Review: Sensation-The Story of the Who’s Tommy [Blu-ray]

I’ve gotta admit that when this was sent to me in the mail I let out a soft groan, as I quietly thought to myself,  “This is territory that Townshend and company have traveled upon far too many times already! Enough, already! Relegate it to the past…and leave it there!”

With that thought in the front of my mind, I popped this disc into my machine.  90 minutes later I sat there still in awe of the sheer quality in both audio and visual, and still grinning from the plethora of genuinely entertaining interviews presented here.

Virtually everyone who had anything even remotely connected to the making of this seminal recording is presented here in interviews that both astounded and surprised me. I found Roger Daltrey’s comments to be especially insightful.

Even when my associate interviewed Daltrey ad nauseum about Tommy-and its aftermath-a few years ago, there was no mention by Daltrey about life for himself and his bandmates being “harder” as a result of its success. However, Daltrey makes it quite clear on this documentary that life was certainly no bed of roses for the band after the overwhelming rush of big bucks and bigger stadiums that Tommy unleashed in its stupendous, worldwide success.

The bonus material-eight songs from “Tommy” and some 1969 interview segments from the iconic German TV pop/rock show “Beat Club”-is nice, but IMHO adds nothing new or of particular interest for most Who fans to feast upon.  Buy this for the comprehensive and fascinating interviews all of which, with the exception of the long-winded, almost boorish music critic Anthony Decurtis, are a sheer delight.

Product Details

  • Actors: The Who
  • Directors: The Who
  • Formats Available: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Region: All Regions
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: March 11, 2014
  • Run Time: 113 minutes
Shirley Pena

About Shirley Pena

A native of Southern California, Shirley Peña began her career as a music journalist almost twenty years ago, writing for her websites "Stars In My Eyes: the Girlhowdy Website" and "La Raza Rock!" and progressed to creating various fan sites on Yahoo, including the first for New Zealand singer/songwriter Tim Finn. From there, she became a free agent, arranging online interviews for Yahoo fan clubs with various music artists (Andy White, John Crawford, Debora Iyall, John Easdale, etc.). She also lent her support in creating and moderating a number of Yahoo fan clubs for various music artists from the 1990s-today. As a music journalist, Shirley Peña has contributed to a number of magazines (both hard copy and online), among them: Goldmine, American Songwriter, Classic Drummer Magazine and UK-based Keyboard Player (where she was a principal journalist). A self-confessed "fanatic" of 1960s "British Invasion" bands, Classic Rock and nostalgic "Old Hollywood ", she also keeps her finger on the pulse of current trends in music, with a keen eye for up and coming artists of special merit. Shirley Peña loves Los Angeles, and is thrilled to join the writing staff of The Los Angeles Beat!
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