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The Who - hope I die before I get old

Quadrophenia remains one of my favourite-ever albums. I can't say I'd want to see them play it live now though.

I haven't listened to Quadrophenia in years but sat down with the whole thing last night. It really is an extraordinary piece of work - the complexity of the songs and musical themes somehow successfully married to great, straight ahead rock'n'roll and exploring profound themes of alienation, identity and spirituality.
The band were musically at their peak and Townshend at his most creatively ambitious. Its saved from being some pretentious prog nonsense by the raw emotion and brutal honesty of the songs and the musical self discipline - there's no extended jam whig outs or musical filler despite it being a double album.
I don't think he ever really got over how it was not a hit on the same level of Tommy - ( the stress of the project nearly broke him and split the band) - but it has aged far better in retrospect. Possibly the bands finest work?
 
Quadrophenia is a 10/10 album.

I have a soft spot for Rog too. A working class lad who has stayed quite grounded. He has updated his look with the times, hair an all (ahem Jagger and Plant).

I heard an interview with him where he said he's still got the same mates since school ,so if he got too poncey they told him all about it.

Got his book for Christmas, will read next I think
 
Quadrophenia is a 10/10 album.

I have a soft spot for Rog too. A working class lad who has stayed quite grounded. He has updated his look with the times, hair an all (ahem Jagger and Plant).

I heard an interview with him where he said he's still got the same mates since school ,so if he got too poncey they told him all about it.

Got his book for Christmas, will read next I think

He's a tory, sexist prat...and he really isn't that intelligent..

Recent interviews have just added to the list of shitty attitudes he drags around with him.

Stick to trout fishing and singing, Roger.
 
mad to think that they were only in their late 20s by the time they'd done Quadrophenia. Bands were so young in those days. No surprise so many of 60s rock stars lost their minds/lives/judgement and/or wasted their talent - many had gone from a growing up in working or lower middle class backgrounds, in morally conservative, post-austerity britain to being feted as global demi-gods by millions as the heads of huge cultural explosion when they were not long out of their teens.

As for Daltrey - yeah, hes classic "working class done good by hard work so fuck you" individualist nobber. Come out with some UKIPy shite. However I think his role was to provide Townshend's arty fartyness with a grounding in reality - cos he had to get "professional bloke" and not particularly imaginative Daltrey to understand and interpret it.
 
I haven't listened to Quadrophenia in years but sat down with the whole thing last night. It really is an extraordinary piece of work - the complexity of the songs and musical themes somehow successfully married to great, straight ahead rock'n'roll and exploring profound themes of alienation, identity and spirituality.
The band were musically at their peak and Townshend at his most creatively ambitious. Its saved from being some pretentious prog nonsense by the raw emotion and brutal honesty of the songs and the musical self discipline - there's no extended jam whig outs or musical filler despite it being a double album.
I don't think he ever really got over how it was not a hit on the same level of Tommy - ( the stress of the project nearly broke him and split the band) - but it has aged far better in retrospect. Possibly the bands finest work?
The studio version of Tommy sounds a bit puny these days but there are a tonne of good soundboard live recordings of the Tommy material from the following years that sounds much better. I love the dynamic of those shows - start off with a loud walloper ( like Heaven & Hell), follow it with a few quieter numbers then bring it back to the boil again. Townshend in his white boiler suit - partly because he has work to do and partly so people at the back of the 60,000 crowd can see him.
 
I haven't listened to Quadrophenia in years but sat down with the whole thing last night. It really is an extraordinary piece of work - the complexity of the songs and musical themes somehow successfully married to great, straight ahead rock'n'roll and exploring profound themes of alienation, identity and spirituality.
The band were musically at their peak and Townshend at his most creatively ambitious. Its saved from being some pretentious prog nonsense by the raw emotion and brutal honesty of the songs and the musical self discipline - there's no extended jam whig outs or musical filler despite it being a double album.
I don't think he ever really got over how it was not a hit on the same level of Tommy - ( the stress of the project nearly broke him and split the band) - but it has aged far better in retrospect. Possibly the bands finest work?
Easily, in my book. It's a magnificent piece of work. Powerful, melancholic and bursting with alienation and anger. And Keith Moon was never better.
 
I haven't listened to Quadrophenia in years but sat down with the whole thing last night. It really is an extraordinary piece of work - the complexity of the songs and musical themes somehow successfully married to great, straight ahead rock'n'roll and exploring profound themes of alienation, identity and spirituality.
The band were musically at their peak and Townshend at his most creatively ambitious. Its saved from being some pretentious prog nonsense by the raw emotion and brutal honesty of the songs and the musical self discipline - there's no extended jam whig outs or musical filler despite it being a double album.
I don't think he ever really got over how it was not a hit on the same level of Tommy - ( the stress of the project nearly broke him and split the band) - but it has aged far better in retrospect. Possibly the bands finest work?

Creatively Townshend got tied up with the Lifehouse project which he abandoned (using what material he had for Who's Next). I think if that had happened we wouldn't have had Quadrophenia. Thankfully he couldn't really get Lifehouse off the ground and he reached back to the subject matters of those first Who tunes and Mod Culture to try tell his next story (which is a lot more grounded than the grand ideas of Lifehouse).

He keeps going back to Lifehouse and trying to deliver it in different formats, but it has never really worked in my opinion.

Quadrophenia was a huge failure live and nearly killed the bad for good. I think it was that tour where Pete tried to hit Roger with a guitar and got punched out. Keith was fucked on that tour too. The famous elephant tranquilliser incident was around that time I think.
 
yeah - apparently the problem was they had to play along to pre-recorded backing tracks with the synth parts and a metronome. The who - and moon in particular - are not really the sort of band who are going to thrive when playing to a click track.
 
yeah - apparently the problem was they had to play along to pre-recorded backing tracks with the synth parts and a metronome. The who - and moon in particular - are not really the sort of band who are going to thrive when playing to a click track.

The tapes kept breaking too, or wouldn't play, it was all a bit of a tech nightmare....
 
The great thing about Quadrophenia is that of course there is a fantastic film accompanying it. I think it's a much better film than Tommy.

Also imho it's the best big screen representation of London white working class youth culture. Even if it was set 10 years before I was born
 
Is anyone thinking of going to see them this summer or, if like me, do you just feel the two remainers are past it?
I have just tried to look to see how much tickets are and I can't. So annoyed that I will get priority booking by preregistering for their new album :mad:
I gather, and they say this will not detract from the overall effect, that they will be supported by lots of strings and horns - though I guess it's a way of adding some power. For goodness sake, the Who were a proper rock band, a band that blasted out numbers, had fights and were a 4 piece band.
They smashed up stage kit, hotels Etc. That was the Who, that is how they should be, not two old geezers with zimmer frames....time to move on guys.
loved you back then.....
As a Mod for as long as I can remember, i must admit to never ever getting The Who. i agree they were a rock band, but never really saw the connection with the mid scene, imho the early Stones were far more "mod" than The Who.
 
As a Mod for as long as I can remember, i must admit to never ever getting The Who. i agree they were a rock band, but never really saw the connection with the mid scene, imho the early Stones were far more "mod" than The Who.
I just read Rog's book and he said they really just latched onto the mod thing in the early days as a marketing ploy, although he did like the sharp clothes. Their mod phase was very short though.
 
This is my favourite live performance by any band ever.

I wonder exactly what it is about this drizzly little country that meant we turned out the finest rock bands of pasty skinny little herberts the world has ever seen.
When Bruce Springsteen came to play Hammersmith in 1975 he said he was most excited to just be coming to England as it was the home of music.

 
I saw them in 2000 when the Ox was still alive and they were good, put on a great show. Entwhistle did a 15 minute bass solo. :thumbs:

Nearly 20 years ago and they seemed old then...
 
I saw them at Charlton’s ground in the mid 70s, though I remember it being loud and brilliant I was far too drunk, though I recall how good it was,I can’t remember many details.

Mrs S. and me saw them in 2000 at Sheffield on the greatest hits tour. We hadn’t planned it, just got tickets last off as Strummer and the Mescalaros were supporting. Excellent gig and there were still three of them that night.

Mrs S. saw them after The Ox died and said it was all a bit strained and Townsend looked as though he’d rather be somewhere else.

I have loved The Who since I first heard them doing Substitute on TOTPs, when I was nobbut a bairn.
Live at Leeds, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia being my favourite albums of theirs.

I’m not bothered about going again I would hate the possibility of being disappointed.
 
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