Quadrophenia [Original recording remastered, Soundtrack]

I am a bass player and see John Entwhistle as the greatest bass player of all time. This is the pinnacle of his work and there is no greater performance of this magnificent instrument; it is often complex and intriging, or slower and more emotional, each with equal inpirational and entertainment vale.

Thought Pete Townshend's rhythm guitar work isn't going to amaze you behind Entwhistle's spectacular lead bass lines, this is, like Tommy, a great example of his spectacular work as a composer. He wrote all the lyrics and music himself (inluding the bass lines) and contributes majorly to this epic work.

Keith Moon is a great drummer, famous for being aggressive, and sounds nice along side the bass lines. Roger's high singing voice seems perfect for Townshend's lyrical work. This is certainly one of the greatest albums of all time. If you are a bass player or enjoy any form of classic rock, buy this album; if not, then download a sample or hear it first some other way, if you think that's neccessary.

Spectacular.

Well I finally received this box set. Late but I did get it. This box set is great but there is so much more they could have done. First off you get the remastered album on two CD's. There is a very noticeable improvement over the last reissue. 10 out of 10 on the mastering. You then get the two CD's of the Demo's. Good sound considering. Very interesting to see how songs start. Then you get a 8 track 5.1 DVD. Why eight tracks instead of the whole album? Who knows? I have read two stories online one is that they just got board of doing the mixes and stopped (I find that hard to believe) or they could not locate the multi tracks. Either way you do get the best of the tracks in 5.1, the mix is beautiful. The book that comes with it is well the best I've seen to date. Most box sets have at best a couple of short essays and tons of pic's of which most you've seen before. This has tones of text along with the great photo's.
How this box set could have been better? They should have 5.1 the whole album. They used a two track stereo master for Tara on Roxy Music's Avalon and it sounded great. Pete also talks about how he wanted this to be a quadrophonic release back in the 70's. So why there is no quad mix here I have no idea. I am also sure there is some video that could have been put on the DVD. However I do feel (if your a major fan) this is a great addition to the who Catalog. Now are they doing Who's Next or what?
***SACD Review***
After months of "should I or shouldn't I" I finally broke down and paid a fortune for this amazing album on SACD. I am so glad I did. I have had so many versions of this album I can't keep track but this is the best stereo version of this album I have ever heard. You can hear every little detail and there is a lot here to pick up. I personally think the remaster in the box set is great but after doing a little comparison between that and SACD well hands down the better version is the SACD. If you have already picked up the equipment you need to play the SACD formate go the extra mile and add this to your collection you will be glad you did. As a bonus it's all on one disc so no changing them half way thru.

If you can play SACD and are a real fan of The Who, get this SHM-SACD version.

Compared to the MCAD-6895 redbook version, the SACD version seems:

1. to be recorded at a slightly lower overall level

2. but it seems to be have more dynamic range (the redbook CD seems to be more flat overall)

3. detailed - Keith Moon's drumming is super sharp. You get the sense of the space for the different drums in the kit whereas the redbook version seems to be more indistinct and hazy. The cymbals on the
newer version also seem more clear and decay more cleanly as well.

4. John Entwhistle's bass notes are more distinct and clean.

This version seems to extract the most that you can get out of a rock recording from 1973. The band comes
alive in this one.