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- For the film based on this album, see Quadrophenia (film)
Quadrophenia was a double album released by The Who on October 19 1973, one of the group's two full-scale rock operas (except in a conventional use of the word "opera" as Quadrophenia is mostly a monologue work rather than a varied drama). The name is a variation on the incorrect popular usage of the medical diagnostic term schizophrenia as multiple personality disorder to reflect the four distinct personalities of Jimmy, the opera's protagonist.
Development
Quadrophenia was originally released as a two-LP set with a butterfly jacket and a thick booklet containing lyrics, a text version of the story, and photographs illustrating the tale. MCA re-released it as a two-CD set in 1985 with the lyrics and text story line on a thin fold-up sheet but none of the photographs. The remastered CDs of 1996 include the full original booklet in miniature.
In the liner notes to the remastered Odds and Sods Townshend revealed that Quadrophenia evolved from an idea for a self-indulgent autobiography of the band. Two of the opera's tracks date from 1972, a year that also produced The Who's singles "Join Together" and "Long Live Rock" (the latter not actually released until 1974). However, by the time Quadrophenia was released the band's role in the story was only symbolic, via Jimmy's four personalities.
The tour in support of the album was disastrous according to the band. Many of the shows were plagued by malfunctioning backing sound effects tapes and once the tape started playing the band had to play to them because prior to the Quadrophenia tour the band played in almost a free-form sort of manner on stage.
On the first night of the U.S. leg at The Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, drummer Keith Moon collapsed onstage before the show ended and an audience member was brought on to finish the show.
Quadrophenia was later made into a movie, with several additional songs done by Pete Townshend for the soundtrack.
In 1996, The Who, with a large backing group featuring Zak Starkey on drums (his first appearances as The Who's drummer) and Simon Townshend on guitar, performed Quadrophenia in its entirety for the first time that June in London's Hyde Park with guest performers Phil Daniels as the Narrator/Jimmy, Gary Glitter as The Rocker, Adrian Edmonson as the Ace Face/Bellboy and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour as the bus driver and played additional lead guitar for that performance. Then for the subsequent extensive tour of the US and the UK, Daniels was replaced and Gilmour's role was taken over by Simon Townshend. Gary Glitter and P.J. Proby (subsequently) made guest appearances as The Godfather, and Billy Idol also guested as the Ace Face/Bellboy and was subsequently replaced.
In 2005, A live performance of Quadrophenia from The Who's late 1996/early tour was included in a 3-disc box set released by Rhino Entertainment, also featuring a live performance of Tommy from 1989 as well as other hit songs performed live. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey provided special commentary, and an interview with Billy Idol was also included.
In 2005, Luna C Productions staged a musical tribute to Quadrophenia in Los Angeles, starring Stephen Shareaux as Jimmy. The Who Showa popular Who tribute group, were featured as The Who and performed the music. An additional performance took place in March 2006. [http://www.quadtribute.com/
Story
The story covers about two days of the life of a certain Jimmy, a participant in the early 1960s Mod lifestyle in England. "The story is set on a rock!" announced the composer, Pete Townshend, at one live performance. That remark seems to indicate that the opera represents Jimmy's looking back at the events of the previous day or two that led him into the gloomy situation where he finds himself at the end of the story. The narrative is difficult to derive from the lyrics, but is given along with Jimmy's commentary on various matters in a booklet included with the album.
To the extent that Quadrophenia can be said to tell a story at all, it tells it in the first person. The first half of the opera treats us to the frustrations and insecurities that govern Jimmy's life, including brief glimpses of his home life, his job, his psychoanalyst, and his unfruitful attempts to have a social life. Halfway through the opera he sings "I've Had Enough", finds himself kicked out of his home when his parents find his dope, gets pilled up and takes a train ride to the coast (Embodied in the song 15, which is supposed to be the time when the train departs), steals a scooter and takes it out to a barren rock protruding from the sea, and crashes psychologically. With nothing left to live for he finds redemption in the pouring rain, which is expressed in the final song, "Love, Reign o'er Me" (a manifestation of Townshend's spiritual fixation on water).
Musical structure
Each of Jimmy's four personalities is supposed to be associated with one of the four musicians in The Who. The liner notes illustrate this concept as follows (names added):
- A tough guy, a helpless dancer. (Roger Daltrey)
- A romantic, is it me for a moment? (John Entwistle)
- A bloody lunatic, I'll even carry your bags. (Keith Moon)
- A beggar, a hypocrite, love reign o'er me. (Pete Townshend)
In addition to describing a personality/band member, the four descriptions refer to four theme songs that portray Jimmy's personalities in the opera: "Helpless Dancer", "Doctor Jimmy", "Bell Boy", and "Love Reign O'er Me". The four musical themes (or "leitmotifs" as described by Townshend) are mixed together in the penultimate track, "The Rock," bridging "Doctor Jimmy" and "Love, Reign O'er Me." This piece is one of the most musically complex pieces that Townshend ever wrote for The Who, combining all four themes into one six-minute musical medley. At one point during the piece, two of the themes are played simultaneously, one of which is in 4/4 time and the other in 3/4 time. The 3/4 theme's tempo is slower in such a way that every bar of the opposing themes takes the same amount of time to play, giving The Who one of the most progressive sounds they ever achieved. The piece has neither a definite beginning or end, as it begins with a fade-in from the previous track, starting with the theme of "Bell Boy" (Moon's theme). This is followed by the themes of "Is It Me", "Helpless Dancer" (Daltrey's theme), and "Love, Reign O'er Me" (Townshend's theme). The finale is then three themes together - "Bell Boy" as the chord sequence, the introduction to "Love Reign O'er Me" on the piano, and "Helpless Dancer" on synthesisers. This suddenly stops with the sound of pouring rain which fades into the final track of the album, "Love, Reign o'er Me" proper.
Critical reaction and impact
The lyrics to the song "The Punk and the Godfather" leave the mistaken impression that Townshend was aware of a musical rebellion called punk as early as 1973, with a dual interpretation of Townshend as the punk and his record company's executives as the godfather and/or younger musicians working in new styles as the punks and Townshend as the godfather. The term 'punk' was already well-established in a non-musical sense.
In 2001, the TV network VH1 named Quadrophenia the 86th greatest album of all time. And though it has been largely shrugged off by rock fans as being overblown and pretentious, fans of progressive rock often consider it The Who's best album for pretty much the same reasons.
Quadrophenia reached #2 on the US Billboard album chart and was kept away from #1 by Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album.
The album was covered in its entirety by Phish on October 31, 1995 as part of the band's "Halloween _Phish_play_The_Who extravaganzas."
Track listing
All songs written by Pete Townshend.
Personnel
- John Entwistle – bass, horns, vocals
- Roger Daltrey – lead vocals
- Keith Moon – percussion, vocals on "Bell Boy"
- Pete Townshend – remainder (probably guitars, synthesizers, banjo, sound effects, vocals)
Additional personnel
- Chris Stainton – piano on in "Dirty Jobs", "Helpless Dancer", "5:15" and "Drowned"
- John Curle – newsreader voice
Production personnel
- Pete Townshend – pre-production, special effects
- Chris Stamp – executive producer
- Pete Kameron – executive producer
- Kit Lambert – executive producer
- Ron Nevison – engineer, special effects
- Ron Fawcus – mixing continuity, engineering assistance
- Bob Ludwig – Remastering
- Rod Houison – special effects
- Graham Hughes – front cover design and photography
- Ethan Russell – art direction, insert photography
External links
- Lyrics
- Guitar Tablature
- Quadrophenia the movie at IMDb
- QUAD - A Musical Staging of The Who's Quadrophenia
- Punk in the Gutter: Discussion Website about The Who
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Billboard Pop Albums | 2 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "Love, Reign O'er Me" | Billboard Pop Singles | 76 |
| 1974 | "The Real Me" | Billboard Pop Singles | 92 |
| 1979 | "5:15" | Billboard Pop Singles | 45 |
Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – USA | Gold | October 29 1973 |
| BPI – UK | Gold | December 1 1973 |
| RIAA – USA | Platinum | February 2 1993 |
The Who albums | 1973 albums | Rock operas | Double albums | Mod revival
Quadrophenia (The Who) | Quadrophenia | Quadrophenia (album) | Quadrophenia | Quadrophenia
"Quadrophenia"