The Who's super duper mega wocka-wocka deluxe edition of 'Tommy' is out.

I'm actually planning on writing the latest expanded of The Who's Tommy up for Chicagoist, but can't figure out if I want to do a stand-alone review or hold it for our gift guide. I'll probably do the later. I got a download of the Super Deluxe Edition sent to me and I actually found it illuminating, something I didn't expect from an album I've heard hundreds of times. If you do get this, I recommend listening to it in the following order: the demos, the remastered album, the live "bootleg." It's striking just how complete Townshend's vision was from his earliest tapes and it's astounding to watch it first get adapted for the record by the full band and then hear it blossom even further as they brought the rock opera on the road. If I had the dough I'd probably splurge and buy a physical copy so I can have the neat book and everything else, but the true gem in this is the multiple versions of the songs I thought I already knew inside and out and mistakenly believed would never have the chance to reveal anything new about themselves to me.

I don't mind being proved wrong.