keepers 4 (on original album)
keeper avg .400
This album of mostly sub-3-minute originals is best known as the source of what is probably the first rock opera, the 9-minute title song****. While I could dismiss the now classic multi-part song in the pop music format as a mere novelty, what can't be dismissed is Townshend's musical ambition, spanning from Beatlesque twang, dramatic baroque interludes that remind me of church more than anything else, to its over-sized Messiah-like coda, all serving as ground work for the double-album that followed 2-1/2 years later. Thought the famous live versions from Live At Leeds and Rock and Roll Circus are both much smoother and more confident, the original is still great in its audacity. The album also includes ever-quirky Entwistle's "Boris The Spider"****, pop gem "So Sad About Us"****, and a rocking cover of Martha and the Vandellas' "Heat Wave"****, whose riffs are made to be played while windmilling. Moon's surprisingly expressive "I Need You" deserves some honorable mention, though the recording engineer must have been asleep on this one as Moon's drums completely overwhelm the choruses (unless that was the point). The 1995 re-issue includes some great bonuses: the noisy, psychedelic "Disguises"****, and 2 from Entwistle, "Doctor, Doctor"**** and the funny murder ballad "I've Been Away"****, as well as some more less-inspired covers.
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