Search - London Symphony Orchestra :: Tommy - As Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra & Chambre Choir with Guest Soloists

Fantastic music - but buyer beware !

Michell A. Ross | Colorado Springs, CO | 09/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The music itself is a classic of the 1960's / 1970's. The addition of the London Symphony, chorus, and various artists brings out the Pete Townsehnd opera. I own the original on Decca (US) vinyl and wanted a CD for it's clean sound. The original vinyl is getting hard, if not impossible, to find, and it's hard to play an LP in the car :-)



I now have two versions of the CD. One is on Rhino / ODE records and was purchased for $20 from Best Buy. The other purchased from Amazon is on Polydor and cost $60. I purchased the Amazon version first, and as you will read further, then went looking for a different version. Upon further research, I found there are actually multiple pressings / mixes of this CD. Beware of what you are looking for. I may have a rare original CD set (or maybe a poor pirate version), but the Polydor version I purchased from Amazon is not listenable.



The Rhino / ODE version comes on one CD, has 25 tracks, and when loaded into iTunes - immediately brings up all the tracks. The Polydor version comes on two CD's, has only 24 tracks, the final three on the Rhino / ODE CDE are blended into two on the Polydor version. The Polydor version sounds worse than my well used (though well maintained) vinyl. On a B&O turntable, I can distinctly hear my Decca vinyl hiss in the background - on the Polydor CD it's much worse and is clearly in the foreground ! On the Polydor CD version you can distinctly hear the needle drop onto the vinyl at the start, multiple clicks and pops as you progress through the sound, and further, the Polydor version has noticeable skips on several of the tracks. It almost sounds as if someone played a poor version of the vinyl on inferior equipment and simply burned it onto the CD's. My own well used vinyl version burned to CD would have sounded better !



The Rhino version has a jewel case insert which looks just like my vinyl case - black top, two eyeballs. Further the Rhino / ODE insert has interior artwork miniaturized from the original vinyl. The Polydor insert is yellow on top and has interior artwork is completely different.



I have since learned that there are several versions of the CD's. There is a 1996 remix on MCA (USA) and Polydor (Germany & Japan) which are highly recommended. I would also highly recommend the Rhino / ODE version. It's clean, crisp, and aside from the usual purist comments of analog vs. digital sound, is a faithful, clean sounding version of the original. The Polydor, if it's real, for listening purposes is a piece of junk. I suspect it's a pirate version, because from all the folks I've contacted all of the CD's sounded good, so this one ...



I have purchase literally thousands of $ worth of items on Amazon, and this is my first disappointment. I don't know yet for sure if it's a rip-off / pirate or just an original but bad recording.



Beware the imitators !

"

Well worth tracking this down!

J. D. Webb | 09/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, if you can find the vinyl version of this anywhere, by all means get it. It has the coolest packaging of any album I can think of, and a gorgeous libretto booklet.

I'm a longtime Who fan, but the original "Tommy" has never been one of my favorite albums. In my opinion, the first side of the original "Tommy" is great but it tends to get bogged down in the middle and loses its energy. The movie soundtrack, to be frank, is terrible, other than Elton John and Tina Turner's tracks (though I have to admit I enjoy the movie itself).

The London Symphony version is in my opinion on a par with The Who's original version. While it has a few weak moments (Ringo as Uncle Ernie sounds less like a pervert and more like Elmer Fudd) and is overblown or too quiet musically in places, it offers pleasure in the least expected ways. The instrumental numbers ("Sparks", "Underture," etc.), some of the weaker tracks from the original, in particular show new facets in a symphonic setting that I'm sure Pete Townshend appreciated at the time. Daltrey sounds great with the L.S.O., and Entwistle as well. Keith Moon would have been a welcome addition but still, this is an interesting and beautifully presented version."

Lush re-mastered edition (2009) available at last

Fred Koene | 06/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Good news! A re-mastered edition of this wonderful recording is now available. Issued on the German 'Repertoire' label, it comes in a slick slip case with a 36-page booklet, containing the lyrics and original art work. Well worth the wait!! It should be available here soon."