Talk about "classic records": The Who's double-album gem is now back on vinyl, complete with its gatefold sleeve and 44-page booklet. Pete Townshend's sweeping document of teen angst still has resonance today, and this reissue - mastered from the original quarter-inch analog tapes and available in 150- and 200-gram versions - comes off sounding equally fresh. Compared with my original 1973 MCA pressing, Classic's 200-gram Quadrophenia is consistently cleaner and more refined, and it conveys a much better sense of space. The strings on "The Dirty Jobs" and the guitars on "Sea and Sand" both have a crisp presence that's devoid of grit. And Keith Moon's drums always seem about to burst through the surface. Long live rock opera!

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