August 28, 2013 – Tommy, The Who’s defining, breakthrough concept album – a full-blown rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy that launched the band to international superstardom is to be released in Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions this Autumn.

Originally released in May 1969, The Who were at a career crossroads, known mainly as a singles band, but this project launched them as a serious ‘albums band’ and it has now sold over 20 million copies as well as regularly turning up in lists of the most influential albums of all time.

Coming after The Who Sell Out in 1967, it marked a complete change in style with Pete Townshend’s lengthy conceptual narrative bringing exciting new opportunities to rock music. Tommy was and remains to be an ambitious, complex and controversial work, which was initially banned by the BBC.

This new Deluxe and Super Deluxe version of the album comes with a wealth of previously unheard material in the form of 20 demos from Pete Townshend’s archive and also a full live performance of Tommy from 1969 taken from tapes that infamously Townshend asked the band’s sound engineer to burn!

18 of the previously unheard and thought to be long lost live tracks are taken from a live show at the Capital Theatre, Ottowa, Canada on October the 15th 1969. Three others, I’m Free, Tommy’s Holiday Camp and We’re Not Gonna Take It were lost due to tape reels being changed during the show so are taken from later shows of the same era

As discussed at length in Pete Townshend’s autobiography the tapes were all supposed to be destroyed but were kept by long time Who sound man Bob Pridden despite Pete’s instructions.

The Super Deluxe box also features a 5.1 mix featuring the complete album remixed in surround sound on new Hi Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray format

As well as the music the limited edition Super Deluxe boxset comes with a hardback 80-page full-colour book featuring rare period photos, memorabilia, a 20,000-word essay by legendary Who aficionado Richard Barnes and a rare facsimile Tommy poster housed in a hard-back deluxe slip-case.

[thewho.com]

I love this album and was so excited to buy it on SACD. For some reason it lacked the punch of the earlier CD release.

I thought they already released a Deluxe Edition of Tommy.

Quote
tatters
I thought they already released a Deluxe Edition of Tommy.

They did, in 2003.

Quote
Cristiano Radtke

Quote
tatters
I thought they already released a Deluxe Edition of Tommy.

They did, in 2003.

Oh. I thought so. I never got around to buying it. Guess I'll pass on this one, too. I don't buy stuff anymore.

So many records, so little time (and money, too).

i have the 2003 version. good enough for me

It's getting a bit silly eh!?

I really wish they'd remix it, clean it up, and make it sound good. Love The Who, and Tommy would be a much better album for it.

Quote
MidnightRambler1990
I really wish they'd remix it, clean it up, and make it sound good. Love The Who, and Tommy would be a much better album for it.

it was remixed in 1996 and then the 2003 SACD deluxe edition cleaned up the original mix

People people people don't fret...the previous version was merely mostly deluxe...

This one is clearly super duper deluxe-ola...only surpassed by the upcoming 2019 super-dee duper-dee tilt-o-delux-er-ol-ita anniversary edition...

Collect 'em All

And don't forget also, it's going to benefit especially from those new-fangled 2013 remixing tricks with the production console faders that they didn't have back in them old days of 2003.

Interesting to me because of the Ottawa show. Nice to see something from the Fall 69 tour finally being officially released. They were on fire then, and this show has one of the best, perhaps even the finest ever, live versions of Young Man Blues.

Edit: Looks like only the Tommy portion from Ottawa will be released, not the whole show. Still, the deluxe looks worthwhile to me.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2013-08-29 06:43 by bigtyke66.

I have a CD of Townshends Tommy demos, but I'm sure the demos here will sound much better. We already know from the Deluxe Edition that the band recorded some songs that didn't make it on the official release, but I wonder if this version will present more?
Either way, as I collect most Who releases I'll be getting this one.
Edit: I just read the tracklist on thewho.com and have to admit to being disappointed. The Townshend demos are nice, but only two band outtakes are present. We know from the deluxe edition from 2003 that several more alternate or band versions exist. Finally, while its nice to see a fall 1969 Tommy show, we don't really need another Tommy show. Currently available: London Colisuem 1969 (video/audio); Leeds and Hull (1970); Isle of Wight (1970); Tanglewood (1970 Wolfgang's vault). I think that's all over them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-08-29 16:54 by Happy Jack.

The surround mix on the SACD is really good. Think it was a redo of the quad mix (remember quad? haha, showing my age).

Any idea on the price ??

Price? One arm and one leg.

Quote
deeppurple
Price? One arm and one leg.

Deduct the leg if the arm is doing a windmill move.

If, the arm is doing the windmill move, you receive a bonus T-Shirt.

Well, yes it is easy to be cynical. The original Tommy Deluxe is quite good, and sound a definite improvement from the dense murky mix of the original. But I admit this collection looks quite good. The booklet and large box, and the live show from Ottawa is a real find. For years this was assumed to have been destroyed, so it is cool they are releasing it. I do wish, though they would release the entire show, not just the Tommy portion, but a minor quibble.

Quote
24FPS
I love this album and was so excited to buy it on SACD. For some reason it lacked the punch of the earlier CD release.

On my system the 2003 Deluxe Edition Tommy Hybrid SACD is killer. A fantasic mixing job and I think the sound is brilliant. This IMO is one the best sounding treatments with 5.1 in my library, and I would strongly recommend it to Who fans that have a good 5.1 system that have not yet purchased it. The sound jumps out of the speakers. The stereo layer is also very good and was taken from the original stereo masters. I guess with the 5.1 mix Pete used the original 8 track tapes.

I won't buy the new release/re-release of this album. What I have is more than enough with the 2003 cd's.

Quote
tatters
I thought they already released a Deluxe Edition of Tommy.

yea....but not Super Deluxe Edition

Quote
whitem8

I do wish, though they would release the entire show, not just the Tommy portion, but a minor quibble.

Entire show will be included in the Super Duper Deluxe Edition, coming shortly.

Too Much Of Anything (is too much for me)

(Who song from the Who's Next era)

I get overwhelmed by how some record companies milk back catalogs, releasing 'deluxe' versions that have two or three unreleased tracks that should have probbaly stayed unreleased. But with the Ottawa show, this at least has the band at maybe the peak of what became a seemingly endless Tommy tour.

Quote
MidnightRambler1990
I really wish they'd remix it, clean it up, and make it sound good. Love The Who, and Tommy would be a much better album for it.

Apparently there is a 2013. It'll be worth having for the Townshend Tommy demos which are amazing, considering they were created by one guy in 68/69.

It strikes me as more than a little ironic that it's exactly this kind of mindless consumerism that causes Tommy's followers to rise up in rebellion against him in the 1975 movie version of Tommy.









Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-08-31 02:38 by tatters.

Quote
tatters
It strikes me as more than a little ironic that it's exactly this kind of mindless consumerism that causes Tommy's followers to rise up in rebellion against him in the 1975 movie version of Tommy.

Your life is imitating art--but you seem to be in the minority of those who will remain deaf, dumb and blind to the latest Tommy reissue.

I don't think that Who fans will rise up in rebellion against them over this release, either. I for one will be pleased at the remastered demos as well as a concert that was thought to be lost. The Tommy album itself may also wind up sounding better than ever, because the production on the original album was flat, with the drums sounding dull and muted as though they were couch cushions.

And as the 45th anniversary of Tommy is approaching, and this release is coming out, we may also be treated with another album-themed Who tour, which fans would likely also not rise up in rebellion about.

Were you this troubled by the recent Deluxe treatment of Quadrophenia?

I love The Who, but Tommy always struck me as a bit of a silly, naive story, and not that great a recording technically. I finally figured out why (the latter part): Townshend says in his book that they ended up using his scratch electric guitar tracks that were never intended for the final release. The fairly wimpy-sounding electric guitar is what always bugged me about this record. Some great songs certainly, but as an album, Who's Next and Quadrophenia top it by miles (and miles).

Quote
71Tele
I love The Who, but Tommy always struck me as a bit of a silly, naive story, and not that great a recording technically. I finally figured out why (the latter part): Townshend says in his book that they ended up using his scratch electric guitar tracks that were never intended for the final release. The fairly wimpy-sounding electric guitar is what always bugged me about this record. Some great songs certainly, but as an album, Who's Next and Quadrophenia top it by miles (and miles).

I heard Tommy done live in concert at my college circa 1969-70. It was very thin (sparse instrumentation, guitar, bass, drums) and boring after the the first 15 minutes. Others loved it. Just my take, the 1970 album version was better..... But boring compared to The Stones output at the the time