The Cat 3 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 OK, so here goes... I think I'm ready to begin speaking about this album in some kind of logical order. Here is what I have written in another thread here regarding this album... We used to hang in my friend Tom's older brother's attic room to get, well, to get, hmm, well, you know. So, we'd play his brothers records. We put this album on one day, which was far more sophisticated than any of us could have realized, but just had a great sound. I read the album liner and looked at the pictures while listening and all I can say is "something just clicked". I just loved this record. I asked me Mum if she would buy it for me for Christmas that year. "It's a two record set, so you don't have to get me anything else, ok?!” I bargained. Over the years the album has meant so much to me for many different reasons. This from the liner notes, "A tough guy, a helpless dancer. A romantic, is it me for a moment? A bloody lunatic, I'll even carry your bags. A beggar, a hypocrite, love reign over me. Schizophrenic? I'm Bleeding Quadrophenic." I sure didn't know what all of that meant during that first listen all those years ago...but I certainly do now. I've spent the last few days listening to it and collecting my thoughts. I don't know if I am to applaud Lorraine for starting this thread or to ask the mods (no pun intended) to banish her from TRF! :) I'm going to start with the music itself. Here's the deal, if this album was an instrumental album I believe it would still rank among my favourite albums of all time. Musically the album just blows me away. Again, I discovered this album at a very young age and it really was a bit beyond my level of sophistication and thus stretched my musical boundaries. Imagine a 12 year old lad in his room, head phones on listening to the song "Quadrophenia"...that is some rather heavy music. You tack on the singing, lyrics and over all story line and you have a pretty intense little recipe there. I'll speak more about the lyrics and their impact in my next post. Until then, I encourage you to give it a listen and just focus on the music, the arrangements, the sound of the individual instruments and sound effects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 I do focus on the music. The lyrics have always been secondary. Like yourself, even if there had been no lyrics at all, the music alone was enough to make the album great. My only regret is that I know so little about instruments and how they are played. I can't hear the bass in the songs although I know it is there. There is one song in particular (I can't think of it at the moment) where at one part I have no idea what instrument is making the sound. And so it goes on. I think I hear violins, but I look and find that violins aren't even listed. I hear the piano, but the only thing I see listed is "keyboards". Sometimes it sounds like there is an orchestra backup, so I look to see if the mellotron was used and find no mellotron listed. See what I mean? Completely ignorant when it comes to the technicalities. All I know is that I love music and have from a very young age. For myself, after the initial impact of an album, that is when I would begin to dissect the songs musically - isolating instruments and listening to that one only. Thanks, ReGor, for coming back. :) And please don't have me banished. This thread is therapeutic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I do focus on the music. The lyrics have always been secondary. Like yourself, even if there had been no lyrics at all, the music alone was enough to make the album great. My only regret is that I know so little about instruments and how they are played. I can't hear the bass in the songs although I know it is there. There is one song in particular (I can't think of it at the moment) where at one part I have no idea what instrument is making the sound. And so it goes on. I think I hear violins, but I look and find that violins aren't even listed. I hear the piano, but the only thing I see listed is "keyboards". Sometimes it sounds like there is an orchestra backup, so I look to see if the mellotron was used and find no mellotron listed. See what I mean? Completely ignorant when it comes to the technicalities. All I know is that I love music and have from a very young age. For myself, after the initial impact of an album, that is when I would begin to dissect the songs musically - isolating instruments and listening to that one only. Thanks, ReGor, for coming back. :) And please don't have me banished. This thread is therapeutic. A lot of what you're hearing is synthesizer. And you can't hear the bass? Really? IMO it really stands out on this album big time. It has some of the best bass playing John Entwistle has ever done. The Real Me in particular. That song is a bass solo all the way through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 I do focus on the music. The lyrics have always been secondary. Like yourself, even if there had been no lyrics at all, the music alone was enough to make the album great. My only regret is that I know so little about instruments and how they are played. I can't hear the bass in the songs although I know it is there. There is one song in particular (I can't think of it at the moment) where at one part I have no idea what instrument is making the sound. And so it goes on. I think I hear violins, but I look and find that violins aren't even listed. I hear the piano, but the only thing I see listed is "keyboards". Sometimes it sounds like there is an orchestra backup, so I look to see if the mellotron was used and find no mellotron listed. See what I mean? Completely ignorant when it comes to the technicalities. All I know is that I love music and have from a very young age. For myself, after the initial impact of an album, that is when I would begin to dissect the songs musically - isolating instruments and listening to that one only. Thanks, ReGor, for coming back. :) And please don't have me banished. This thread is therapeutic. A lot of what you're hearing is synthesizer. And you can't hear the bass? Really? IMO it really stands out on this album big time. It has some of the best bass playing John Entwistle has ever done. The Real Me in particular. That song is a bass solo all the way through it. I didn't think of The Real Me. The bass is obvious on that one. But how about the other songs? Where is it on Dr. Jimmy/Mr. Jim? The instrumentals? Eagle, they didn't use a piano on that album? If that is not the piano, what is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) I do focus on the music. The lyrics have always been secondary. Like yourself, even if there had been no lyrics at all, the music alone was enough to make the album great. My only regret is that I know so little about instruments and how they are played. I can't hear the bass in the songs although I know it is there. There is one song in particular (I can't think of it at the moment) where at one part I have no idea what instrument is making the sound. And so it goes on. I think I hear violins, but I look and find that violins aren't even listed. I hear the piano, but the only thing I see listed is "keyboards". Sometimes it sounds like there is an orchestra backup, so I look to see if the mellotron was used and find no mellotron listed. See what I mean? Completely ignorant when it comes to the technicalities. All I know is that I love music and have from a very young age. For myself, after the initial impact of an album, that is when I would begin to dissect the songs musically - isolating instruments and listening to that one only. Thanks, ReGor, for coming back. :) And please don't have me banished. This thread is therapeutic. A lot of what you're hearing is synthesizer. And you can't hear the bass? Really? IMO it really stands out on this album big time. It has some of the best bass playing John Entwistle has ever done. The Real Me in particular. That song is a bass solo all the way through it. I didn't think of The Real Me. The bass is obvious on that one. But how about the other songs? Where is it on Dr. Jimmy/Mr. Jim? The instrumentals? Eagle, they didn't use a piano on that album? If that is not the piano, what is it? I'm not sure if they used real piano or electric piano on the album. It sounds like a regular acoustic piano though. You can make all sorts of sounds with synthesizers. In Dr. Jimmy/Mr. Jim the bass is there through the entire song. I know Quadrophenia has a section where the bass comes in pretty obviously but a lot of it is just synthesizer. Edited March 8, 2014 by EagleMoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I have never owned or ever listened to a Who album in my life. The only exposure I have ever had to the band is radio play... Weird huh? :) Wow. Just wow. Do yourself a favor and pick up Quadrophenia. Trust me you won't regret it. I also don't own any original Who albums, although I've heard some over the years. I have the "Thirty Years of Maximum R&B" box set, which was even released more than twenty years ago now. But I've never heard Quadrophenia all the way through. I may pick it up, if it's as phenomenal as some people here are saying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) I'll agree with that. But Live at Leeds is in a different category than Quadrophenia. LaL is very raw and basic where Q is like a symphony. Both are awesome in their own rights. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) Live at Leeds is a pretty amazing live album. If you have to have on live album by The Who, that's the one to have. As for Quadrophenia...you really need to pick it up. It will be a great investment, I assure you! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) Live at Leeds is a pretty amazing live album. If you have to have on live album by The Who, that's the one to have. As for Quadrophenia...you really need to pick it up. It will be a great investment, I assure you! Ordered- I'll have it in a few days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) Live at Leeds is a pretty amazing live album. If you have to have on live album by The Who, that's the one to have. As for Quadrophenia...you really need to pick it up. It will be a great investment, I assure you! Ordered- I'll have it in a few days. Just make sure you have time to listen to the whole thing all the way through. Best way to take it in. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) Live at Leeds is a pretty amazing live album. If you have to have on live album by The Who, that's the one to have. As for Quadrophenia...you really need to pick it up. It will be a great investment, I assure you! Ordered- I'll have it in a few days. Just make sure you have time to listen to the whole thing all the way through. Best way to take it in. :) The first time listening to any album, I always do that- treating it any other way is just not fair to the music. Sounds corny, maybe, but that's the way I feel about it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushCanuck Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I listened to Quadrophenia beginning to end today (first time in a few months). I was able to give it my undivided attention and the love I feel it deserves. I can't really name a favorite song as they are all great. The flow of songs is awesome, and bring back teenage memories for me. Pete truly wrote a masterpiece. One emotion I found was sadness when I heard Bellboy. I always loved Keith Moon's contribution to the Who and his trailblazing drumming style, but disliked his lifestyle and his self destructive ways - a conflict I face whenever I listen to the Who. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 I listened to Quadrophenia beginning to end today (first time in a few months). I was able to give it my undivided attention and the love I feel it deserves. I can't really name a favorite song as they are all great. The flow of songs is awesome, and bring back teenage memories for me. Pete truly wrote a masterpiece. One emotion I found was sadness when I heard Bellboy. I always loved Keith Moon's contribution to the Who and his trailblazing drumming style, but disliked his lifestyle and his self destructive ways - a conflict I face whenever I listen to the Who. I understand the conflict you face as I face it often enough myself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Regarding the song "Bell Boy"... I always found this song quite comical, until I saw the movie. I have this silly picture of Keith Moon as Uncle Ernie. Later in life I've come to realize that the "drunken sound" in Moon's voice, though intentional was not artificially manufactured for effect. There is an acute sadness when you look back in retrospect to the way we lost Keith. There by the grace of God go I of course. After seeing the movie and seeing Jimmy's response to seeing his idol being mere flesh and blood, and a bell boy at that, served to remind me not to put people on pedestals. I felt the same way after seeing the movie, "Almost Famous" or reading some of Neil Peart's interviews... ...while appreciative of the adoration, there is a certain annoyance and resentment on the part of the idolized. There is a sadness for me in that the underlying complaint of Jimmy (fictional) or Keith Moon (actual) is that the abuses that make up the true antagonist of this story mirror the very same abuses that plagued my own life for oh too many years. The only difference is that I am still here, for some reason, typing these words while others who travelled the same road, alas, are not. Once again, there by the grace of God go I. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Regor, same here. My best friend died suddenly and completely unexpectedly two days before her 26th birthday. I have put myself in too many situations when I was younger where I should have been killed. One taken. One left behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I have put myself in too many situations when I was younger where I should have been killed. And I as well. No matter what kinds of things I might get down about, I'll take now over then, anytime. It's a miracle that I didn't die or kill someone else back then. Still waiting for the discs to arrive here, and it's been almost a week. The more and more posts i read in this thread, I can't wait to get to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 My copy just arrived today, from England- that's why it took nearly two weeks to get here! I just got it from the post a few minutes ago. I shall report back with my findings... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 My copy just arrived today, from England- that's why it took nearly two weeks to get here! I just got it from the post a few minutes ago. I shall report back with my findings... :cheerleader: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 My copy just arrived today, from England- that's why it took nearly two weeks to get here! I just got it from the post a few minutes ago. I shall report back with my findings... Where the heck did you order it from that they had to import it all the way from England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 My copy just arrived today, from England- that's why it took nearly two weeks to get here! I just got it from the post a few minutes ago. I shall report back with my findings... Where the heck did you order it from that they had to import it all the way from England? It was somebody on Amazon, I'm not sure. I got the deluxe expanded edition that was put out a couple of years ago- twenty-eight tracks on two discs, and it was nine dollars, or something. I have hopes that it was worth the wait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 You should have stayed home from work to listen to it. ;) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steevo Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 My copy just arrived today, from England- that's why it took nearly two weeks to get here! I just got it from the post a few minutes ago. I shall report back with my findings... Where the heck did you order it from that they had to import it all the way from England? It was somebody on Amazon, I'm not sure. I got the deluxe expanded edition that was put out a couple of years ago- twenty-eight tracks on two discs, and it was nine dollars, or something. I have hopes that it was worth the wait. I wish I was hearing it for the first time...I so wanted that massive deluxe box but couldn't swing it. We all gather around to see your initial reaction to this work of genius! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom55 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 (edited) OK, one correction- I do have Live at Leeds, which is the second best live rock and roll album of all time. :) Live at Leeds is a pretty amazing live album. If you have to have on live album by The Who, that's the one to have. As for Quadrophenia...you really need to pick it up. It will be a great investment, I assure you! As per the NY Times... and I agree 100%. http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w276/custom55/IMG_0391.jpg Edited March 22, 2014 by custom55 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 You should have stayed home from work to listen to it. ;) Hey, how do you know that I didn't? OK, I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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