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Quadrophenia is the sixth by the English rock band , released as a on 26 October 1973 by . It is the group's third , the previous two being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While He's Away" (1966) and the album Tommy (1969). Set in London and in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. Quadrophenia is the only Who album entirely written by .

The group started work on the album in 1972 in an attempt to follow up Tommy and Who's Next (1971), both of which had achieved substantial critical and commercial success. Recording was delayed while bassist and singer recorded solo albums and drummer worked on films. Because a new studio was not finished in time, the group had to use Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. The album makes significant use of Townshend's multi-track and , as well as Entwistle's layered horn parts. Relationships between the group and manager broke down irretrievably during recording, and he had left the band's service by the time the album was released.

Quadrophenia was released to a positive reception in both the UK and the US, but the resulting tour was marred with problems with backing tapes replacing the additional instruments on the album, and the stage piece was retired in early 1974. It was revived in 1996 with a larger ensemble, and a further tour took place in 2012. The album made a positive impact on the movement of the late 1970s, and the resulting 1979 film adaptation was successful. The album has been reissued on several times, and seen several remixes that corrected some perceived flaws in the original release.

Plot
The original release of Quadrophenia came with a set of recording notes for reviewers and journalists that explained the basic story and plot.

The narrative centres on a young working-class mod named Jimmy. He likes drugs, beach fights and romance, and becomes a fan of the Who after a concert in , but is disillusioned by his parents' attitude towards him, dead-end jobs and an unsuccessful trip to see a . He clashes with his parents over his use of , and has difficulty finding regular work and doubts his own self-worth, quitting a job as a after only two days. Though he is happy to be "one" of the mods, he struggles to keep up with his peers, and his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend.

After destroying his scooter and contemplating suicide, he decides to take a train to Brighton, where he had enjoyed earlier experiences with fellow mods. However, he discovers the "Ace Face" who led the gang now has a menial job as a in a hotel. He feels everything in his life has rejected him, steals a boat, and uses it to sail out to a rock overlooking the sea. On the rock and stuck in the rain, he contemplates his life. The ending is left ambiguous as to what happens to Jimmy.

Background
The year 1972 was the least active year for the Who since they had formed. The group had achieved great commercial and critical success with the albums Tommy and Who's Next, but were struggling to come up with a suitable follow-up. The group recorded new material with Who's Next collaborator in May 1972, including "Is It in My Head" and "Love Reign O'er Me" which were eventually released on Quadrophenia, and a mini-opera called "Long Live Rock – Rock Is Dead", but the material was considered too derivative of Who's Next and sessions were abandoned. In an interview for Melody Maker, guitarist and bandleader said, "I've got to get a new act together… People don't really want to sit and listen to all our past." He had become frustrated that the group had been unable to produce a film of Tommy (a film version of Tommy would be released in 1975) or Lifehouse (the abortive project that resulted in Who's Next), and decided to follow 's idea of producing a musical soundtrack that could produce a narrative in the same way as a film. Unlike Tommy, the new work had to be grounded in reality and tell a story of youth and adolescence that the audience could relate to.

Townshend became inspired by "Long Live Rock – Rock Is Dead"'s theme and in autumn 1972 began writing material, while the group put out unreleased recordings including "Join Together" and "Relay" to keep themselves in the public eye. In the meantime, bassist released his second solo album, , singer worked on solo material, and featured as a drummer in the film That'll Be the Day. Townshend had met up with "Irish" Jack Lyons, one of the original Who fans, which gave him the idea of writing a piece that would look back on the group's history and its audience. He created the character of Jimmy from an amalgamation of six early fans of the group, including Lyons, and gave the character a four-way split personality, which led to the album's title (a play on ). Unlike other Who albums, Townshend insisted on composing the entire work, though he deliberately made the initial demos sparse and incomplete so that the other group members could contribute to the finished arrangement.

Work was interrupted for most of 1972 in order to work on 's orchestral version of Tommy. Daltrey finished his first solo album, which included the hit single "Giving It All Away", fueling rumours of a split in the press. Things were not helped when Daltrey discovered that managers and had large sums of money unaccounted for and suggested they should be fired, which Townshend resisted.

Recording
In order to do justice to the recording of Quadrophenia, the group decided to build their own studio, in . Work started on building Ramport in November 1972, but five months later it still lacked an adequate that could handle recording Quadrophenia. Instead, Townshend's friend , bassist for Faces, loaned his mobile studio for the sessions. Lambert ostensibly began producing the album in May, but missed recording sessions and generally lacked discipline. By mid-1973, Daltrey demanded that Lambert leave the Who's services. The band recruited engineer , who had worked with Townshend's associate John Alcock, to assist with engineering.

To illustrate the four-way split personality of Jimmy, Townshend wrote four themes, reflecting the four members of the Who. These were "Bell Boy" (Moon), "Is It Me?" (Entwistle), "Helpless Dancer" (Daltrey) and "Love Reign O'er Me" (Townshend). Two lengthy instrumentals on the album, the title track and "The Rock", contain the four themes, separately and together. The instrumentals were not demoed but built up in the studio. Who author John Atkins described the instrumental tracks as "the most ambitious and intricate music the group ever undertook."

Most tracks involved each of the group recording their parts separately; unlike earlier albums, Townshend had left space in his demos for other band members to contribute, though most of the synthesizers on the finished album came from his 2500 synthesizer and were recorded at home. The only song arranged by the band in the studio was "5:15". According to Nevison, the ARP 2500 was impossible to record in the studio, and changing sounds was cumbersome due to a lack of patches, which required Townshend to work on these parts at home, working late into the night. To obtain a good sound on the album, Townshend bought a and over two weeks learned how to play it well enough to be recorded.

Entwistle recorded his bass part to "The Real Me" in one take on a Gibson Thunderbird and spent several weeks during the summer arranging and recording numerous multi-tracked horn parts. Having been forced to play more straightforwardly by Johns on Who's Next, Moon returned to his established drumming style on Quadrophenia. He contributed lead vocals to "Bell Boy", where he deliberately showcased an exaggerated narrative style. For the finale of "Love, Reign O'er Me", Townshend and Nevison set up a large group of percussion instruments, which Moon played before kicking over a set of , which can be heard on the final mix.

During the album production, Townshend made many with a portable recorder. These included waves washing on a Cornish beach and the whistle of a diesel train recorded near Townshend's house at . The ending of "The Dirty Jobs" includes a musical excerpt from , a march by John Philip Sousa, which Nevison recorded while watching a play in Regent's Park. Assembling the field recordings in the studio was problematic; at one point, during "I Am the Sea", nine tape machines were running sound effects. According to Nevison, Townshend produced the album single-handedly, adding that "everything started when Pete got there, and everything finished when Pete left". Townshend began mixing the album in August at his home studio in Goring along with Nevison.

Release
The album was preceded by the single "5:15" in the UK, which benefited from a live appearance on Top of the Pops on 4 October 1973 and was released the next day. It reached No. 20 in the charts. In the US, "Love Reign O'er Me" was chosen as the lead single.

Quadrophenia was originally released in North America on 26 October and in the UK on 29 October, but fans found it difficult to find a copy due to a shortage of vinyl caused by the OPEC oil embargo. In the UK, Quadrophenia reached No. 2, being held off the top spot by 's . The album reached No. 2 on the US Billboard chart, the highest position of any Who album in that country, being kept from No. 1 by 's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

The album was originally released as a two- set with a gatefold jacket and a booklet containing lyrics, a text version of the story, and photographs taken by illustrating it.

(2026). 9781137384256, Palgrave Macmillan.
re-released the album as a two-CD set in 1985 with the lyrics and text storyline on a thin fold-up sheet but none of the photographs. The album was reissued as a CD in 1996, featuring a reproduction of the original album artwork. The original mix had been criticised in particular for Daltrey's vocals being buried, so the 1996 CD was completely remixed by and Andy Macpherson.

In 2011, Townshend and longtime Who engineer remixed the album, resulting in a deluxe five-disc . Unlike earlier reissues, this set contains two discs of demos, including some songs that were dropped from the final running order of the album, and a selection of songs in 5.1 surround sound. The box set came with a 100-page book including an essay by Townshend about the album sessions, with photos. At the same time, the standard two-CD version was re-released with a selection of the demos as bonus content; some Disc Two tracks were moved to Disc One to accommodate space for these demos. In 2014, the album was released on featuring a brand-new remix of the entire album by Townshend and Pridden in 5.1 surround sound as well the 2011 Deluxe Edition stereo remix and the original 1973 stereo LP mix.

Reception
Critical reaction to Quadrophenia was positive. Melody Makers wrote "rarely have a group succeeded in distilling their essence and embracing a motif as convincingly", while Charles Shaar Murray described the album in New Musical Express as the "most rewarding musical experience of the year". Reaction in the US was generally positive, though , writing in gave a more critical response. wrote in that "the Who as a whole have never sounded better" but added, "on its own terms, Quadrophenia falls short of the mark". In a year-end top albums list for , ranked it seventh, and found it exemplary of how 1973's best records "fail to reward casual attention. They demand concentration, just like museum and textbook art."

Retrospective reviews were also positive. Writing in (1981), Christgau regarded Quadrophenia as more of an opera than Tommy, possessing a brilliantly written albeit confusing plot, jarring but melodic music, and compassionate lyrics about "everykid as heroic fuckup, smart enough to have a good idea of what's being done to him and so sensitive he gets pushed right out to the edge anyway." Chris Jones, writing for , said "everything great about The Who is contained herein." In 2013, Billboard, reviewing the album for its 40th anniversary, said: "Filled with performances packed with life and depth and personality, 'Quadrophenia' is 90 minutes of the Who at its very best." The album has sold 1 million copies and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

9781599673691, Heritage Capital Corporation. .
In 2000 Q magazine placed Quadrophenia at No. 56 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album has been ranked at No. 267 on magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It is also ranked at No. 86 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest albums of all time.

Townshend now considers Quadrophenia to be the last great album that the Who recorded. In 2011, he said the group "never recorded anything that was so ambitious or audacious again", and implied that it was the last album to feature good playing by Keith Moon.

Live performances
1973–1974 tour
The band toured in support of Quadrophenia but immediately encountered difficulties playing the material live. To achieve the rich overdubbed sound of the album on stage, Townshend wanted (who had played piano on some tracks) to join as a touring member. Daltrey objected to this and believed the Who's performances should only have the four core members. To obtain the required instrumentation without additional musicians, the group elected to employ taped backing tracks for live performance, as they had already done for "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". Initial performances were plagued by malfunctioning equipment. Once the tapes started, the band had to play to them, which constrained their styles. Moon, in particular, found playing Quadrophenia difficult as he was forced to stick to a click track instead of watching the rest of the band. The group only allowed two days of rehearsals with the tapes before touring, one of which was abandoned after Daltrey punched Townshend following an argument.

The tour started on 28 October 1973. The original plan had been to play most of the album, but after the first gig at , the band dropped "The Dirty Jobs", "Is It in My Head" and "I've Had Enough" from the set. Both Daltrey and Townshend felt they had to describe the plot in detail to the audience, which took up valuable time on stage. A few shows later in Newcastle upon Tyne, the backing tapes to "5:15" came in late. Townshend stopped the show, grabbed Pridden, who was controlling the mixing desk, and dragged him onstage, shouting obscenities at him. Townshend subsequently picked up some of the tapes and threw them over the stage, kicked his amplifier over, and walked off. The band returned 20 minutes later, playing older material. Townshend and Moon appeared on local television the following day and attempted to brush things off. The Who played two other shows in Newcastle without incident.

The US tour started on 20 November at the in San Francisco. The group were nervous about playing Quadrophenia after the British tour, especially Moon. Before the show, he was offered some from a fan. Just after the show started, the fan collapsed and was hospitalised. Moon's playing, meanwhile, became incredibly erratic, particularly during Quadrophenia where he did not seem to be able to keep time with the backing tapes. Towards the end of the show, during "Won't Get Fooled Again", he passed out over his drumkit. After a 20-minute wait, Moon reappeared onstage, but after a few bars of "Magic Bus", collapsed again, and was immediately taken to hospital. , an audience member, convinced promoter Bill Graham to let him play drums, and the group closed the show with him. Moon had a day to recover, and by the next show at the Los Angeles Forum, was playing at his usual strength. The group began to get used to the backing tapes, and the remainder of gigs for the US tour were successful.

The tour continued in February 1974, with a short series of gigs in France. The final show at the Palais de Sports in on the 24th was the last time Quadrophenia was played as a stage piece with Moon, who died in 1978. Townshend later said that Daltrey "ended up hating Quadrophenia – probably because it had bitten back". However, a small selection of songs remained in the set list; live performances of "Drowned" and "Bell Boy" filmed at Charlton Athletic football ground on 18 May were later released on the 30 Years of Maximum R&B box set.

1996–1997 tour
In June 1996, Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle revived Quadrophenia as a live concert. They performed at Hyde Park, London as part of the Prince's Trust "Masters of Music" benefit concert, playing most of the album for the first time since 1974. The concert was not billed as the Who, but credited to the three members individually. The performance also included as the Godfather, as the Narrator and Jimmy, as the newsreader, as the Bell Boy and as the hotel manager. The musical lineup included Townshend's brother , on drums (his first appearance with the Who), guitarists (who played the bus driver) and , keyboardists John "Rabbit" Bundrick and , percussionist , leading a two-man/two-woman backing vocal section, and five brass players. During rehearsals, Daltrey was struck in the face by Glitter's microphone stand, and performed the concert wearing an .

A subsequent tour of the US and UK followed, employing most of the same players but with replacing Edmondson, Simon Townshend replacing Gilmour and P. J. Proby replacing Glitter during the second half of the tour. 85,000 fans saw the ensemble perform Quadrophenia at Madison Square Garden over six nights in July 1996. A recording from the tour was subsequently released in 2005 as part of Tommy and Quadrophenia Live.

2010s tours
The Who performed Quadrophenia at the Royal Albert Hall on 30 March 2010 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust series of ten gigs. This one-off performance of the rock opera featured guest appearances from 's and 's .

In November 2012, the Who started a U.S. tour of Quadrophenia, dubbed "Quadrophenia and More". The group played the entire album without any guest singers or announcements with the then regular Who line-up (including Starkey and bassist , who replaced Entwistle following his death in 2002) along with five additional musicians. The tour included additional video performances, including Moon singing "Bell Boy" from 1974 and Entwistle's bass solo in "5:15" from 2000. After Starkey injured his wrist, session drummer Scott Devours replaced him for part of the tour with minimal rehearsal. The tour progressed, with Devours drumming, to the UK in 2013, ending in a performance at in July.

In September 2017, Townshend embarked on a short tour with , , and an orchestra entitled "Classic Quadrophenia".

Adaptations
Film
Quadrophenia was revived for a film version in 1979, directed by . The film attempted to portray an accurate visual interpretation of Townshend's vision of Jimmy and his surroundings, and included as Jimmy and Sting as the Ace Face. Unlike the Tommy film, the music was largely relegated to the background, and was not performed by the cast as in a rock opera. The film soundtrack included three additional songs written by Townshend, which were ' first recordings as an official member of the Who. The film was a commercial and critical success, as it conveniently coincided with the movement of the late 1970s.

Other productions
There have been several amateur productions of a Quadrophenia musical. In 2007, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama performed a musical based on the original album at the , , featuring a cast of 12 backed by an 11-piece band.

In October 1995, the rock group , with an additional four-man horn section, performed Quadrophenia in its entirety as their second musical costume at the in the suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The recording was later released as a part of Live Phish Volume 14. The band also covered the tracks "Drowned" and "Sea and Sand" on their live album .

In June 2015, Townshend produced an orchestral version of the album entitled Classic Quadrophenia. The album was orchestrated by his partner and conducted by Robert Ziegler, with instrumentation provided by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Tenor sang the lead role, supported by the London Oriana Choir, , Phil Daniels, and Townshend.

A ballet based on the album called Quadrophenia – A Mod Ballet premiered at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth on 28 May 2025 before touring the UK (including a run at Sadler's Wells Theatre, ) which was directed by and choreographed by Paul Roberts. The backdrop of the ballet was the 2015 Classic Quadrophenia album.

Track listing
Original release
Notes:
  • "The Punk and the Godfather" is retitled to "The Punk Meets the Godfather" on American pressings of the album.
  • "Helpless Dancer" includes the intro to "The Kids Are Alright" from My Generation (1965).

2011 Super Deluxe Edition track listing
Quadrophenia was reissued as a super deluxe edition on 14 November 2011.

For its super deluxe reissue, Quadrophenia was reissued with:

  • Original 1973 album 2-CD; 2011 remaster of the original 1973 album
  • Demos from Pete Townshend's archive 2-CD; Demos that were dubbed as "The Director's Cut" bonus tracks (It was originally reported that "Ambition" was set to be a part of these demos, where it was placed between "Joker James" and "Punk", but it was ultimately not included in the set.)
  • Replica single 1–45; a reproduction of the "5:15"/"Water" single with the original picture sleeve
  • Quadrophenia EP 1-DVD; a selection of 8 songs from the original album remixed into 5.1 Surround Sound
  • 100 page hardback book includes rare photos, memorabilia from the period (which were housed in a separate card envelope), replica of the original Track Records promotional poster, and new liner notes by Pete Townshend, including a 13,000 word essay, revealing studio diaries, and track by track guide to the demos

This super deluxe edition was released as the Director's Cut.

All songs are written by .

Discs one and two: Original album

Demos from Pete Townshend's archive
Quadrophenia EP in 5.1
Bonus single
Personnel
Taken from the sleeve notes:

The Who

Additional musicians

Production

Charts
Weekly charts
+1973–1974 weekly chart performance for Quadrophenia ! scope="col"Chart (1973–1974) ! scope="col"Peak
position

+2011 weekly chart performance for Quadrophenia ! Chart (2011) ! Peak
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+2014 weekly chart performance for Quadrophenia ! Chart (2014) ! Peak
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+ 2025 weekly chart performance for Quadrophenia ! scope="col"Chart (2025) ! scope="col"Peak
position

Year-end charts
+1974 year-end chart performance for Quadrophenia ! scope="col"Chart (1974) ! scope="col"Position

Certifications
Notes
Sources

Further reading
External links

: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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