Classical Composer Reacts to Love Reign O'er Me (The Who) | The Daily Doug (Episode 421) 

Quadrophenia is, for me, the Who’s masterpiece - and a true classic album.

One of the greatest works of art in music history. The entire album deserves a listen and analysis.

After listening to this, I know why many people over 40 say that real music is dead. That song blows away any song on the charts today.

Quadrophenia is a must listen for a classical composer. Townshend uses multiple music motifs, combining in different ways throughout the album, varying rhythms and keys. Oh and in true operatic style, presents them all in the "overture" title track. This album is genius at work, and the whole band and their session musicians were on top form.

The earlier parts of that album have repeated foreshadowing of this song, so it resonates even more with someone who has heard some of the other songs.

I saw them at Rich Stadium in 1982, with The Clash and David Johannsen. Rain threatened all day, and then it poured briefly as this song was played, only to quickly subside. As the song ended, Townsend said "the Stones can't do that". Cool cool moment.

Musical masterpiece especially for the time it was written. The fact that 50 years later it still resonates pure genius is a testament to it's timelessness. Instrumentation will never be duplicated .

Brilliant album, the whole album merits a listen cause it works so well together.

I saw Roger Daltrey down in Brighton last night. For a 78 year old, he can still sing with passion, with fun, and captivate an audience. Epic show. Legend. That is all.

Pete Townsend is a freakin genius. This double album will blow your head off. It’s his/their Masterpiece.

I’ve listened to this song for years before actually listening to the Quadrophenia album. When I heard the theme in the overture for the first time I got chills lol

Quadrophenia is the height of what music can do spiritually, emotionally and coming from both the brain and the heart. Keith’s playing is in the composition, also emotionally. Pete, an intellectual in the loudest rock band in the world.

Quadrophenia is musically the best and most complex thing The Who did. It's a masterpiece.

Yes! Please do Quadrophenia, one of the highlights of the classic rock era! Utterly amazing album!!

Doug…you need to do the whole album ! Please 👍🔥

Best screams ever committed to tape.

I like the whole interconnected sequence: "Doctor Jimmy - The Rock - Love Reign O'er Me". They work together like a unique song.

Definitely one of my favourite the who songs brilliant song

Listening to "Love Reign O'er Me" before hearing it's parent album won't diminish your enjoyment of it when you do finally get around to it. QUADROPHENIA is a masterpiece. Listening to it in it's entirety will leave you both exhilarated and exhausted.

Piano and drums opening, like rain and thunder. Epic!

Dude, you got the stank face going for most of the song! That seals the deal right there-you were indeed impressed by the sheer emotive prowess of The Who when they were firing on all cylinders! This is one of the greatest rock masterpieces of all time right here. And yes, you need to hear it in the context of the whole album to experience it as a complete work of art. Good on you!

They did a tour playing only the entire album & it was the most incredible thing I’ve seen. To hear it all live was almost a religious experience.

Quadrophenia is my favorite album of all time, by far. Stunning from the beginning to the end.

I'm 49, been listening to music all my life, but have missed a few things along the way. Every year or two I discover something that rocks my world. I first listened to this about a month ago and it blew me away. This song is phenomenal. It's my 2022 "discovery". I like a lot of Who but this is definitely my favorite.

That album really is a masterpiece, if you ask me. It's one of those albums you can listen to a hundred times and still hear something you hadn't noticed before. I think you'll really enjoy the composition of it; I think it works better as an opera than Tommy did. I was fortunate enough to have that one on the Walkman back in the summer of 1988 while taking trains all over Italy...an excellent soundtrack for traveling.

Three things I love about the who. The most interesting intros I’ve heard from any other bands. Really innovative stuff. The smoothest transitions. Something that is very hard to do and a lot of bands come up short in this department. And then there are the lyrics. Topical subjects as in You won’t get fooled again. Love Reign o’er me has the juxtaposition of the words rain and the word reign. Clever word play for sure. Then add to all this the fact that each and every musician in this band is a master. Keith Moon is one of the best drummers on the planet. This is really good stuff.

I heard Townsend say in an interview referring to this song "Roger gave it his bollocks ". True dat!

Goosebumps each and every time I listen to such a masterpiece..

My wife and I saw them in Atlanta in ‘73, the year of our marriage, performing this. Amazing. They did it in quadraphonic. What a sound. They started it off with the famous piano in the dark with it rotating around the room ever so slightly getting faster. Soon you found your head moving with it as it got so fast, unreal.

Doug, This is also my favorite. Just treat yourself and listen to the entire Quadrophenia album set

I had the opportunity to see this tour. When they did this song, the music just rolled off the stage & right over me. I was in awe. By the way, their opening act was a yet unknown group named Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Pete Townsend is a musical genius, and this song is his masterpiece. I also, really like Behind Blue Eyes, Who Are You, and Baba O'Reilly.

I love Quadrophenia. It's one of my favorite Who albums! DO IT PLEASE, DOUG!!!!

This song will bring a tear to your eye while making you feel glad to be alive also blowing your mind simultaneously 😂

I saw the WHO in July of 1980 in Memphis TN. It was the ABSOLUTE BEST SHOW I have ever seen !! I have been to over 300 shows in my life including Floyd, YES, ELP and the list goes on and on and this was the best. Roger is also the best front man I have ever seen too !!! Petes writing skills are still working today and between he and Roger they still sound pretty DAMN GOOD. Ck out the videos from the New Orleans Jazz Festival from earlier this year (2022) and they are GREAT !!

Great! Great song Doug! Certainly watch the film especially the end of the film to get these songs in context. The film is brilliant, it deviates slightly from the story on the audio album but I think the story from the film and the music it is matched up with weave together perfectly.

Doug, every song on Quadrophenia will be your favorite. Can't wait to relive the joy reaction (of an edumacated person) brings to me. :) Please somewhere down the line, on MY bucket list is that YOU listen to and hopefully react to "Awaken - Jon Anderson & Todmobile 2013". This performance is really special.

Quadrephenia is my favorite album from The Who. I was fortunate enough to see them play this live before The OX (bass player) died. They had Ringo Starr's son on drums and it was fantastic! I got to go with a childhood friend who plays bass in an orchestra and listening to his thoughts was a the topper on a great evening. We had floor seats at Bridgestone and the young lady next to me knew all the words. Top 5 concert of all time and I have been going since the 70s.

Hey Doug, Why dont you listen to each side of Quadrophenia separately? This way, you dont have to bite off more than you can chew at one time, but you can listen to more of the surrounding context. Besides, the album kind of feels like each side is its own act

"Tommy" was another rock opera masterpiece by The Who. As a classical composer, Doug, I'm also surprised that you haven't discovered The Moody Blues first seven albums which fuse rock with classical or orchestral music and poetry, creating a new sound all their own.

At the end Moon kicks over his gong and bells and you can hear them clanking in the last fade.

Our fav song by THE WHO.. Friends just seen the WHO in Bethel NY (Site of 1969 Woodstock).. Their 1st return there.. Seen some of the show and is truly amazing and impressive at their age still Rocking it..

I always listen to the original 'side 4' together since the three songs connect them as one long piece - Doctor Jimmy, The Rock, and Love Reign O'er Me.

Greatest Rock Band Ever 🤘 😎 🤘

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands. The entire album teases this song with reoccurring motifs. Many of us think that while Who's Next is a classic (and virtually perfect) album, Quadrophenia is The Who's peak achievement.

LOVE REIGN Over me ! PRAISE JESUS !

Roger Daltrey put on a vocal clinic for the ages on this song! You need to react to the entire Quadrophenia album because he sings with the same passion on every song on the album. Pete Townshend does lead vocals on a couple songs and he too sings them with passion. You might enjoy listening to "Classic Quadrophenia" which is a symphonic version of Quadrophenia arranged for orchestra, opera singer, and choir. It was released in June 2015.

I always loved the opening of this song, simulating a rain/thunder event. One of Daltry's best songs. Townsend was/is an incredible writer.

The Who's album from 6 years earlier, *The Who Sell Out,* also has some wonderfully creative chord progressions, when Pete was really stretching out musically; and was the height of the band's *fun* side, with several very amusing and at the same time very artistic songs. Drummer Keith Moon was also arguably at the height of his powers, not having been dissipated by his boozing and speeding. I have a songbook from the mid 70s with sheet music and Pete's very frank notes about select songs, well worth seeking out.

I agree one of the best songs by The Who, but there are so many great songs written by Pete Townshend. This month my favorite is The Real Me off of the same album (Quadrophenia).

The film is an interesting take on the Opera. 😎

If you can’t do the whole thing at one go, which really would be best, as it IS an Opera, with a beginning, middle and end, you must at least do 5:15, Doug. I’ve been out of my brain on that train since 1973. My personal favorite cut.

Ive always liked the way Pete used sequences as a layer in some of his works. There are several.👍

It just does not get better than this, the greatest rock song....EVER!!!!!

Never saw the video before. Glad you have the original recorded version here, it was re-mastered on CD and an obtrusive flute added near the end that really sticks out as not belonging there when you've heard it multiple times in its original form. The album is spectacular, a history of The Who, British rock, the Mods and Rockers, there's even a bit of early Who with "The Kids Are Alright" in the background as one cut fades out.

fav band of all time. my father got me hooked to the who, glad i got to see there last tour. born in 99 so i didnt get to see the real shows but i watched every youtube video of them

You have to hear the WHOLE album Quadrophenia and take in all the album photos and notes. It's EPIC and The Who's masterpiece alongside Who's Next and Live at Leeds. I was fortunate enough to hear own the vinyl shortly after release courtesy of the record club. So many incredible songs, track links and effects, and NO DUD TRACKS! Do it Doug!!!

This is a song that if you hear it once, you don’t forget it ever.

I got to see them play the whole Quadraphenia album several years ago at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and this was the highlight of the show. Absolutely Love it!

If you can isolate Keith Moon's drumming from the rest of the soundscape, and just listen to his unique virtuosity, what he adds to The Who sound, it's almost unbelievable how good and purposeful and powerful and amazing it is... On almost any song, Quadrophenia onwards (such as this song); though, for me, his work (and the band's work) peaked on the Whos' Next and Who Are You albums, where the production reached a new level, and the musicianship reached a new maturity, by all the members. Love this band; lucky to see them perform LIVE... TWICE! (but sadly, both were post-Moon's death 😔 I'm just a few years too young...). Thank goodness we have that recorded history of his brilliance.

Such a great reaction, Doug. I loved the way it grabbed you. It grabs me too. I've been in that kind of state and sang from a place of pain and loss of love and crisis...such a wonderful piece of music and you did it justice. Also there is a great movie called Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle that will give you chills. This song is an important theme in the movie, thus the title. And a little *Quadrophenia* nod is in the film as well. Thanks Doug!!

Quadrophenia has been my favorite Who album since it came out in '72. This may be Roger's greatest vocal.

I love your reaction! I feel so fortunate to grow up with this kind of classic music

Yeah, if you think this packs a punch on its own, the effect is even stronger when you have the entire album going before it. (I recommend listening to it twice - the second time is so all the leitmotifs can have their proper impact.) My parents first sat me down with Quadrophenia when I was ten, in preparation for an upcoming tour where the Who played the whole album (Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, became their drummer of choice around that time, and he fills Keith's shoes admirably). It's safe to say I *really* didn't understand the story at that point, but I know good music when I hear it. XD It's easily one of my favorite albums. All four of them went completely nuts throughout, but the bass and drums particularly shine.

I have loved this song since the early 80's, and for several decades loved it the way I knew it. Fast forward to 2007 and the Adam Sandler movie "Reign Over Me" was released. I was good throughout the whole movie, and then that piano kicked in. Every hair on my body stood up and tears started flowing. That had dramatically changed the way I heard that song from then on. It was an awesome rediscovery.

Doug it always so nice to see your reaction to the music of my youth. The music, of the group called the boomers today, was unbelievably expansive.

Wow,that was a Awesome video.I really enjoyed that song.Powerful.I love your show Doug.

The rain on the oil slick is quite beautiful in the video. I have never seen this video before.

Just CRANKED this song in my headphones, during our 1st Monsoon hit! Perfection.

This album has been one of my all time favorites for 40 some odd years. Never got to see the band with all original members but had the pleasure of seeing them perform this album in its entirety in 2013. It was the band’s first return to Providence RI since the Mayor canceled their show in 1978 in a highly publicized way after an incident in Cincinnati where 11 people were trampled to death getting into the show. I’m so glad that they finally returned, it was an AMAZING show! Zack Starky (Ringo’s son and Keith Moon’s Godson) filled in amazingly well on drums. This entire album will have you air drumming to your hearts content.

One of the top songs ever made. As a classical composer you do not interrupt the beginning and beautiful piano melody and light up a cigar while this great song is being played.

This is the very song I have requested to be played at my funeral.

Finally! One of the best albums ever made in rock!

The main character in Quadrophenia has a 4 way split personality. Each personality is based on the individual members of the band, Pete, Rodger, John and Keith. Interesting concept.

Love this 🎵 my fave Who song.

Also check out the classic British movie Quadrophenia,it’s a slice of 60’s magic in England with The Who scoring the whole film. 5.15 is also a banger but really,the whole album needs hearing. Good reaction Sir !

Quadrophenia is a total masterpiece. Unbelievably rich, varied, nuanced, uplifting, thought-provoking, impassioned rock music.

At the very end of the fadeout you can hear crashes as Keith Moon knocks over ALL of the percussion equipment ...I think the story was Keith asked Pete what he should do at the end and Pete said "Just hit everything "

It was truly a creative period when this came out. I had just entered high School in 1972 and I've seen your close to the edge reaction.,. In that little window of time some amazing albums were created that have withstood the test of time. At the time we thought this is the way it always was and always will be ... It seems all the bands in America and in England were at their creative peaks during that period.

Yes, at the end of the story Jimmy realizes that indeed, he needs love to reign over him.

...When (Not If) you listen to the entire Quadrophenia LP - (Don't compare it to the movie or it's soundtrack) - Listen to the entire Quadrophenia LP for its own musicality... it is (like all the other comments say) easily - for me - the Who's best concept LP - and the individual pieces hold up on their own as well... (I Am the Sea/The Real Me", etc...)...

Doug, when are we going to get a reaction to Quadrophenia in full? Soon, I hope!

At 74 years of age, I meet the first Who song that I like...love. thank you!

I'm a classical musician mostly (violin), and, The Who has always been my favorite group based on the music writing genius.

I wore the grooves off this album back in the day.

The greatest Rock Opera ever. Thx Doug!

Quadrophenia was The Who's and Pete Townsend's second rock opera. It was the story of an English teenager with multiple (4) personality syndrome. This song showcases Daltrey's vocals obviously, but closes the opera with "Jimmy" finding some measure of peace

I used to sing this on the Harley during rain storms! Made such storms a worship/prayer time. Still consider this their best song.

I am not sure if this is the best Who song ever, but it is certainly the best composed one. It is enjoyable on every listen.

Pete Townsend's demo's of some of The Who's albums (maybe all, I don't know) are also very worth listening to, my understanding is that Pete plays all the instruments. on them and sings all the vocal parts, and of course there's a demo for Quadrophenia.

I was lucky enough to see this tour in StL. 11 dates, most with technical difficulties. This one was perfect. Heaven.

Just fantastic, Doug.

I don't recall ever hearing this song before! Love it y'all.

I have lived 49 years with this album from my favourite band. For years Who's Next was my favourite but I think this has surpassed it. Thanks for your insight. Greetings from Scotland. Regards and respect, Howard.

Yes Doug, you want to hear the whole album, it's brilliant and one of the top 70's albums by any artist.

For me, I bought the Quadrophenia CD in the early-mid 90’s, when I was around 23 or so. I had just made my first major move in my life- from Northern Michigan to Central Colorado. I was about as broke as it gets, working paycheck to paycheck at a ski resort. I had an old but decent boombox I bought at a pawn shop, with enough money left over for half a dozen CDs. They are as follows: The Who- Quadrophenia Fleetwood Mac- Rumours Neil Young- Harvest Jane’s Addiction- Ritual de lo Habitual Ministry- Psalm 69 Emerson Lake and Palmer- (I think) Greatest Hits I sat in a 5’x5’ plywood hut working ski check 10 hours a day, with a space heater and an empty stomach. I thank Quadrophenia for helping me get through. I’m turning 50 in two weeks. I have a big home, nice vehicles and toys, and own my own business now. I feel lucky but I know I worked for it. I try to help others with a hand up whenever I see the opportunity. Nonetheless, there are times I wish I could go back to those days. They seasoned me in ways like no other. Thank you again Doug, for the flashback. Love taking this journey with you, and if you ever find yourself in Northern Michigan, would love to host a “Neil Young’s Harvest” with you to a backdrop of my natural log home. (Not to toot my own horn, but it does the album justice lol)

Doug. Epic is the adjective you are looking for brother.

I cry like a baby every time this song comes on. Rips me up.

Doug convinced The Who that what's on first.

How'd you ever miss this one, huh? lol. Thankfully I'm the 9th of 10 kids and my brothers and sisters passed me down TON of great music. Then I branched out on my own in 5th and 6th grade, lol. Who's Next and Who Are You, are great albums in their own right. Obviously the producer of the CSI series, loved them. lol