The Who's Tommy Orchestral
is perhaps a bit of a convoluted title but it's not as much of a jumble as the billing of "
Roger Daltrey
with members of
the Who Band
and Orchestra Conducted by
Keith Levenson
." The title and credit explain the 2019 album, which splices together performances given in Bethel, New York and Budapest. Prior to the 2018 tour that provided the source material for this record,
Daltrey
told Rolling Stone "We stay faithful to the record. We treat it with the respect that you'd treat a Mozart opera." This is more or less true.
and his supporting musicians don't bother to rearrange or reinterpret the original
Pete Townshend
compositions, and the presence of members of the Who Band does give this volume and muscle, qualities that are often absent in orchestral renditions of rock material. What the orchestra does add is a considerable dose of pomp and circumstance, a subtlety that can push this version of
Tommy
toward the stuffy. Then again, the orchestra isn't as interesting as
. Baring a reduced range but considerable vocal control,
seems engaged with material that he's been singing for half-a-century, and that kind of commitment is what distinguishes an album that otherwise feels a shade too familiar. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine