Gather Collaboration #1--Quadrophenia by The Who

Recently, my friend Gerry Wass published a review of the Who's new album, Endless Wire. In the comment string, I mentioned that I was not impressed with the effort. This led to a discussion between Gerry and myself regarding which of the Who's albums might have been their best. In the course of this discussion I discovered that I had not even listened to the album that Gerry considers their definitive work, Quadrophenia. I set out to rectify this matter, which led to this article.

My first reaction upon listening to this album could be paraphrased, "Holy crap!" How I missed listening to this back in the seventies, I do not know. Okay, I do know - when it was released I was living in a cannabis-induced haze & thought that one had to have a quadrophonic system to play it, which I lacked.

The first time I listened to this cd, a phrase that stuck in my head was "I pick up phones and hear my history." That was in one of the tunes I had not heard before; I am going to venture that I have heard about half of this album on the radio over the years. But listening to it straight through I was really impressed by Pete Townsend's ability as a composer. I am still digesting the composition; I am a slow learner. I have yet to grasp this as an opera, or pick up on the story line.

In a message Gerry sent to me before I listened to this album, he mentioned the interplay between Keith Moon's drums and John Entwhistle's bass, so I was listening for this when I first cued up the album. EPIPHANY! I realized that my definition of Rock and Roll insists that a tune have a thundering bass line and rumbling drums. This album certainly qualifies! Keith Moon is at his absolute best here, he is just awesome! Once upon a time he was referred to as the fastest 19-year-old drummer alive - his speed on this album is amazing. The interplay between his drum playing and John Entwhistle's bass line provides a foundation from which Pete Townsend's guitar and Roger Daltry's vocals can soar. There is also some kick-ass piano on a couple of the numbers, and backing from an orchestra which did not make the credits in the cd booklet. What this album is all about for me, though, is Moon's drumming and Entwhistle's bass line. Folks, this is Rock and Roll at its finest!

Thanks to Gerry for steering me to the epiphany of the thunder aspect of Rock and Roll. Since the light dawned, I have listened to some music with my newly acquired understanding of the rhythm component of rock music. The Rolling Stones' tunes really kick into gear when Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts come in, I have discovered. I have been aware for some time how important a contribution Phil Lesh, Billy Kreutzman and Mickey Hart made to the music of the Grateful Dead as the foundation for Jerry Garcia's magical guitar playing and his and Bob Weir's vocals; in recent weeks I have noticed that in many of their tunes, Phil's bass line is actually the melody line that Jerry and Bobby's guitar parts dance around.

Gerry, I still maintain that, in my humble opinion, Who's Next is the band's definitive album; this is probably because I have been listening to it for 30-odd years, while Quadrophenia is new to my listening experience.

If you have not listened to Quadrophenia, may I recommend that you get on Ebay and procure yourself a copy. Unless of course, you are a Country and Western type, in which case - why have you read this article?

If you would like to read Gerry's review of the Who's Endless Wire and the message string that led to this review, you can find it here:  http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976889624

To read Gerry's half of the collaboration, go here:  http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976923734