Saturday, May 24th, 1969

Record Mirror reviews Tommy giving it a 5 Star rating and calling it "one of the most incredible feats ever accomplished in music"

 

Transcript: (unverified)

THE WHO: Tommy — Overture; It’s A Boy; 1921; Amazing Journey; Sparks; The Hawker (A); Christmas; Cousin Kevin; The Acid Queen; Underture; Do You Think It’s Alright?; Fiddle About; Pinball Wizard; There’s A Doctor; Go To The Mirror!; Sensation; Miracle Cure; Sally Simpson; I’m Free; Welcome; Tommy’s Holiday Camp; We’re Not Gonna Take It (Track 613 013/4 Stereo, Double LP set).

THIS is the long awaited album set you read about in Record Mirror, folks. The Who present a pop opera lasting all of an hour and a quarter and it’s a sound success. Get it? sound? Seriously, my committee, known popularly as the Modern Booze Quartet, sat down and had a stern listen-in and the united opinion was that this has got to be one of the most incredible feats ever accomplished in music. The subject is Tommy; the boy who saw his mother pollenating the wrong flower, which caused him to go deaf, dumb and blind with shock. Various external factors such as Gypsy the Acid Queen and her bag of imported tricks help Tommy to negotiate things inside his head and he becomes a very practised competitor in carnival games of skill; hence the Pinball Wizard.

All of the selections in Tommy’s progression are penned with precision by Peter Townshend and his boys. The famous style of slam bang guitar work credited to the Who, is in full swing where it’s appropriate and the tone is levelled off to quiet, smooth orchestrals where those suit best. They have managed to create a number of different moods throughout the opera and used all facets of the power spectrum, from the heaviest and loudest to the gentle and the subtle; in fact, all the ingredients needed to classify it a fine opera. The top secret members of the Modern Booze Quartet have cast their ballots and it looks good. For the Who and Tommy, it’s a FIVE STAR RATING!