Tommy

 the album that immortalized The Who still sounds great nearly 40 years on
The Who's fourth studio (and fifth overall) album Tommy was released in May of 1969.
The Tommy album by The Who was the make or break for the group because if Tommy had failed, The Who would have probably disbanded due to lack of funds despite their concerts selling out based on Pete Townshend's guitar smashing and Keith Moon's drum kit demolishing at the end of each gig.
Guitarist Pete Townshend, under the gun after "I Can See For Miles" failed as a single in the UK (although it was their biggest ever hit here in the US) came up with a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind kid named Tommy whom becomes those aforementioned things after witnessing an event as a child that traumatized him (his father killing his step-father whom he considered his father).
Originally considered to be a single length album, the band felt it didn't make sense so they expanded it into a double album and the result is one of rock's Top 10 greatest double studio albums in history (alongside other classic double albums like the then-already released Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and The Beatles' White album and would help pave the way for more classics like The Rolling Stones' 1972 masterwork Exile on Main Street, The Who's 1973 release Quadrophenia, Elton John's 1973 classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Genesis' 1974 masterwork The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Led Zeppelin's 1975 classic Physical Graffiti, Pink Floyd's 1979 masterpiece The Wall and Bruce Springsteen's 1980 classic The River among many others).
Alot of classics appear on this album like the "Overture", the classic Top 20 hit "Pinball Wizard", "Amazing Journey", the "Underture" (best instrumental on here which is basically a repeat of the album's other instrumental "Sparks"), "Go to the Mirror", "I'm Free", "Cousin Kevin" (one of bass player John Entwistle's greatest compositions), "Fiddle About" (about the perverted Uncle Ernie also penned by The Ox), "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (another excellent ditty written by drummer Keith Moon whom did an excellent rendition in the film version of Tommy in 1975) and the classic finale "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me Feel Me".
The other tracks on the album "It's a Boy", "1921 (You Didn't Hear It)", "Eyesight to the Blind", "Christmas", "The Acid Queen", "Do You Think It's Alright", "There's a Doctor I've Found", "Tommy Can You Hear Me?", "Smash the Mirror", "Sensation", "Miracle Cure", "Sally Simpson" and "Welcome" are all great pieces as well though tend to be overlooked.
The album made The Who legends for good and peaked at #4 on the Billboard chart and was their first Gold seller (eventually Platinum).
In 1996, the album was re-released as a remastered CD but used a first generation master tape for the remixed reissue.
In October of 2003 (a few months before Tommy's 35th Anniversary), Geffen Records (formerly known as MCA) re-released the album as a 2-disc Hybrid SACD with the original 1969 mix on the CD layer and a killer 5.1 mix on the SACD layer and this version uses the very original tapes that were found in Universal's vault after being said that the original tapes were destroyed by Kit Lambert in a fire. As a result of the discovery of the original tapes, the sound quality is amazing on here.
Disc two has great outtakes and demos like "I Was", The Who trying to record Sally Simpson with hilarious results and instrumental versions of Tommy Can You Hear Me, Christmas and Tommy's Holiday Camp among many other rarities (like Dogs Part 2, Cousin Kevin Model Child) plus a cool booklet with rare photos of the band recording the album.
Highly recommended. January 29, 2008

 The Who Classic Masterpiece AS YOU NEVER HEARD BEFORE
The Album is a masterpiece of all time rock n roll, even if this is "the less Who album" of the Who... but nevermind!
The Sound in both Stereo (from the original master tape discovered in the vault of UMG) and 5.1 (mixed by Pete Townshend himself) is great...
As you put the disc in your player you'll hear the great differences from the 1996 reissue even if you have only a "simple" CD player..
If You're a great Who fan and you a have SACD player buy ABSOLUTELY this album and enjoy it 'til the laser of your player won't work anymore...
The second disc is clearly for fans only but the quality of some track even if are demos or outtakes is very very good!! June 12, 2007

 A Landmark Classic Now Made Even Better.
One of the most important, groundbreaking amd influential albums in the history of rock and roll, The Who's 1969 magnum opus "Tommy", a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball, is now better than ever thanks to the brilliance of SACD and DSD remastering techniques.

Every song on the cd sounds like it was recorded just yesterday. It is 100 % crystal clear, perfectly remixed and remastered. It gives you a clearer view of the story as well as a more pleasurable than ever listening experience. Pete Townshend and the people involved in this truly put their hearts into making "Tommy" better than ever.

The bonus disc is also worth it. A lot of awesome raritis. The liner notes are an interesting read, and the album itself is of course a masterpiece nobody should be without. December 26, 2006

 A Milestone of Early Rock!
"Tommy" is beyond question one of the big milestones of early rock. Musically the band were at the peak of their creativity.

All band members were obviously extremely talented musicians and both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were/are great singers. Apart from few exceptions like "Cousin Kevin" all songs are outstanding; and it's really great to have the whole story on one CD - compared to the old double vinyl album.

Though the storyline may seem a little weird today ( to me it always did ), there is so much great music on this album.

The second bonus CD gives a very interesting insight in the developement of some of the songs. Though the sound quality is exellent CD 2 will mainly be of interest to hard-core Who fans. None of these alternate versions are better than the ones chosen for the album, though a few come close. The studio version of "Young Man Blues" which did not appear on the original album is a nice addition too! September 28, 2006

 I Love it !
I was so blind-sided by this reissue - really. I have looked at this for a few years now, but I never picked it up. My impression of this was that it had some very good music along with some dated sounding tracks, so it wasn't a high priority. I'd been having very good luck buying hybrid SACD's even though I don't own a SACD player; the CD layers benefit greatly from the DSD mastering, making them stand head and shoulders above the latest PCM remasters (there are a few exceptions), so I decided to take the plunge.

The CD layer is stunning. I must have been sitting there with my mouth open after "Overture" began. I experienced emotion that wasn't there on previous listens to this on CD and vinyl. Yes, some of the tracks still sound dated, but most of this album is very good indeed, and this remaster is so incredible. If you own a great stereo rig, I highly recommend buying this - in fact, even if you don't have a great rig, I recommend it! September 6, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...