I’m gonna be upfront: I hate rock operas, honestly. Tommy is not an exception. A melodramatic story that’s impossible to relate to in its campyness and is amateurishly written to boot. There’s a reason The Who are musicians first and not authors, though listening to Tommy almost tempts me to forget the reason for even the former. Enjoying these songs outside of the context of the narrative is absolutely impossible. Every chord strummed, every line delivered is tied directly to the storyline and the tone of the lyrics, both of which are totally banal. So when someone, such as myself, thinks the story is hokey and stupid then that means the music sounds exactly the same.

The majority of the songs here are composed for the storyline first. The cheering crescendo chorus of “Tommy Can You Hear Me?” and “Smash the Mirror” are worthless on their own, and regardless of that just sound positively ear-splitting to me and aggravating. The only songs on Tommy I particularly enjoy are “Eyesight to the Blind” (essentially a cover) and “Pinball Wizard.”

“Pinball Wizard” is the best song here because of its simple ability to be able to detach itself from the rest of the heavy narrative. It can stand independent from the story, but when played in the context of the album it still provides additional detail to the story. That’s perfect, really. In the lyrics of “Pinball Wizard,” you already get all the background necessary to enjoy the silly tale of a “deaf, dumb, and blind boy” that somehow possesses a superhuman touch allowing him to play pinball better than anyone. That aside, it’s just simply the best song here. It has a good hook.

That’s all it takes to make “Pinball Wizard” the sole obvious standout while also revealing the flaws of the rest of the individual songs on this album. And I should state again that the overall narrative of the album definitely doesn’t appeal to me either. Tommy is ambitious and has its place in history, but as time goes on, the novelty wears off. Without it you’re left with an average album that sacrifices songwriting for a silly, poorly-written story.