Hello Again everyone, I am sorry if my last blog came off as preachy, I was simply expressing my views. Anyways, here I am on disc two of this Meta album. Since I got some of the lyrics wrong last time I will be paraphrasing meanings off of Wikipedia. This is also going to be the last review where I do the song by song breakdown, rather I will be making each section one paragraph each. Anyways, let's get down to this almost forgotten classic album.
Title: Quadrophenia
Year: 1972
Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Rock Opera
Artist(s): The Who
Record Label: 1978 Track/M.C.A. Records US Release
Songs:
1. 5:15-
The song opens on guitar and piano and with Paige on vocals. The song soon opens into a full on bluesy brass section with exciting piano and Daltry taking over for the vocals. Jimmy is on a train headed for Brighton, and he is sitting between two "city gents" who are consuming mass amounts amphetamines. Jimmy has been popping the bennys to pass them time and he is going through phases of feeling high and then crashing down from them. To show that Jimmy is taking bennys they constantly switch form a relaxed with the piano and guitar feel to an excited fell with the rest of the band and the brass section. What makes this song special is how nicely they do the switch of feeling high and the drugs crashing down on Jimmy, how real the emoting from both singers is, and the beautiful guitar playing by Paige. Overall, a very interesting piece in how they show Jimmy's struggle and crashing down and getting high again. 5 out of 5 stars.
2. Sea and Sand-
The song opens on the sound of Seagulls and then on a very sad soundign guitar playing with Daltry on vocals, then breaks into the Who's typical bluesy rock during the chorus and Paige singing. Jimmy's mood at first is heightened to be in Brighton, but he later realizes that the Mod scene is falling apart and he feels like he is living in the past. There is another switch in calm and excited, until we get a double triple mini solo from the band with Daltry narrating in the background during the song's climax. What makes this song interesting is how well they balanced all of the moods of Jimmy musically. Overall, a very sad but beautiful and exciting piece. 5 out of 5 stars.
3. Drowned-
This song has a strong gospel feel at the begging thanks to the organ and has Daltry. Jimmy is contemplating killing himself by drowning in the ocean because he has nothing in the present. The song sounds happier when Jimmy wants to become one with the sea, and when he is in the water the music mellows out. Through a lot of jamming and variation, when the song finally ends Jimmy fails to drown himself and the band has a powerful jam session until we hear the sounds of the ocean and Jimmy talking to himself walking off. What makes this song interesting is the fact that The Who wrote a suicide song that sounds happy rather than sad. Overall, a powerful and exciting piece but tends to drag on a bit. 4 out of 5 stars.
4. Bell Boy-
The song opens on very energetic drums by Moon, followed by guitar and synthesizer and Daltry on vocals. Jimmy enters the Brighton hotel that the Mods tore up earlier, and he meets a former Ace Face who is now the Bell Boy at the hotel. The Ace Face looks down on Jimmy with pity and contempt. They have an argument with Jimmy saying the Ace Face has sold out, but Bass-Face hasn't =D, jk. Jimmy now feels no place in the mod life style. The song then goes into a mini guitar solo, followed by Moon speaking as the Mod in what Wikipedia says is a "cartoonish Cockney accent", but later on Moon sings and talks in his normal voice and the "Bell Boy" lyrical theme is often repeated, then more palying with Daltry, and towards the end Moon speaks in the accent again and the band continues to play as the song fades. What makes this song interesting is Moon's recititive as the Bell Boy personality and the Ace Face, the energetic drum and guitar playing, the fact that Entwistle played support again rather than his normal lead style. Overall, a very enjoyable piece that also shows more fustration in Jimmy's life. 5 out of 5 stars.
5. Doctor Jimmy-
On the opening we hear synthesizer, violin, and drums. Daltry sings the vocals emphasizing the darkness of the lyrics. Jimmy is now doing drugs out the ass, and is now arguing with himself saying he should get checked out. This song is a loose reference to Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, which ties in with the multiple personality disorder theme. The song gets progressively quicker and more dire in tonality as it goes on, while sounding happy during the chorus. There is also a long instrumental section that ends with the "is it me" theme from disc one. There is a switch from happy, to dire, to triumphant in the song, and for the rest of the song we see variations such as these, four minutes worth. The song ends on piano and synthesizer playing together in unison and fades into the next song. Overall, this is a long piece but the who definitely made it interesting and complex enough for it not to drag on, it is also an interesting reference to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 5 out of 5 stars.
6. The Rock-
This piece is all instrumental, and is one of the most complex that Townshend ever wrote. Jimmy has stolen a boat because he is high and depressed, and he eventually falls asleep on the ocean only to wake up and see the boat has drifted away. All of the instruments are pretty much going all out with changes in theme and time signature. The song is tying together all four of the lyrical themes, and the guitar is playing a very noticeable solo as this is the first time I've really heard Townshend do a few crazy guitar solos as I have yet to hear their full discography and this album was requested to me from a friend, he he he. Anyways, the end of the track is very mesmerizing and beautiful and closes on thunder and lightning fading into the next song. The entire track is what's interesting about this song. Overall, a masterpiece in how it sounds beautiful and how it ties all the themes together. 6 out of 5 stars.
7. Love, Reign O'er Me-
The song opens up on the best piano playing of the album as their is real soul to it, and going along with the piano are gongs and ceremonial drums. Daltry eventually enters with the synthesizer with a very beautiful melody to them. Jimmy is stranded on the island and a storm is raging over him, but as the storm rages he gets an epiphany. He is not the four personalities that he always feuded with, but rather he is himself. As the song continues we get to hear the bass and piano supporting Daltry and Townshend trading parts on guitar and vocals. We get to hear very dedicated solos from Townshend in the track towards the end. The song slowly breaks down into a single chord form a brass qaurtet and the guitar stopping with the drums as the album closes. What makes this song interesting is how triumphantly beautiful it is. Overall, just a wonderfl track with a great message: just be your self. 5 out of 5 stars.
Instrumentation:
Well, very complex. This album is probably the most complex ever written by The Who, as such they eventually stopped playing it in the mid 70s because it was a pain to perform live.The drums, guitar, bass, and vocals either have a lead part or act for support. The synthesizer and piano trade off playing melodies and chords, and Entwhistle wrote the brass section in the role of the rhythm guitar playing mostly chords at the right times. There are many time signature changes, and maybe a few key changes here in the in the final tracks. The instrumentation is very solid and worth listening as it switches form rock opera, to country, and The Who's signature sound.
Production:
The album was very well mixed, it was a tad dry but you can still hear everything clearly. I blame this more on the analog to digital conversion, also since I lack Quadrophonic speakers I can't really tell how it was 'supposed' to be heard. But the digital sound isn't bad.
Singing:
The singing is what conveys the story, and I like how Daltry and Townshend switch off, and let's not forget Moon's shining moment in "Bell Boy" as the Cockney Ace Face, that was a very well emoted and performed recitative. Sadly we didn't get to hear Entwistle's strong vocals, but I will get around to that when I review the Who's discography and the awesomeness that is "Boris the Spider." The singing is very heartfelt and unique with how Jimmy was happy to die or happy to thing of raping women in his different moods, where as other songs would portray that with sadness and being demented. The singing is very solid, and everyone was always on pitch too. The Who 1, Ke$ha 0.
Lyrics:
The lyrics are a bit vague from just listening to them, but with the Libretto they are much easier to understand and do convey the story very well. I am personally glad we live in the age of the internet where information is just a search engine away. :)
What I didn’t like:
"Drowned" tended to drag a little bit and I wish I coudl hear it through Quadrophonic speakers rather than Earbuds.
What I did like:
How well the album was written pretty much.
Who would enjoy this album:
Fans of The Who, country music, synthesizer music, good brass and piano playing to some extent, and fans of classic rock.
Overall:
A solid complex and well emoted album which is worth listening too, especially since it was almost forgotten many years ago.
Rating: *****
The Who 5:15 Unofficial Video:
The Who Love Reign O'er Me Unofficial Video:
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