The Who – Tommy

This edition of "Tommy" may well be the best sounding record in my collection. Not kidding. Like many, I've owned the OG of this since I was a teenager, and have never known it to sound any other way. Until now. The drums and bass are punched way up, but not thumping like dub, which deliberately is heavy in the low end, but Moon's drums are almost hard to describe. It's almost as if he's across the room just crashing away in the most controlled manner. The song "Smash the Mirror" is of particular interest, with it's powerful drumming, guitars and eventual smashing of the mirror. It all sound's so clear and clean.

Everything else, from the vocals, and the guitars, and definitely Entwistle's bass are super heavy and present in the mix. The whole mix is more powerful than prior mixes, and that would include the 1990's MoFi Gold releases. The packaging and actual records are all top notch; flat, centered, heavy, no edge sharpness, just a joy to behold. Again, if you need a desert island version of "Tommy" this is it, hands down. 10/10

I will start this off by saying I wasn’t a big fan of Tommy, I’m more of a Who’s Next guy, I was disappointed with so many versions of this album it just lacked punch and drive a WHO ES but this Gilbert Kong pressing has completely changed me I LOVE this album this is what this album needs VOLUME AND PUNCH I got this for 10$ in great condition and I gotta say this is THE ONE!! Fantastic

This pressing does have dialed up bass, but I don’t find it muddy or stiff on my system. I’ve heard an original 1969 Decca in NM condition, as well as multiple different CDs and tapes of this album, and none compare to this Japanese reissue. It’s warm, but detailed — it’s got bass, but it has crispness to it as well. Keep in mind that Tommy just wasn’t recorded that great in the first place and the engineers who put this out were just doing the best they could with the mess that Kit Lambert created. I think they did pretty damn good myself, and I’m stoked that I found a NM media copy of this at my local a while back. Get it if you can, as well as anything else from this release series. I have the Live at Leeds and Who’s Next and both sound amazing.

Fluance RT85 turntable
Ortofon Concorde Music HiFi Bronze cartridge
Yamaha RX-V659 amplifier
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII bookshelf speakers
Audio-Technica ATH-AP2000Ti headphones

Anyone else have a copy that is very similar to this but with "H" stamped in the runouts of all sides? Or do you know which pressing I may have? I can't find any release page for my copy... but this is the one that most closely matches the labels

I’ve been looking for a replacement for my original Tommy for quite some time. It had become unlistenable from overuse, but it still held a sentimental place in my collection. This 2014 reissue checks all the boxes: the sound quality, the condition of the pressing, and the overall listening experience have reinvigorated my love for an album that’s been with me for years. It’s a perfect addition to my collection—not only as a replacement for my old copy but as a testament to how much care and respect can go into a reissue.

Sadly my copy has an off center side 2. Wow's around and very noticeable during "Underture". Otherwise this was a fine replacement for my original Decca copy that had surface noise that was intolerable.

This is amazing! I love concept albums and this is one of the best ones and it sounds great! But for some reason, my copy is pressed weird. The first disc of my copy has sides 1 and 4 and the second disc has sides 2 and 3. This has to be some mistake made when they were pressing this. Did anyone else have this problem?

So I presume the other difference between this and the other Track two part release is that this version doesn't have a lined catalog number on the spin of the inlay?

I can't believe how much better this pressing sounds than any other edition of TOMMY I've ever heard. The clarity and depth of the instrumentation and vocals is dramatically improved, bass and drums have more oomph, and there's more definition and detail to the soundstage. An absolute grand slam. My copy plays beautifully, with zero surface noise of note.

Really crap sounding pressing - as is the norm for most NZ pressings from the 60s and 70s. Purely a collectors item IMO, just get the recent Abbey Road 1/2 speed reissues as they sound even better than the UK originals.