Heroes and GOATs, Part 3: 10,000 Listens and Almost As Many Reasons

Me

You

Last time I was trying to explain how we can't expect other folks to like our favorite music. On the bright side, I'm sure all the people driving past my house blasting music have read that post and have seen the error of their ways.

And in addition to the obstacles I mentioned, there's another one. Time, or if you prefer, opportunity.

Thinking back to my niece, I have to ask myself why would I expect her (or you) to react any differently than she did? Especially when on my first listen to The Who Sell Out, I found it kind of weak and derivative? It took a few listens for it to click, and I like the Who. So why would I expect a person who is new to a piece of music to react to it the way I do now after 10,000 listens? (That's a Malcolm Gladwell joke. I'm sure it's no more than 7,500.)

But even beyond that why should I expect you to feel the same way I do even if you did listen to it 10,000 times?

The reason we have favorite albums is that they plumb some deep emotions and memories unique to us as individuals. It's a personal reaction, so it only follows that your GOATs would differ from mine. Should we come up with a new term? Greatest of My Time? Greatest of My Life? Hmm, GOMT and GOML don't just roll off the tongue like GOAT.

And that's how it ought to be. If your list is comprised solely of those records that always top the GOAT lists I'd venture to say you're a music liker, not a music lover. Music likers are like people who don't use hot sauce. They want to feel comfortable, not destroyed. They're in it for the subject matter. Is the song pro-Love? Anti-war? Well then, it's gotta be good, right?? If it's "anti-bad things" I have to like it. That's how I know I'm on the right side. Next stop: Hooray for everything!

It's like the movie Ghandi, which I still haven't seen and am not particularly interested in seeing (although it probably does pass the "Jaybee Bound To a Chair" test, which at my present age must be amended to include a "bathroom break" provision). Sure, it's about a great guy doing great things, but you'll never catch me saying, you know what I want to do right now? I want to see Ghandi!

Where was I? Oh, yes! Your reaction SHOULD be unique. Do you like all the usual suspects, by which I mean those records that have sold the most? (Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol 2 I've got my eye on you.) If so, I'm not sure I want to talk music with you. 

Now that I've explained why we won't like each other's music, I shall explain why I do love TWSO. Here's my By Definition Incomplete Because You Can't Explain the Ineffable List:

1. It's melodic. ("Sunrise", "Relax", "Rael") Melody is a weakness of mine. Like dark chocolate. 
2. It's got one of the all-time great (see? I'm doing it, too!) Who songs "I Can See for Miles", which, although it packs a punch, isn't even the high point.
3. It's funny (dirty jokes like "Mary Anne...", silly commercials, tattoos and "Odorono" a beautiful love song whose plot hinges on deodorant, etc.) I'm a Monty Python fan, and a big proponent of silliness, which may disprove the idea that all humor starts in misfortune.
4. To balance this all out, it's got some real feeling, like "Sunrise", which is a great love song, as is "Our Love Was, Is". Both have relatively little instrumentation, so sonically they provide contrast. Plus, I'm a big softy at heart.
5. For a concept album, it's quite unpretentious, since the concept itself is so ridiculous: it's meant to sound like you're listening to the AM radio. Not FM. The reason most prog rock wears thin after a while is that it's so serious. That kind of thing is perfect for most teenagers (with me absolutely included). But the true wisdom that comes with age punctures pretention.
6. It portends Tommy in the best possible way. "Rael" uses a Tommy motif or two (and on the CD version, "Glow Girl" gives a twist to the opening line to Tommy). Some may disagree and find this to be Pete Townshend recycling material, which is understandable given how many versions of Tommy he's come up with over the years. But it's done so well here I give him a pass on it.
7. Great production. Which to me means that the production serves the music. By the way, Tommy has "great" production, too, even if the Who themselves don't think so. It's relatively muted compared to TWHO, as it should be since it's the story of a deaf and dumb boy.
8. It may have saved my life. Many years ago I stayed up all night working on a creative writing assignment. I usually put on music when I would do this. At one point I put on Randy Newman's first album which immediately made me want to give up and kill myself right then and there. Perhaps I should explain why. I'm a big RN fan but that first album is forbidding. Just a case of absolutely wrong album at the absolutely wrong time. I followed it up with TWSO, which completely turned my mood around. Thanks, Pete!
9. The overall mood is joy. Not the religious/reverent kind or the whoop dee doo kind or the sixties vibe that barely survived the mid-seventies. Just joy, perhaps for just being alive, or for the ability these young people had to pull this kind of thing off. I need all the joy I can get.

This list is not meant to persuade you. It's just an explanation of why it works for me. 

Beyond the content of the album itself, there's also the matter of timing. It came out in early 1968 but I didn't hear it until 1982. Had the ten-year-old me heard it when it was first released, I would not have appreciated the "commercials" (like how my brother-in-law objected to the "commercials" in Robocop). The music itself might have been lost in the post Sgt Pepper tidal wave, kind of how the Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request was relegated - unfairly - to the back ranks of Stones albums. Or worse, my peers may have dismissed it, thus relegating it to "quaint embarrassment" status.

Instead, the 25-year-old me heard it long after the last trace of sixties euphoria died away. And it provided a jolt/reminder that that euphoria was not a figment of my imagination. 

So, what about your GOAT? Did you hear it when it was released? That would imply you were hearing it with your friends and a community of listeners can certainly move something up the all-time list.

How old were you? Were you a dumb ten-year-old like me? Or a slightly less dumb 25-year-old like me?

What was going on in your life? Were you in a bad place? Or maybe a joyful place? What specific memories will this music trigger? 

Since I wasn't there, your favorite album is bound to hit me differently. Who knows, though. I might end up loving it. If so, it would be for completely different reasons.

Anyway, here is the The Who Sell Out as it was originally released.

And here's the expanded version, which if anything improves the original, which has got to be a first.

So, today's assignment is to listen to each one, oh let's say 5,000 times each, and let me know what you think.