WHO [VINYL]

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This album is super bold including a subplot that only lasts one song. It’s about the story of Sally Simpson who is a fan of Tommy’s and accidentally got slashed in the face being at the front of the stage, and then moved on and got married to someone else and forgot about him. It’s not completely relevant to the entire story but it’s such an interesting, short story that connects some of the themes and plays off the main narrative. This is one of the earliest examples of postmodern storytelling that I could think of in music.

Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs. ‘I Can See for Miles’, a top ten hit at the time, is a Who classic. ‘Rael’, a Townshend ‘mini-opera’ with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy and the psychedelic blast of ‘Armenia City In The Sky’ and ‘Relax’ are among the very best material anyone wrote during the 1960s.The rest of the lp is pleasant, humorous pop. "Armenia" is less groundbreaking psychedelia than just plain silly. "Rael", another Townsend "mini-opera", sees the musical beginnings of the band's later bloated "Tommy". Released in 1967, The Who Sell Out was the third album released by the band and is revered for being one of the first concept albums, celebrating the short-lived pirate radio stations of the late 60s with its groundbreaking use of fake adverts and jingles between songs. Another common theme throughout the album is glass and mirrors, which is representative of reflections of identity and the concept of smashing and releasing. The song “I’m Free” is extremely cathartic and wonderful feeling as Tommy can finally sense and a lot of this symbolism goes along with smashing a mirror. This is all about destroying what people expect of you and why you’re supposed to see. It’s a liberation. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. I Can't Reach You" and "Our Love Was, Is" are fetching pop melodies, and Townsend's acoustic "Sunrise" is simply beautiful. (I don't think I have EVER heard this tune on the radio.)

One of the most extraordinary albums of any era, The Who Sell Out is The Who’s last ‘pop’ album. Two years later came Tommy – a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid. THE WHO SELL OUT SUPER DELUXE EDITIONAs beautifully done and artistically excellent as this album is, this is still nothing more than pornography, yet another exploration into the “Story Of O,” where the truly helpless come out on the other side pleased that the lessons they have learned at the hands of others have valued their lives and made them the successes they are. Unfortunate that’s just not true, and the life of Pete Townshend proves that ultimately with a great deal of sadness. This might seem acceptable, though tragic, but even after all of this abuse, once Tommy becomes the Pinball Wizard, his family again tempts and exploits the boy. This would certainly lend credence to the notion that Pete was abused as a child and that his parents ignored him until he became rich and famous, only then wanting their share of his fame.

Rather then the music, I am speaking to the concept of the album here, where for me, the notion of the story of Tommy is akin to the notion of a rape fantasy, where the girl has been awakened to her sexuality, even though by rape, and has now blossomed into a raving beauty, strong and secure, perhaps even glad that she had been deflowered in such a violent manner ... no longer young, deaf, dumb or blind. But this work is far more insidious and dark, and perhaps true on a subconscious level for Mr. Townshend. The ground-breaking original plan for The Who Sell Out was to sell advertising space on the album but instead the band opted for writing their own jingles, paying tribute to pirate radio stations and to parody an increasingly consumerist society. It would be remiss of me not to say that looking at such issues found on Tommy does not have merit, as certainly anyone who enjoys this release should not be considered to support the notion of child abuse, very much like the book “The Basketball Diaries” by Jim Carroll, who kept detailed notes, poems and thoughts during his downward spiral into drug addiction, where simply watching or reading his story is not tantamount to supporting or glorifying drug addiction ... it is all a visual and musical journey, dark as it may be, in the life of one of the greatest musicians of our time. The Who Sell Outwas originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band’s managers, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs stylised as a pirate radio broadcast. This concept was born out of necessity as their label and management wanted a new album and Townshend felt that he didn’t have enough songs.LP Deluxe (stereo) vinyl edition featuring the original album and extras highlights from the box set. One of the most interesting things about the album is the perspective. It’s all about Tommy, clearly, but it seems to be from the point of view of other people in his life. We see a lot from cousin Kevin, uncle Ernie, his mother, and even a whole section about perspective of some random girl named Sally Simpson. With these themes of reflection, it might be very well that all these people in Tommy’s life see themselves in Tommy and by telling his story from their perspective, they’re relating their experiences to his and in some situations, like Kevin’s bullying and Ernie’s diddling, their negative actions towards Tommy might just be a reflection of their own insecurities and problems, that they choose to take out on him because he’s easy to manipulate and take advantage of. THE WHO HITS 50! continues throughout all of 2015 with very special re-releases throughout the year and a huge celebratory show in Hyde Park. The title says it all: "The Who Sell Out", with the band shown as spokesmen for some suspiciously familiar products. This is the band's best album yet and one of their more commercial (replete with commercials).