Yes, I know that's not the cover of Quadrophenia, but bear with me. A few years ago at an outdoor flea market I was going through a box of classic rock records that were mostly beat to heck. Just as I was about to give up, I found a copy of the classic album Tommy by The Who that didn't look half bad. When I checked the vinyl, I was surprised to see that both disks appeared very clean. The included color booklet was nearly mint. Hmm. I asked the dealer if he'd take a couple of dollars less than the $10 price, and he accepted.
Once I got the record home, I cleaned it and then went to Discogs to see what version I had. I was very happy to see that I had scored a very nice first US Decca pressing. While disk one turned out to have a few light ticks, disk two was minty. And the overall sound was fantastic.
I mention this because the other day I played it through and once again was floored at how great the music is and how wonderful the LPs sound. So I thought I'd keep the vibe going by playing Pete Townshend's other rock opera, Quadrophenia. I put Tommy back on the shelf and started looking for my copy of Quadrophenia. Which is when I realized to my horror that I don't have a copy of Quadrophenia. How is that possible? (Well, I do have a copy on CD, but I haven't played an actual CD in years.) Clearly this aggression will not stand, man.
I fired up Discogs and discovered that there are at least 144 different releases of Quadrophenia, from Brazilian vinyl to Blu-Ray discs with high-rez files. Since I was only interested in vinyl, that narrowed my options to about 75 versions. Realistically, my buying choices were used original UK or US pressings, or new US or EU re-pressings. But which of the many versions has the best sound? After reading lots of opinions on different online forums, the consensus seems to be that the original UK pressing on Track Record is the one to have. Back to Discogs where I found approximately 85 original 1973 UK copies for sale. I narrowed my search down to the 30 or so that were listed as being in near mint condition. Most of the copies were from UK sellers, and the prices (converted from British pounds) ranged from about $25 to $250. Since I was reluctant to add an extra $15-20 for international shipping, I was pleased to find a copy from a U.S. seller that was listed as NM/VG+. Since the jacket wasn't quite as nice, it was nearer the low end of the price scale. Sold.About a week later the album arrived. The original gatefold jacket is printed on flimsy UK stock, but except for some light edge wear, looks fine. The included booklet, which is glued in on the UK edition, is intact and looks great. I gave the disks a wash on my VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine and was very happy to see that the vinyl was flawless and truly near mint. So far so good. The only things missing were the original dust sleeves. Whoever owned this copy put the disks in poly-lined sleeves like the kind you find on EU classical pressings. Fine by me. After washing the disks, I replaced the sleeves with my go-to Diskeeper poly sleeves.
Now back to Discogs one more time to check on the pressing. Here are the matrix numbers from my set:
Side 1: 2406110 A//4 13 22 TML-M
Side 2: 2406110 B//4 13 9 TML-M
Side 3: 2406111 A//4 TML 11 20 TML-M
Side 4: 2406111 B//3 12 2 TML-M
Besides being mastered by George Jones (per the jacket credits) at Doug Sax's Mastering Lab in Los Angeles on their original Scully lathe (always a good thing), what else do we know?
Luckily for me, some kind Discogs member listed the following info about early pressings of Quadrophenia:
-First issues were printed by Euro-Albums Holland B.V., and have a soft, almost pastel gray finish. Later issues look blacker. [Yes for my copy.]
-The spine of the original pressing reads: The Who Quadrophenia Track Deluxe Double 2657 013. [Yes for my copy.]
-Earliest pressings have a "delta" on each matrix. Subsequent pressings have two slashes //. [Mine has the slashes.]
-Early first pressings have predominantly ‘1’ & ‘2’ matrices, e.g. Side 1: 2406110 A (Delta) 1. [My disks have 3 & 4.]
So, overall a very nice early pressing. But of course the proof is in the listening. In a word, the sound is fantastic. It has enormous dynamic range, a huge sound stage that seems to stretch ten feet around the speakers, and incredible texture. With the volume cranked up to 11, the sound of the ocean waves crashing and Keith Moon assaulting his drum kit nearly knocked me over. By the time Roger Daltry screams "Love, reign o'er me" and the finale fades out, I felt like the guy in the iconic ad for Maxell cassette tapes from the 80s.
It doesn't get much better than that. Thanks, Pete.
Enjoy the music.
