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[nimrod]

I'll start with...............Tommy & Exile On Main St.

[Hello Goodbye]

I never heard Tommy in its entirety either, just the songs from the LP that were played on FM radio which weren't very many.

I've listened to Exile on Main St. several times over the years.  My favorites on that LP are Tumbling Dice and Happy.

There are many "classic" albums I haven't heard because they were either disco or glam rock.  Anyway, from 1972 until 1982 all my attention was devoted to my studies and hospital residency training.  I was stuck in a time warp during those years and only listened to My LPs from the 60s...The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Moody Blues, Neil Diamond and stuff like that.  When 1982 came along, I had to get used to contemporary music.  That took a while.

[Moogmodule]

Yeah I can’t recall ever listening to Tommy all the way through.

Exile on Main Street I listened to a lot. I do like that one.

I’ve never listened to Pet Sounds from end to end.

[Normandie]

Ditto on Exile Main Street. Also, Blonde on Blonde.

[nimrod]

I never heard Tommy in its entirety either, just the songs from the LP that were played on FM radio which weren't very many.

I've listened to Exile on Main St. several times over the years.  My favorites on that LP are Tumbling Dice and Happy.

There are many "classic" albums I haven't heard because they were either disco or glam rock.  Anyway, from 1972 until 1982 all my attention was devoted to my studies and hospital residency training.  I was stuck in a time warp during those years and only listened to My LPs from the 60s...The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Moody Blues, Neil Diamond and stuff like that.  When 1982 came along, I had to get used to contemporary music.  That took a while.

Com'on Baz Baby, you gotta like Chic 

Mannnnn....that funky Bernard Edwards Bass !!

https://youtu.be/Er9xGRolrT4

https://youtu.be/W2kDHulZdX4

[tkitna]

I dont want to come across as pompous, but I cant think of any right now.  I've listened to a lot of music I guess.  I'll have to think this one over.

[Normandie]

I'll start with...............Tommy & Exile On Main St.

I never heard Tommy in its entirety either, just the songs from the LP that were played on FM radio which weren't very many.

Yeah I can’t recall ever listening to Tommy all the way through.

You all are really missing something—in my fanatical Who opinion, anyway.    I have Tommy memorized.

I found this excerpt from an interview with Pete Townshend about Pinball Wizard and thought the musicians here may find interesting:

Building the melody around an old symphonic piece that Townshend discovered around the time of recording, he later told Guitar World: “The chordal structure for the intro was inspired by [English Baroque composer] Henry Purcell, who did this very short piece called ‘Symphony Upon One Note’. It’s a very plaintive piece, almost like the [20th-century US composer] Samuel Barber composition ‘Adagio for Strings’, only the Purcell piece was written in 1600 or something. A single bowed note runs throughout that whole piece”.

Townshend added: “I found that a stunning thing to call upon while I was in the process of writing ‘Pinball Wizard.’ I analysed every single chord, and found ways to play them on guitar. I attempted the same mock baroque guitar beginning that’s on ‘I’m a Boy’ and then a bit of vigorous kind of flamenco guitar. I was just grabbing at ideas, I knocked a demo together and took it to the studio, and everyone loved it. Damon Lyon-Shaw (the engineer on Tommy) said, ‘Pete, that’s a hit.’

And this, about Pinball Wizard, but I'd always heard this in relation to Squeeze Box. This confuses me because I don't see any double entendre in Pinball Wizard. Maybe I'm naively missing something.

Despite the somewhat poetic process of creation, Townshend has, over time, slowly distanced himself from the track somewhat, watering down the significance of its creation. “[The song was] Intended as a poorly aimed dirty joke,” Townshend shared in the liner notes for his compilation album Scoop. “I had bought myself an accordion and learned to play it one afternoon. The polka-esque rhythm I managed to produce from it brought forth this song. Amazingly recorded by The Who to my disbelief. Further incredulity was caused when it became a hit for us in the USA.”

[zipp]

It's so easy nowadays to hear an album for free on internet that not hearing a specific album is a voluntary decision.

So if you can't be bothered to listen to a "classic" album then you obviously don't really consider it to be a classic album.

Or you're just trying to stand out from the crowd.

Either way it's the expression of a self-inflicted limited vision of musical excellence or the expression of total distrust of the current ethos.

Which is to say that it's nothing to do with the actual album itself.

[nimrod]

It's so easy nowadays to hear an album for free on internet that not hearing a specific album is a voluntary decision.

So if you can't be bothered to listen to a "classic" album then you obviously don't really consider it to be a classic album.

Or you're just trying to stand out from the crowd.

Either way it's the expression of a self-inflicted limited vision of musical excellence or the expression of total distrust of the current ethos.

Which is to say that it's nothing to do with the actual album itself.

Kind of agree, kind of don't agree.

I liked The Stones Sticky Fingers album. Some nice country rock and some nice R & B. When it came to Exile I knew the single Tumbling Dice which I thought was not a bad song. However when I heard the track Rip This Joint and another one (can't remember) I did'nt like the overall "feel" ...not really my type of music, quite heavy and unmelodic. I see it's regarded as a classic and is usually in best album lists quite high up.

Tommy, I knew the single Pinball Wizard of course but the crappy looking movie put me right off the project. It just didn't appeal (like Exile). I'm not a Who fan anyway (not keen on the members tbh). So I gave it a miss (this included all the Who albums). I really don't like guys who smash guitars and amplifiers up, smash hotel rooms, drum kits, throw tv's out the window, (Keith Moon) to me they're just spoilt brats who don't know the value of things.
I would've died for a Fender Strat as a broke 18 years old and here was Townsend smashing them up to show off, like "I'm so rich I can just smash expensive guitars whenever I want"............No thanks.

[Moogmodule]

I’m my case I’ve heard most albums  considered  classic at one time or another. With Pet Sounds even recently I put it on. But halfway through I took it off again. There’s obviously some great stuff but I was never the biggest fan of the Beach Boys sound. I could have just left it on I suppose

[Hello Goodbye]

You all are really missing something—in my fanatical Who opinion, anyway.    I have Tommy memorized.

I found this excerpt from an interview with Pete Townshend about Pinball Wizard and thought the musicians here may find interesting:

Building the melody around an old symphonic piece that Townshend discovered around the time of recording, he later told Guitar World: “The chordal structure for the intro was inspired by [English Baroque composer] Henry Purcell, who did this very short piece called ‘Symphony Upon One Note’. It’s a very plaintive piece, almost like the [20th-century US composer] Samuel Barber composition ‘Adagio for Strings’, only the Purcell piece was written in 1600 or something. A single bowed note runs throughout that whole piece”.

Townshend added: “I found that a stunning thing to call upon while I was in the process of writing ‘Pinball Wizard.’ I analysed every single chord, and found ways to play them on guitar. I attempted the same mock baroque guitar beginning that’s on ‘I’m a Boy’ and then a bit of vigorous kind of flamenco guitar. I was just grabbing at ideas, I knocked a demo together and took it to the studio, and everyone loved it. Damon Lyon-Shaw (the engineer on Tommy) said, ‘Pete, that’s a hit.’

And this, about Pinball Wizard, but I'd always heard this in relation to Squeeze Box. This confuses me because I don't see any double entendre in Pinball Wizard. Maybe I'm naively missing something.

Despite the somewhat poetic process of creation, Townshend has, over time, slowly distanced himself from the track somewhat, watering down the significance of its creation. “[The song was] Intended as a poorly aimed dirty joke,” Townshend shared in the liner notes for his compilation album Scoop. “I had bought myself an accordion and learned to play it one afternoon. The polka-esque rhythm I managed to produce from it brought forth this song. Amazingly recorded by The Who to my disbelief. Further incredulity was caused when it became a hit for us in the USA.”

I can see where Fantasia Upon One Note served as an inspiration for Pinball Wizard...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwQo0qlG38" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwQo0qlG38</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrDpx7zLtA" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrDpx7zLtA</a>

...but I don't see any "poorly aimed dirty joke" or double entendre.

[Hello Goodbye]

Tommy, I knew the single Pinball Wizard of course but the crappy looking movie put me right off the project.

The only movie I ever walked out on, right after Tina Turner's lip spasms.

[Normandie]

It's so easy nowadays to hear an album for free on internet that not hearing a specific album is a voluntary decision.

This tendency makes me a little sad, thinking that the younger generations will never know the joy of listening to entire albums start to finish. I can't (well, won't) listen to Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road broken into individual songs that are scattered throughout my playlist. There are other examples of this besides the Beatles, of course. I'm not sure if that's what you meant, zipp.

I really don't like guys who smash guitars and amplifiers up, smash hotel rooms, drum kits, throw tv's out the window, (Keith Moon) to me they're just spoilt brats who don't know the value of things.
I would've died for a Fender Strat as a broke 18 years old and here was Townsend smashing them up to show off, like "I'm so rich I can just smash expensive guitars whenever I want"............No thanks.

Just as a trivia point—and not to argue with you—the guitar smashing stuff started by accident, and out of anger. One night the neck of one of Pete Townshend's guitars got stuck in the low ceiling of the club where the band was playing. He was so fed up and annoyed that he yanked the neck out and started angrily bashing the guitar onto the stage floor. Apparently the audience went wild, so he kept doing this. If I recall correctly, the band didn't get into the black until Tommy because of this habit. I agree that it's wasteful.

[Normandie]

I’m my case I’ve heard most albums  considered  classic at one time or another. With Pet Sounds even recently I put it on. But halfway through I took it off again. There’s obviously some great stuff but I was never the biggest fan of the Beach Boys sound. I could have just left it on I suppose

Pet Sounds took literally years to grow on me. I remember excitedly buying it after hearing Paul rave about it, and I was so disappointed at that time. I was expecting to be blown away, and I wasn't. I can appreciate it more now, but I too am not a big Beach Boys fan.

The only movie I ever walked out on, right after Tina Turner's lip spasms.

It is a very strange movie. I've watched it only a handful of times. The first time I watched it, I was 14, and it confused the heck out of me.

[Loco Mo]

Well, I've never listened to a Bob Dylan album in its entirety.  I haven't listened to most of the Rolling Stones albums.  Seems like I listened mostly to the "hits" over the albums of most artists I've liked.

Lots of them I had to force myself to listen to a whole album because a lot of the songs seemed more like filler than anything super good to listen to.

An exception for me would be Steely Dan.  I don't know if there's a song I don't like.  But I've listened to all their albums.

Could any Frank Zappa album be called "classic?"  I listened to Joe's Garage but nothing beyond that (if I can trust my memory).  Sometimes I've listened to an album once but never again.

[tkitna]

Looking over a few top classic rock albums of all time lists, i've come up with these -

Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Van Morrison - Moondance
Judas Priest - British Steel
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Radiohead - Ok Computer (I've tried, but just cant do it)
Green Day - American Idiot

That was after looking at four different lists.  I'm grasping at straws.  A better question would be, "What classic album have you listened to that you would never listen to again"?  My list would be tremendous.

[Hello Goodbye]

Looking over a few top classic rock albums of all time lists, i've come up with these -

Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Van Morrison - Moondance
Judas Priest - British Steel
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Radiohead - Ok Computer (I've tried, but just cant do it)
Green Day - American Idiot

That was after looking at four different lists.  I'm grasping at straws.  A better question would be, "What classic album have you listened to that you would never listen to again"?  My list would be tremendous.

I never even heard of Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Radiohead and Green Day.  I guess I'm...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXP1MSFwMnc" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXP1MSFwMnc</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWBSmfZTi4s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWBSmfZTi4s</a>

 

[Normandie]

It's so easy nowadays to hear an album for free on internet that not hearing a specific album is a voluntary decision.

I see I did miss your point on this, zipp. I should have read more carefully.

[Hello Goodbye]

It's so easy nowadays to hear an album for free on internet that not hearing a specific album is a voluntary decision.

So if you can't be bothered to listen to a "classic" album then you obviously don't really consider it to be a classic album.

Or you're just trying to stand out from the crowd.

Either way it's the expression of a self-inflicted limited vision of musical excellence or the expression of total distrust of the current ethos.

Which is to say that it's nothing to do with the actual album itself.

I think you nailed it zipp.  These "classic" lists are opinionated.

I guess I shouldn't feel sad being out of time and left out, out of there without a doubt after all. 

[Hello Goodbye]

Ditto on Exile Main Street. Also, Blonde on Blonde.

Now my generation would feel differently.  We welcomed Blonde on Blonde as Bob Dylan was leading the way from folk to folk rock.  And it was a two-LP album which was novel at the time.

Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main St. let us know that after The Beatles broke up, we still had The Rolling Stones.