History Music / Quadrophenia

* AntiHero: Jimmy is actually quite an unpleasant person, being somewhat racist and homophobic (though this may be a case of DeliberateValuesDissonance, particularly as the album's storyline is set in the early to mid '60s), and at one point he makes comments about desiring to rape a girl. However, the fact that he is likely saying these things because of his depression and drug addiction keep him from being irredeemable for most fans.

-->"(inside outside) Leave me alone\\
(inside outside) Nowhere is home\\
(inside outside) Where have I been?\\
Out of mine brain on the five-fifteen!"

* NietzscheWannabe: "Helpless Dancer" has a little of this.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] - Jimmy visits one in "The Real Me." This isn't the first time, either. It doesn't help, and so he visits a vicar and his mom too. [[AdultsAreUseless But then...]]

[[TheStinger LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!]]

* CreatorCameo: Jimmy visits a Who show partway into the plot, as portrayed in "The Punk and the Godfather", which consists of him telling Pete Townshend off, and Townshend replying in kind. Very self deprecating.

** There's another one on a 2013 live version of "The Punk and The Godfather"

* JourneyToFindOneself: Interesting is that Jimmy does this mostly in his head; he sits in the middle of nowhere and takes stock of the past parts of his life

* AntiHero: Jimmy is actually quite an unpleasant person, being somewhat racist and homophobic (though this may be a case of FairForItsDay, particularly as the album's storyline is set in the early to mid '60s), and at one point he makes comments about desiring to rape a girl. However, the fact that he is likely saying these things because of his depression and drug addiction keep him from being irredeemable for most fans.

The album has gone on to become one of the Who's most celebrated works after ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' and ''Music/WhosNext'', and was the album they chose to perform when they relaunched back in 1996-97. "Quadrophenia" was listed at #267 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

[[AC: Side One]]

[[AC: Side Two]]

[[AC: Side Three]]

[[AC: Side Four]]

* SpecialGuest: In 1996, the band performed the record in Hyde Park with a number of special guests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQlXlkGRW7k:

** Trevor [=McDonald=] as The Newsreader (at the end of "Cut My Hair")

** Gary Glitter as The Godfather ("The Punk Meets The Godfather", "I've Had Enough")

-->''My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked''
-->''Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck''
-->''I ride a GS scooter with my hair cut neat''
-->''I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet.''

* AdaptationExpansion: Most of the movie focuses on the events leading ''up'' to the Brighton beach riots, which in the album occur near the beginning.

* AntiHero: Jimmy is actually quite an unpleasant person, being somewhat racist and homophobic (though this may be a case of FairForItsDay, particularly as the album's storyline is set in the early to mid '60s), and at one point he makes comments about desiring to rape a girl. However, the fact that he is likely saying these things because of his depression and drug addiction keep him from being a CompleteMonster for most fans.

* SplitPersonality: The titular quadrophenia is a play on the older (incorrect) use of the term schizophrenia and "quad" for four. This isn't a strict case though, as the separate "personalities" of Jimmy are implied to be closer to mood swings than anything.

The album has gone on to become one of the Who's most celebrated works after ''Music/{{Tommy}}'', and was the album they chose to perform when they relaunched back in 1996-97. "Quadrophenia" was listed at #267 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

* AntiHero: Jimmy who is a young hoodlum.

* AdultsAreUseless: Though as this is about youth, [[{{Deconstruction}} it may be more that Jimmy can't accept help]].[[note]]The liner notes feature a disclaimer from the band that their own parents are all lovely people who "live in big houses that we bought for them."[[/note]]

* AdultsAreUseless: Though as this is about youth, [[{{Deconstruction}} it may be more that Jimmy can't accept help]].
** The liner notes take a jab at this with a disclaimer from the band saying that their parents are all lovely people who "live in big houses that we bought for them."

* InVinoVeritas/JekyllAndHyde: "Dr. Jimmy" is all over these tropes. The song makes reference to reckless gambling and raping women, but it isn't clear if he actually does this or is [[MadnessMantra just rambling or hallucinating]].

** Averted with John Entwistle; this was the first Who album since [[Music/MyGeneration their first]] on which he had no lead vocal (as well as the first on which he contributed to none of the songwriting).

** "Doctor Jimmy and Mister Jim/When I'm pulled you don't notice him/He only comes out when I drink my gin"

* ProgressiveEraMontage: Since the 2012/13 Quadrophenia And More tour, "The Rock" features one on the video screens, showing a montage of events that have taken place from the era of the story up to the present including UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon's resignation, the deaths of Music/ElvisPresley, Keith Moon and Music/JohnLennon, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher becoming Prime Minister of England, Prince Charles & Princess Diana's wedding, the Berlin Wall coming down, Desert Storm, Waco, Princess Diana's death, Columbine, the new millennium, 9/11, John Entwistle's death, Hurricane Katrina and the Occupy Wall Street movement.

** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Adrian]] [[Series/{{Bottom}} Edmondson]] as Ace Face ("I've Had Enough", "Sea And Sand", "Bell Boy")

->''"Can you see the real me/\\
can ya?? Can ya?"''

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quadrophenia_lp_cover_584.jpg]]

->"Can you see the real me/\\
can ya?? Can ya?"
-->"I Am the Sea"

The plot follows Jimmy's quest for identity as he struggles with life. The opera opens as he sits marooned on a rock in the middle of the English Channel, contemplating [[HowWeGotHere what led him there]]. A large part of the plot is Jimmy looking at the past few days of his life, in particular the Rocker-Mod conflicts that he was a part of, and attempting to reconcile his four different identities- the [[SplitPersonality quadrophenia]] of the title.

# "I Am The Sea" (2:09)

# "The Punk And The Godfather" (5:11)

# "Is It In My Head?" (3:44)

# "Sea And Sand" (5:02)

* AlbumIntroTrack: "I Am The Sea".

* BeYourself: This is what Jimmy's epiphany at the end amounts to. One of the more mature uses of the trope (interesting, considering it's about the trials of youth, and the trope is mostly "for kids").
* BrokenPedestal: Jimmy finds a mod he used to look up to ("Ace Face") working as a bell boy in a hotel that he'd previously smashed the windows at.

--> I've had enough of trying to ''LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE''

** "Zoot Suit", "Out In The Street", "I Can't Explain" ("Cut My Hair")

** "I'm the Face ("Sea and Sand")

* {{Instrumentals}}: The TitleTrack and its reprise, "The Rock". If you ignore the foreshadowing lyrics, "I Am The Sea" can count as one, at least until the end (though that can actually be considered as part of "The Real Me": [[SiameseTwinSongs it's very hard to draw the line]]).

* PrecisionFStrike: The only f-word on the album is used highly effectively In "Doctor Jimmy":

* QuestioningTitle: "Is It In My Head?"

* RockOpera: Naturally. It does, however, have less dialogue than ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' did.

* SiameseTwinSongs: "I Am The Sea"/"The Real Me".

** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Adrian]] [[Series/{{Bottom}} Edmondson]] as The Ace Face ("I've Had Enough", "Sea And Sand", "Bell Boy")

*** For the 1996/97 tour, guest singers handled the roles of the Godfather (Gary Glitter, PJ Proby) and the Ace Face (Music/BillyIdol, Ben Waters).

** Averted with John Entwistle; this was the first Who album since [[Music/MyGeneration their first]] on which he had no lead vocal (as well as the first on which he contributed to none of the song-writing).

* TitleTrack: Though it's an {{Instrumental}}.