This Hi-Res audio format should be a real winner, unlike previous attempts to drag up the digital quality from MP3 by the likes of SACD and DVD Audio this format can be played back at an improved quality by anyone with a decent standard Bluray Player and surround sound system, so why is it dying on its feet. I obviously like this album lots so I'll leave you to read other reviews on its musical content, so I'll restrict my comments to this new format and it is that I give 4 stars. The Bluray Pure Audio has both a 5.1 remix and the 2.0 audio only versions in high res 24 bit / 96Khz so you could say this is the definitive quality version of this classic Who album. I have copies of this album on vinyl from the 70s, CD from the 80s and now Bluray Audio from the 10s.
So while it's good, in my opinion it isn't the best Who album, for me that title currently belongs to Who's Next, but as I have already explained I have more Who yet to explore, and next up is The Who By Numbers (hopefully a steal at only £5). So why only four stars? Firstly, while the quality of the songs is generally high there is insufficient variety across the length of the double album to sustain interest as a concept album it was intended to be heard in one continuous sitting and needs some variety to sustain interest, and secondly I don't like the silliness that the Who had a tendency to and find Bell Boy particularly annoying. Quadrophenia on the other hand may lack the killer singles, but has a consistency and quality that Tommy lacks and the story is stronger although really a bit irrelevant in short this is thoughtful wall-to-wall early 1970's rock being performed by one of the greatest bands to emerge from the 60's largely unscathed. I say that because I always thought Tommy to be a bit superficial, OK it has a couple of killer singles, but it isn't mature, some of the tracks are frankly feeble and let's be honest the story is a bit silly particularly around the edges. So, sitting here listening to Quadrophenia's two CDs back-to-back, I am relieved to realise that this isn't Tommy Part 2 unlike Tommy this is the sound of a grown-up rock band performing real rock songs that are not just an artifice for telling a pretentious story.
Yes, I have Tommy and Who's Next, and of course Live at Leeds, but apart from a couple of greatest hits compilations (don't ask) that's it so I felt a little bit of out of my depth particular as a quarter of the set-list came from Quadrophenia (alright that quarter included 5:15 and Love Reign Over Me, but it still left a large gap.) So I dashed-off an emergency Amazon order and now I am the proud owner of Quadrophenia and only some 45 years after it was released! Having seen the Who at Wembley recently I realised how little of their music I actually owned, of course I should have realised this before the gig and done something about it then and not afterwards.
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