Customer Reviews

Tommy (1975 Film)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Not to at all be confused with The 1969 masterpeice album by The Who "Tommy". Speaking of this soundtrack, I would have to reflect on the movie itself, since basically, the entire movie is here on this CD with the inclusion of the single only release of "Overture From Tommy", which in like many cases in this soundtrack, has The Who playing most if not all instrumentation.

Ok, that aside, I as a young 10 year old Who/ Elton John fan went to the cinema over and over to see this grandioso Rock opera come to life before my eyes. Even today watching the film on DVD brings back the original excitement. It was up to the casting director to chose who took each role and would sing each part. Ken Russell was a genius in my opinion on his choices. I always wondered what Pete thinks today of this movie.

Elton John's great version of "Pinball Wizard" (with a bit of "I Can't Explain" thrown in at the end) is worth half the 5 stars I listed. What I also love are the new renditions of the Tommy tunes that The Who actual do like "Amazing Journey", "I'm Free", "Sensation", "Listening To You/See Me, Feel Me" & "Sally Simpson" to name a few. If you are a Who nut like me, this collection is a must! The hard rocking version of "I'm Free" I always loved better than the original laid back version.

Then again, if you are a Who completest like myself, you have this already! The soundtrack to one of the greatest musicals of my time!

I purchased the original movie soundtrack LP recording by Polydor in the `75/'76 time frame, before I actually saw the movie. (I still have this album.) Then, a few years ago, I purchased the CD when it was finally available. There are some differences in the two. There is more content to the CD (the Overture, some short transition songs, and some extensions of the songs, as they were presented in the movie), possibly due to the time limitations associated with vinyl recording technology.

As I recall, being a Who fan, I was initially somewhat disappointed by the fact that many of the songs are not actually performed by The Who and sung by Roger Daltrey. Guest artists and musicians (studio and band) appear frequently, w/ or w/o members of The Who. However, they do, for the most part, their own great job of interpreting the music from the Tommy rock opera. There is a lot to like here if you can get past the fact that The Who did not perform in much of this recording.

I must admit, I do not own a copy of the original Who recording of Tommy. Though, I have heard many of the songs played on radio. With exception of possibly the live performances of Tommy (e.g. at Woodstock), in nearly all cases, the original movie soundtrack recording surpasses the original album release. As noted by others below, there is a lack of energy and a laid back approach (forgive me, mellowed out) in The Who version of Tommy and a fair amount of harmonization of vocals by the band. In contrast, in the movie soundtrack, the song arrangements have all been improved and embellished with additional instrumentation (keyboards & brass), synthesizers, energy, and emotion.

Daltrey's voice is powerful, clean, and he holds notes better than ever before. In my opinion, his vocals in this recording are some of his best work. The guest artists all add their own magic to the music. Enough so that Elton John had a major hit w/ "Pinball Wizard" and he will forever be known as the same. Although less famous, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, and Paul Nicholas also give wonderful performances. Apparently some of the other reviewers do not know that Ann-Margret was an accomplished singer long before this movie. Regardless of their comments, she gives great vocal performances in this movie soundtrack as well. Even Jack Nicholson holds his own in this recording. However, their comments w/r to Oliver Reed's singing are pretty much on the money.

There are three songs from the soundtrack that I have loved since I first heard them. They are, "Amazing Journey", "Sparks", and "Pinball Wizard". You cannot get any better than these for power and energy. With the windows up in your car (or conversely at home, use headphones), crank the stereo volume up with one of these on and you'll understand. My other favorites include, "1951/What About the Boy?", "Eyesight to the Blind" (not a Who composition, but an electrified, old, bluesy, rock song played masterfully by Clapton and the boys), "Champagne", "I'm Free", "I'm a Sensation", "Sally Simpson", "See Me, Feel Me", and "Listening to You".

The bottom line here is that if you liked The Who's work before the death of Moon and are not a Who purest, you might just like this recording a lot. After all, it is The Who's music, just remixed and jazzed up a bit by Townshend and the other artists. It is a helluva lot better than the milk-toast recording just put out by The "New" Who.

I was delighted to find this on CD when I first got it. A more or less exact replica of Tommy the film, which is what I wanted, saved me getting out the video, putting it in rewinding all over the place, and needing a telly whenever I wanted to listen to it.

However, Tommy the Soundtrack was a bit of a dissappointment. There are a few minor discrepancies, like a strange error in Captain Walker, which sounds like the CD is skipping, and yet the timer proceeds as normal, and a few mixing problems in things like Eyesight to The Blind and Cousin Kevin.

But the most unforgivable crime on the whole album, and for this I am losing it two stars, is that for some reason some of the songs were cut short - Eyesight To The Blind and Acid Queen are the main offenders. I especially love the instrumental part in the middle of Acid Queen, and was disappointed to learn that it was gone. I don't see the reason for it, there was plenty of time on the CD - the two best songs on the album were ruined!

Keep the film after you buy this.

While the original concept album is far superior to some...ok, MANY of the performances on this soundtrack, the amazing music of the film version of The Who's "Tommy" is always worth reviewing. Mind you, nothing will ever surpass sitting in a rumbling cinema listening to this soundtrack in actual Quintaphonic Sound, but cranking the volume to "10" on the dial whilst jumping up and down might come close! (Ahhh, memories)! Most important, a great wrong has been righted by the placement of the originally missing "Overture" (once only available as the B-side of a 7" 45rpm single) in its rightful place at the beginning of this bombastic piece of work! Ken Russell (another bombastic piece of work) was in his glory on "Tommy" and so perfectly scripted was this film that you'll see every scene play out in your head as you follow Tommy's amazing journey while away from your TV screen. Ignore John Entwistle's machine gunning of his gold records for this soundtrack---blast it loud and proud, holiday-makers!

I forgot about Oliver Reed and Jack Nicolson singing on this (Ann Margret does have a singing voice....But not used too well here). I can only speculate that the director of the movie wanted to use those two so much that he overlooked the fact that they had musical voices that were best kept in the privacy of their own showers or such. But their singing parts are kept to a minimal so it's not too distracting....In fact it does add a bit of realism to the movie. but I'm not too sure it will be as appreciated in CD.

None the less I am about to buy this version because I just got the remastered version of the original Who album. That version has some really great music, but after seeing the movie the original vocals often come off as a flat rendition compared to the movie. Even on the songs where Daltry there is far more energy in the movie version than on the original version. This is especially true on "I'm Free" and "Listening To You." Those two songs are kicked up several notches in the movie version compared to the original....And I think both songs became number one on the charts for a while in the original version so that's quite an achievment.

For the music over all I turn to the original Who version, but for the version that really comes alive when I listen I turn to this version. After looking over the line up I am just a bit disappointed that the music doesn't appear to follow the same order as it does in the movie. I don't understand why they would do that since most of the people who buy this would want to see the movie played over in their minds while listening to the sound track. It sort of puts a damper on things if it's not in the same order....Oh well...Thanks to MP3's we can put it back in order...

First off, you will hear many bad reviews for this album because it is constantly compared to the original. People would realize how good the album was if they stopped comparing it to The Who's original. The album has some catchy songs by some great artist. We go from Oliver Reed's jumpy and campy (and dare I say good) "Bernie's Holiday Camp" to Eric Claptons errie "Eyesight To The Blind" to Turner's dark "Acid Queen".

The highlights are:

Sally Simpson: This song is the story of a groopie who goes a little two far and winds up ruining her life. It is performed by The Who and is a true rock classic.

Amazing Journey: This dark and eerie songs talks about how you view things differently in sollitude. The excellent poetry was written and performed by Pete Townsend.

Smash The Mirror: This song is performed angerly by Ann-Margerat and gives her a chance to reach her high vocal point. It is perhaps her greatest work ever.

I'm Free: Far superior than The Who's original, this version allows Roger Daltrey to reach his vocal high point. It accomplishes more and you have to hear it to understand.

Pete Townshend's classic performed by The Who, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton Elton John, Ann-Margaret, and Jack Nicholson. Doesn't get much better than that! The movie is awesome too.

This recording has been bashed and shamed by many, but it is brilliantly unique. Though the film, to the best of my knowledge, has been withdrawn from circulation, this album can hit hard. There are some truly dreadful pieces but others shine and will hit home. Do not listen to it alone and I definitely do not recommend for younger children. This can be scary stuff, but some of the cuts are incredible. How did Keith Moon do it? Who ever asked Ann Margaret to sing? <tho no abuse attended she gave it her best under Ken Russel's direction>. This is definitely not casual listening so beware but there are moments of true art. For fans and open minded only.

This album seems to be an argumentative point between all Who fans. From all of the reviews I've read, people either like it or hate it. I say that the album has its high points, as well as its lows. Oliver Reed does his best, but his range does lack. Also be warned, if you're expecting the long music jams that are featured in the film("Eyesight.." "Acid Queen") the're not here. The mix is different. For Who purists, I reccommend the original album. For those want the more definitave version of the storyline, get this album. Steer clear of the broadway version, as that is beyond repair.

Don't jump on the Anti-Movie bandwagon! Give this soundtrack a fair chance. The sound is amazing in it's remastered glory and some songs (ie: I'm Free, Fiddle About, Eyesight to the Blind, Acid Queen) actually sound better on this CD than they do on the original Who album.

The new songs written for the movie (Bernie's Holiday Camp, Champagne, and Mother and Son) fit in nicely. Bernie's Holiday Camp is a personal favorite of mine. The song is campy and, more importantly, establishes the relationships between the boyfriend, Tommy, and the mother.

My only complaint is that some songs are missing instrumental breaks. Bernie's Holiday Camp, Eyesight to the Blind, and Acid Queen are all missing at least a minute or two of instrumental. The album is re-edited nicely so the untrained listener does not notice.

The soundtrack's not flawless, but is by no means bad.