My favorite album list has covered everything from humor to crooners to rock’n’rulers. Now with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry about to go on tour as the living half of The Who, it’s a good time to add some music from England’s Maximum R&B band.

Rock opera? Who had heard of such a thing? Until Pete T. decided he wanted to expand beyond the singles concept and tie a whole album together around a single theme.

Out came Tommy, the deaf, dumb, and blind boy who suffered traumas, wanted to lead us to salvation, and oh yeah, sure played a mean pinball. The album had an overture, it had a main character, it had comic relief, and it had rejection. Operatic grandeur, years before Bohemian Rhapsody. And I could enjoy it because unlike most great operas it wasn’t in Italian.

Tommy had great songs; I’m Free. Acid Queen. Pinball Wizard. I have caught Barb singing along to See Me, Feel Me. Countless live recordings, a rip-roaring movie, and the Broadway musical have all driven Tommy even further into our brains.

But Tommy isn’t the Who’s masterpiece. I’ll give that title to 1971’s Who’s Next. Ladies, don’t get turned off by the guys peeing on the front cover. From Baba O’Riley (or do you call it Teenage Wasteland?) at the start to Won’t Get Fooled Again at the end, I can listen endlessly to every track. Yes, a friend of mine dumped on Behind Blue Eyes, but he makes his living as a film guy. Leave the music to me, mate.

It’s Chicago cold out now. I’m going to find those Swedish headphones of mine, clamp ’em on, and listen to that Roger Daltry scream in Won’t Get Fooled Again. Want to join me?