The reissues of the classic 1969 album will include 20 unreleased demos, a never before released full live performance of Tommy and the super deluxe box set version will feature 5.1 surround sound mix in the new Hi Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray format, according to the band.

The unreleased demos come from Pete Townshend's personal music archive and the live Tommy performance was captured when Townshend asked the band's sound engineer to record the band live back in 1969.

Eighteen of the twenty-one tracks were recording during The Who's October 15th 1969 performance at the Capital Theatre, in Ottawa, Canada. According to the announcement, the performances of the other three songs, "I'm Free," "Tommy's Holiday Camp" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" were not captured at that show due to changes of the reel to reel tape. The versions on the new release come from later shows that took place during the same "era."

The live recordings stand out because they are not supposed to exist. Townshend covered the tapes in his autobiography and explained that the tapes were supposed to have been destroyed, but luckily for fans, the band's long time soundman Bob Pridden disobeyed the orders and kept the tapes.

The original album has been remastered for these reissues and the super deluxe box set version will also include an 80 page full-color hard cover book with rare photos and more.

Amazon is already taking preorders for both editions. You can get the Super Deluxe Edition here and the Deluxe Edition here. Check out the full track and bonus details - here.

Who CDs, DVDs and MP3s Who T-shirts and Posters Share this article

...end