to his performance on the record (and arguably better-recorded):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv6bCr4K7z8

turns 50 next week

- lotta water/rain sounds huh? deep
- 'love reign o'er me' is a great song but i don't need it to be blatantly quoted/hinted at in every other song. makes 'the downward spiral' progression seem subtle
- lotta repetitive pounding piano chords eh?
- lotta that same keith moon fill but tbf it is awesome

possibly i just don't fully grasp rock operas

otm