Quadrophenia-Quadrophenia Full Album Zip
Kathryn Garivay
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973[4] by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the previous two being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While He's Away" (1966) and the album Tommy (1969). Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. Quadrophenia is the only Who album entirely written & composed by Pete Townshend.
The group started work on the album in 1972 in an attempt to follow up Tommy and Who's Next (1971), both of which had achieved substantial critical and commercial success. Recording was delayed while bassist John Entwistle and singer Roger Daltrey recorded solo albums and drummer Keith Moon worked on films. Because a new studio was not finished in time, the group had to use Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. The album makes significant use of Townshend's multi-track synthesizers and sound effects, as well as Entwistle's layered horn parts. Relationships between the group and manager Kit Lambert broke down irretrievably during recording and Lambert had left the band's service by the time the album was released.
Quadrophenia was released to a positive reception in both the UK and the US, but the resulting tour was marred with problems with backing tapes replacing the additional instruments on the album, and the stage piece was retired in early 1974. It was revived in 1996 with a larger ensemble, and a further tour took place in 2012. The album made a positive impact on the mod revival movement of the late 1970s, and the resulting 1979 film adaptation was successful. The album has been reissued on compact disc several times, and seen several remixes that corrected some perceived flaws in the original release.
The narrative centres on a young lower-class mod named Jimmy. He likes drugs, beach fights and romance,[6] [7]and becomes a fan of the Who after a concert in Brighton,[8] but is disillusioned by his parents' attitude towards him, dead-end jobs and an unsuccessful trip to see a psychiatrist.[6] He clashes with his parents over his usage of amphetamines,[8] and has difficulty finding regular work and doubts his own self-worth,[9] quitting a job as a dustman after only two days.[8] Though he is happy to be "one" of the mods, he struggles to keep up with his peers, and his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend.[6]
After destroying his scooter and contemplating suicide, he decides to take a train to Brighton, where he had enjoyed earlier experiences with fellow mods. However, he discovers the "Ace Face" who led the gang now has a menial job as a bellboy in a hotel.[6] He feels everything in his life has rejected him, steals a boat, and uses it to sail out to a rock overlooking the sea.[8] On the rock and stuck in the rain, he contemplates his life. The ending is left ambiguous as to what happens to Jimmy.[6]
Work was interrupted for most of 1972 in order to work on Lou Reizner's orchestral version of Tommy.[17] Daltrey finished his first solo album, which included the hit single "Giving It All Away",[18] fueling rumours of a split in the press. Things were not helped by Daltrey discovering that managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp had large sums of money unaccounted for, and suggested they should be fired, which Townshend resisted.[19]
In order to do justice to the recording of Quadrophenia, the group decided to build their own studio, Ramport Studios in Battersea. Work started on building Ramport in November 1972, but five months later it still lacked an adequate mixing desk that could handle recording Quadrophenia.[20] Instead, Townshend's friend Ronnie Lane, bassist for Faces, loaned his mobile studio for the sessions.[21] Lambert ostensibly began producing the album in May,[22] but missed recording sessions and generally lacked discipline. By mid-1973, Daltrey demanded that Lambert leave the Who's services.[23] The band recruited engineer Ron Nevison, who had worked with Townshend's associate John Alcock, to assist with engineering.[24]
To illustrate the four-way split personality of Jimmy, Townshend wrote four themes, reflecting the four members of the Who. These were "Bell Boy" (Moon), "Is It Me?" (Entwistle), "Helpless Dancer" (Daltrey) and "Love Reign O'er Me" (Townshend).[25] Two lengthy instrumentals on the album, the title track and "The Rock" contain the four themes, separately and together. The instrumentals were not demoed but built up in the studio.[26] Who author John Atkins described the instrumental tracks as "the most ambitious and intricate music the group ever undertook."[25]
Most tracks involved each of the group recording their parts separately;[22] unlike earlier albums, Townshend had left space in his demos for other band members to contribute, though most of the synthesizers on the finished album came from his ARP 2500 synthesizer and were recorded at home.[24][16] The only song arranged by the band in the studio was "5:15".[26] According to Nevison, the ARP 2500 was impossible to record in the studio, and changing sounds was cumbersome due to a lack of patches, which required Townshend to work on these parts at home, working late into the night.[24] To obtain a good string section sound on the album, Townshend bought a cello and over two weeks learned how to play it well enough to be recorded.[27]
Entwistle recorded his bass part to "The Real Me" in one take on a Gibson Thunderbird[28] and spent several weeks during the summer arranging and recording numerous multi-tracked horn parts.[29] Having been forced to play more straightforwardly by Johns on Who's Next, Moon returned to his established drumming style on Quadrophenia. He contributed lead vocals to "Bell Boy", where he deliberately showcased an exaggerated narrative style.[30] For the finale of "Love, Reign O'er Me", Townshend and Nevison set up a large group of percussion instruments, which Moon played before kicking over a set of tubular bells, which can be heard on the final mix.[29]
During the album production, Townshend made many field recordings with a portable reel-to-reel recorder. These included waves washing on a Cornish beach and the doppler whistle of a diesel train recorded near Townshend's house at Goring-on-Thames.[6] The ending of "The Dirty Jobs" includes a musical excerpt from The Thunderer, a march by John Philip Sousa, which Nevison recorded while watching a brass band play in Regent's Park.[24] Assembling the field recordings in the studio was problematic; at one point, during "I Am the Sea", nine tape machines were running sound effects.[29] According to Nevison, Townshend produced the album single-handedly, adding that "everything started when Pete got there, and everything finished when Pete left".[24] Townshend began mixing the album in August at his home studio in Goring along with Nevison.[31]
The album was preceded by the single "5:15" in the UK, which benefited from a live appearance on Top of the Pops on 4 October 1973 and was released the next day.[32] It reached No. 20 in the charts.[33] In the US, "Love Reign O'er Me" was chosen as the lead single. [32]
Quadrophenia was originally released in North America on 26 October and in the UK on 29 October,[34] but fans found it difficult to find a copy due to a shortage of vinyl caused by the OPEC oil embargo.[4] In the UK, Quadrophenia reached No. 2, being held off the top spot by David Bowie's Pin Ups.[a] The album reached No. 2 on the US Billboard chart, the highest position of any Who album in that country, being kept from No. 1 by Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.[35]
The album was originally released as a two-LP set with a gatefold jacket and a booklet containing lyrics, a text version of the story, and photographs taken by Ethan Russell illustrating it.[36] MCA Records re-released the album as a two-CD set in 1985 with the lyrics and text storyline on a thin fold-up sheet but none of the photographs.[37] The album was reissued as a remastered CD in 1996, featuring a reproduction of the original album artwork.[38] The original mix had been criticised in particular for Daltrey's vocals being buried, so the 1996 CD was completely remixed by Jon Astley and Andy Macpherson.[39]
In 2011, Townshend and longtime Who engineer Bob Pridden remixed the album, resulting in a deluxe five-disc box set.[40] Unlike earlier reissues, this set contains two discs of demos, including some songs that were dropped from the final running order of the album, and a selection of songs in 5.1 surround sound. The box set came with a 100-page book including an essay by Townshend about the album sessions, with photos.[41] At the same time, the standard two-CD version was re-released with a selection of the demos as bonus content; some Disc Two tracks were moved to Disc One to accommodate space for these demos. In 2014, the album was released on Blu-ray Audio featuring a brand-new remix of the entire album by Townshend and Pridden in 5.1 surround sound as well the 2011 Deluxe Edition stereo remix and the original 1973 stereo LP mix.[42]
Critical reaction to Quadrophenia was positive. Melody Maker's Chris Welch wrote "rarely have a group succeeded in distilling their essence and embracing a motif as convincingly", while Charles Shaar Murray described the album in New Musical Express as the "most rewarding musical experience of the year".[51] Reaction in the US was generally positive, though Dave Marsh, writing in Creem gave a more critical response.[51] Lenny Kaye, wrote in Rolling Stone that "the Who as a whole have never sounded better" but added, "on its own terms, Quadrophenia falls short of the mark".[52] In a year-end top albums list for Newsday, Robert Christgau ranked it seventh, and found it exemplary of how 1973's best records "fail to reward casual attention. They demand concentration, just like museum and textbook art."[53]
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