ALBUM: ‘Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia’
Forty-two years ago today, one of the Who’s best known and most acclaimed albums, Quadrophenia, was released. The running theme of the tracks centers around a mod named Jimmy Cooper who has a lot of… problems, so to speak. Quadrophenia was one of three concept albums composed by Pete Townshend, the other two albums being the rock operas Tommy and Lifehouse, the latter of which ended up becoming Who’s Next after Roger Daltrey and the rest of the band rejected it. Now, the epic masterpiece has been transformed into a classical journey by Townshend himself (with help, of course, from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).
Pete Townshend is far from the first rock musician to try his hand at symphonic rock music, and this is not the first time his music has been adapted into the classical style; Tommy was given an orchestral treatment back in 1972. This time around, Townshend personally worked with a multitude people to make the album possible: his partner, Rachel Fuller, orchestrated the album; tenor Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, sings on the album; as well as Billy Idol and star of the Quadrophenia film Phil Daniels. All of the teamwork certainly paid off: you might remember that just a few months back, the album sold so well that it could have easily topped the classical music charts, but it was banned from them because it was based on a rock album. Pete Townshend responded to the ban, calling it “musical snobbery.”
Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of classical music. However, I like classical music when it’s remakes of contemporary rock songs, or even simply modernized with mellotrons and synthesizers. Classic Quadrophenia is a new way to look at the original 1973 album, and I feel it’s even great for people like me, who aren’t typically fans of the classical genre, when a favorite album is reimagined and remade in an elegant style, I can honestly say that I dig that.
If you’ve listened to Quadrophenia, you know that it already has a lot of instrumentals in it. Townshend and his team seized a great opportunity for orchestral version of it to be made by expanding upon and embellishing what was previously written. Tracks like “Quadrophenia” and “The Rock” were strong moments in the original album; the versions of those songs on the Classic album are great, as well, but in a different way than the original tracks. Classical instrumentation translates well to the instrumental parts of these guitar-heavy songs. It sounds downright magical.
Alfie Boe’s singing on this album particularly stands out on “The Punk and the Godfather,” which is a duet he sings with Pete Townshend. Boe and Townshend’s mix incredibly well when they sing together. (I learned that the synthesizers in the song on the original album were making it sound as though they were singing “my g-g-g-generation,” a discreet reference to the Who’s 1965 hit single of the same name.) Also, Phil Daniels, who played Jimmy Cooper in the 1979 film adaptation of the album, appears on vocals in some of the songs. I find this incredibly interesting; it’s almost like it’s Jimmy telling the story.
Billy Idol joins in for the song “I’ve Had Enough,” singing a duet with Alfie Boe. This song specifically is very well suited for Idol because of his being in punk bands. I found the contrast between Boe’s and Idol’s voices and styles of singing extremely appealing, and it signifies an important point in this album: multiple genres coming together to reimagine a classic album from the ’70s.
An important part of the concept of Quadrophenia, both original and classical, and what puts the “quad” in the album is the four personalities, one for each Who member: Roger Daltrey’s “Helpless Dancer,” Keith Moon’s “Bell Boy,” John Entwistle’s “Is It Me?” (in the track “Doctor Jimmy”), and Pete Townshend’s “Love Reign O’er Me.” Alfie Boe’s voice really shines on “Is It Me?” and “Love Reign O’er Me.” At the end of the day, it’s a rock opera, and I think the music worked very well with Boe’s more operatic voice.
Simply put, while the original 1973 version of Quadrophenia will always be the best in my opinion, this version of Classic Quadrophenia is beautiful in its own right and unique to the original. I can see this being a good way of introducing people who aren’t usually into classical music to the genre, making it more relevant for fans of ’70s rock ‘n’ roll. Alfie Boe does a nice job singing the parts that Roger Daltrey would typically be singing, but I’ll always love Daltrey’s singing a little bit more.
Have you heard Classic Quadrophenia? What do you think about the interpretation? Let us know in the comments!
