190. The Who, "Tommy"

 

There are really two different kinds of "concept albums:" one that's generally built around a theme and explores ideas within that theme, like Sgt. Pepper's and Pet Sounds (two albums about which I have thoughts, and are, I'm sure, in the top 20, so check back in a year or so), and one that actually tells a cohesive story with a plot and characters, like this one, maybe the most famous of the latter type in history.

The story, which wasn't included in narrative written form anywhere with the album, goes something like this: a boy's father kills his mother's lover, after which the mother hypnotizes him, causing him to lost his sight, hearing, and speech; he retreats to an inner world and is tortured and molested by relatives; he then becomes a pinball prodigy, then regains his senses, starts a cult, which eventually fails, and again retreates to some kind of inner world.  This album came out in 1969, can you tell?

Leaving the story, such as it was, aside, the album spawned a number of singles that became indelibly etched into rock history - "Pinball Wizard," a song you can probably summon up from memory in its entirety right now; "I'm Free," "We're Not Gonna Take It."  Although the story that provides the album's throughline is largely incoherent if you just listen to the album, it's clear that something is going on, and the songs are all solid enough to make it work.

The lesser-known songs are almost as good.  "Amazing Journey" is in and of itself a journey, moving from a soft opening to an almost psychedelic jam, but with that characteristic Who sound.  "The Acid Queen" is another rightfully highly-regarded song, about a person who takes Tommy and feeds him acid and (it's implied) has sex with him:

Give us a room and close the door
Leave us for a while.
Your boy won't be a boy no more
Young, but not a child.
I'm the Gypsy - the acid queen.
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy the acid queen.
I'll tear your soul apart.

There are other, more disturbing sexual references on this album, particularly "Fiddle About," which is straight-up about molestation and is even more disturbing in light of the later revelations about Pete Townshend and child pornography.

After listening to this whole album again, my takeaway is that this must have been so much fucking work.  Writing one song is hard.  Writing a double album's worth, and making them hang together in a coherent storyline, I can't even.  (For the record, I'm not wrong - it took over seven months to record, not to mention mixing.)  

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Of course.