Ah, yes. The great Quad. There's no other album like it. It's not the most flawless album ever made - it's just the best. The rich, layered sound creates an atmosphere that can turn a hot mid-July afternoon in Dallas into a foggy, dreary morning in Brighton, overlooking stormy seas. Yet not for a moment does it seem bombastic - its subject matter is far too personal for anyone who remembers what it is like to be young. From the hard-rocking, disillusioned anger of "The Real Me" and "The Punk and the Godfather" to the subdued loneliness of "I'm One," it covers all the big topics we all face.
It all builds up to the grand conclusion - the last two songs. The first of these is an instrumental covering the four themes of the schizoid boy Jimmy. Towards the end of this song, all of these themes are playing simultaneously (one of them is even in a different time than the others!). I can't describe just how awesome this part of the album is, but if you're not in a state of total catharsis at this point, you must be dead. Either that, or you're a cyborg with no emotions, because there's no way this music can fail to establish an emotional connection with you. Just then, when you begin to think that you could lose yourself in this blissful sound for all of eternity, it suddenly stops. And then there is no need for an emotional connection - you ARE Jimmy. You are experiencing what he is experiencing. As the sad, echoey opening notes of "Love, Reign, O'er Me" begin to play amidst the sound of rain and ocean waves, you remember that you are stuck on a rock in the middle of the ocean with no way out. It never fails to make me cry.
I probably sound like some kind of crazy person. Hell, I'll admit it - I DO sound like some kind of crazy person. But this album is so dear to me that I can't even write coherently about it. Except to wonder why this album isn't as well known as some of the Who's other albums, or other albums that were released around the same time. What don't people get? Why isn't it as generally well-liked as Dark Side of the Moon (or Tommy, for that matter)?
I don't mean to insult anybody's personal taste in music. If you've listened to Quad and don't like it, that's fine. I just wanted to start this thread to honor this album that doesn't get the credit it deserves from the mainstream. Well, that's all - I gotta get running now; always nippin' at someone's bleedin' 'eels.