THE WHO

Originally I had my opening gambit for this page already worked out. I was going to say "The Who are the most gruesomely overrated band ever". Partly because they are, but the choice of words was a direct polemic to George Starostin who, as you probably already know, does overrate the Who and also dismisses two of my favourite bands, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, as "gruesomely overrated." Problem is, though, I bought up the bulk of the Who's peak output and, much to my surprise, I actually quite like them after all. I wouldn't say they are my favourite band and they are still slightly overrated in certain quarters (there's no way they're a five star artist, as both Starostin and McFerrin rank them) but they probably are not "gruesomely overrated". Sadly.

First, I shall have a sneek peak at what makes them so good, before reverting back to my overrated claim. Firstly, they produced a decent range of good to great albums up until the mid-seventies (I haven't looked at their patchy later career). Secondly, they invented punk music. Or did they? Personally, I find it an unfeasible claim. Sure, their first album was a definite influence on the punk scene but then no more so than the Stones' early work. The Stooges' debut was probably the first real proto-punk album and besides which, many of you probably think it is a claim of dubious credibility in the first place. Their overall music is pretty distinctive. Pete Townsend is certainly no lead guitarist but he is a fantastic rhythm player, not unlike Keith Richards. And even more so than Richards he invented the crashing power chord template. John Entwistle is also a fantastic bassist, squeezing a phenomenal number of notes into his runs; although that fact alone is why the Who are not all that punk. The amazing thing is, Entwistle was not even the best musician in the band. That honour falls to the great lunatic Keith Moon who was probably the best, and certainly the most distinctive, rock drummer ever. When people talk about the energy of the Who they sometimes forget that it is Moon that is really behind it. Other than musicians, Townsend was also a talented song-writer. Not the best ever but certainly up there. Oh, and I forgot singer Roger Daltrey who, unlike the rest of the band, is not particularly special in any area. I suppose he's quite good looking.

Now for the negatives. The main problem with the Who is the fact that throughout their career they were always overshadowed by other, bigger and better, bands. As a sixties pop combo they were a veritable furlong behind the Beatles (but then who wasn't?) as well as the Rolling Stones. As a seventies hard rock band they were a little lesser than Led Zeppelin and, er...the Stones, again. Obviously that doesn't entail they were a bad band but it does mean when people think of great British rock bands the Who are rarely the first name that springs to mind. As a minor point there is the issue of Pete Townsend as a great lyricist. Have I missed something? Every piece of literature on the Who I read lauds his lyrics when, from what I've discerned he was nothing special. Obviously there are some exceptions, "My Generation", the majority of Quadrophenia and at least he was intelligent enough to avoid cock-rock cliches but still, I could name at least ten better lyricists in rock (although I won't at the moment). My guess is the fact that he was a bit of a loser (the original Morrissey) meant he was a lot more identifiable than the typical strutting cock-rock macho poser. I guess the real irony is that, for the most part, his loser lyrics were actually sung by a typical strutting cock-rock macho poser. Anyway, good band though they are, the Who are the perennial nearly-men of rock.

From: Frank H. Walters

I love your site. I always like to have a variety of opinions to look at, but there is one issue that I want to discuss. That issue is your stance on the Who vs. Zeppelin. First of all, every member of the Who out-matches his Zeppelin counterpart. The only exception being Townsend in the soloing department. But he makes up for this by shaming Page in the riffing department. Not to mention his melodies and lyrics making Page and Plant appear to be autistic 8-year olds. Put Daltry's powerfully expressive vocals next to Plant's helium whining, and there is no comparison. As far as I know even Zeppelin fans acknowledge that Moon and Entwhistle are better than Bonham and Jones. The other thing is that the Who have never released anything truly stinky, like Presence and Coda for Zeppelin, and Yellow Submarine for the Beatles. One fact that causes me to have sympathy with your opinion is that you were reasonable enough to know that the Stones were better than Zeppelin. Its when people say the opposite that my blood pressure really goes up. Just wanted to shed some light on this.

From: Sean Smith

Just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading your page on The Who very much. I did want to respond to a couple of your comments. First off, Roger Daltrey, though now past his prime, worked very hard and eventually succeeded in becoming one of the great male rock singers of all time. True, he began as more or less an accessory to the group. Pete Townshend was constantly threatening to replace him with Steve Winwood in the group's early days. But by the time of Live at Leeds and Who's Next, his hard work and professionalism paid him off well. I believe he is owed much by modern belters of the Chris Cornell/Soundgarden school, and while his style of singing bore little in common with the Black-country, male-Grace Slick blues wailings of Robert Plant, I'd put them in the same league (sadly, both are now well past their prime). In the Freddy Mercury memorial tribute concert which was broadcast on TV stateside several years ago, a number of talented singers took turns filling in for Freddy alongside the remaining members of Queen. Who was the only one that actually sounded like he COULD be a more than credible replacement for Mercury, in terms of range and vocal attack? Surprisingly, Roger Daltrey.
Also, Pete Townshend can finally play a mean lead guitar. He played stunning, flash, Jeff Beck/Eddie Van Halen-worthy solos with the reunited Who at the September 11 concert in New York. Technically, Pete's a better guitarist than ever, which is remarkable considering he's DEAF.
Before Entwistle died, with the phenomenally Moon-esque Zack Starkey behind the kit, The Who were still able to maintain and even exceed the level of musicianship they had before Moon's death. They could still play like they did in their prime, unlike the Stones, who now need a stageful of backing musicians to sound good, or Page/Plant, whose infrequent reunions have sounded sloppy as hell and have been sullied by the fact that the don't want to invite John Paul Jones along because they'd have to give him a fair cut of the receipts.
Great page on my favorite band and thank you for taking the time to make it.

[Thanks for your comments but I rather think whether the surviving members of the Who are currently less decrepit than the Stones or Page and Plant is beside the point. It is what bands are like during their prime that really counts - JF]

From: Peter Schulz

Let me say that I agree with a lot of what you say. Starostin overrates The Who pretty badly (so does McFerrin, but McFerrin is just a jerk who agrees with almost everything that Starostin says). That being said, I like Led Zeppelin and The Who very much, however, I think Zeppelin is just slightly better than The Who. True, taken musician for musician, The Who beat Zeppelin except when it comes to Page vs. Townshend, but Page really beats Townshend, and besides Page vs. Townshend is a comparison of each groups songwriters. The right way to take Zeppelin vs. The Who is album per album not musician per musician. Whereas Zeppelin has 6 great studio albums (I-Graffiti) and 2 great live (How the West was Won-BBC Sessions), The Who only has Tommy, Who's Next, Quadrophenia, and Live at Leeds, where the rest of their albums are only solidly above average. I think the main reason some people like The Who while disliking Led Zeppelin is that they wrongly think "Pete Townshend is a resonant genius who's sophisticated music and lyrics really speak to my intelligent mind, but Led Zeppelin are just a group of unintelligent shitty lyricists who just stole their songs from old black men."

From: == Arun ==

There are a lot of people who have compared the Who and Led Zep (all becase of you I might add :) ), but I say that is pointless. The Who were at heart a rocking band, who seemed to transform pop songs on their records into the most awesome rock songs onstage. What I'm trying to say was they were trying to cater to bothe sides of the crowd, the pop loving one and the rock loving one.
Led Zep were as most people say, one of the pioneers of Heavy Metal, and thus there never were two sides to the band. They rocked in their records, and then they rocked on stage. Although I'd take the Who anyday to Led Zep, I'll even things out and say both groups were very similar in terms of the total talent of the band.
Again, what I'm trying to say is, this is not only a matter of opinion, but also a debate on how well the members were important to their respective bands. I'd say all the members of both bands were indispensable. I might hate Bonham (I don't), but that doesn't mean he's bad in anyway. Same goes for all the members of Zep.
Finally your reviews on the Who are the most balanced from what I've read on the WRC. Neither do they praise the band to death(John McFerrin , YUCK!), nor does it totally blast the band as lacking of any talent (Steve and Abe). In fact I thought there was something wrong with me when I discovered I didn't like Who's Next until I read your reviews and I almost agree with you. Townshend WAS a great lyricist when he needed to be (that is, in the rock songs) and he WAS a rotten lyricist when it came to his pretentious pop songs.

There is so much context to this album that I'll barely get a chance to actually review the material itself. Let's see how efficiently I can do this, then. The album was produced by Shel Talmy and released as My Generation in Britain in 1965. There was a big bust-up and now, unlike every other Who album, this one has not been remastered and reissued on CD and indeed cannot even officially be purchased in the UK. Instead we have to put up with this incredibly shoddy American import. Therefore this is the American version of the album, although the only real difference, I believe, is the inclusion of "Instant Party (Circles)" instead of a different song, which I can't remember. This album wasn't released in America until 1966 but, like everybody else, I've just referred to the original date. The production, in itself, is a talking point although I'll simply stop at saying it is bad, although not terrible. When people rave about this album they often claim how amazing it is that Townsend was able to release an album almost entirely self-penned when every other band had to fill their debut album with covers. Now, if there is any credit to be handed out here it really should go to the record company executive who sanctioned the decision. He was the one with the foresight to realise Britain was producing popular bands with their own great songwriters and therefore they didn't need to resort to covers. Obviously to write so many good songs on your first album is a good achievement for Townsend, not to mention the great songs released as singles at this time ("Substitute" and one of my all-time favourite Who songs - "I Can't Explain"), but do you honestly believe such a feat was beyond the likes of Lennon & McCartney or Bob Dylan? If the wealth of self-penned material on a debut album is revolutionary then it is the executive who allowed it that should take much of the credit. Finally, there is the issue of whether this is the first punk album. I obviously don't think it is (as I always refer to the Stooges' debut in such circumstances) but of all the Who's albums it is certainly the one that comes closest. Townsend consistently crashes away with his power chords and there is barely a guitar solo in sight so I guess the foundations were laid with this album. Not forgetting, of course, that Moon's drumming is just as responsible as Townsend's guitar for the force of the music. Daltrey often gets a bit of a panning for this album but I actually think this is one of his better efforts on the early records. He's not a technically good singer but he has a decent rock'n'roll voice. He only really disgraces himself on the embarrassing cover of James Brown's "Please Please Please". Funnily enough, the other Brown cover, "I Don't Mind" I actually regard as one of the best songs on the album; maybe because of the band's harmonising. "Out in the Street" is a good aggressive opening, one of the more clearly punk-ish songs. It also features some of Townsend's patented noise-making on the guitar which isn't used quite enough for my liking. It is used on the instrumental "The Ox" which also features Nicky Hopkins on piano. I didn't mention this at the time of my Deep Purple reviews but I've only recently realised that their "The Mule" is a piss-take of it. As an instrumental it isn't that great but I doubt music was being made like this at the time. Or even until Deep Purple's Fireball. This album also includes two of the Who's biggest early hits. One of them is obvious, given the album title makes it explicit that they are singing it. Yes, "My Generation", even at this early stage a contender for the Who's greatest ever song. God knows why Townsend made Daltrey stutter on the verses but it works brilliantly. And that crashing outro might even be the best part of the song. In any case, a great song. Similarly, "The Kids are Alright" is a pop masterpiece, again with anti-banal lyrics. "A Legal Matter" is also more mature, lyrically, in that it tackles divorce, although Daltrey just whines his way through it. It is not a great song, regardless. There are a few more filler-ish songs, although none that are particularly poor. "The Good's Gone" goes on for almost four minutes but Daltrey's rock'n'roll vocals give the song some impact. "Much too Much" is also an above standard song with a typically crashing chord sequence. Well, in conclusion, an impressively confident and expressly competent debut album. And pretty revolutionary into the bargain.

From: XxBronYaurxX@aol.com

I was reading your review of The Who Sings My Generation and I came upon the part where you asked about Roger Daltrey's stuttering in the verses (T-t-talkin about my g-g-generation). If the story is true Daltrey was half-imitating, half-pissing on the speech effects of the speed that many of the Mods took(including most of The Who).
In fact, a short time later Daltrey absconded with Keith Moons' supply of whatever pills they were taking and flushed them down the nearest hotel toilet, claiming that it was affecting the bands' performances. When Moon protested Daltrey gave him one square in the jaw. Not uncharacteristic considering that Daltrey had a bit of a reputation as a brawler. Just thought you'd find that interesting. Thanks for your reviews.

The Who's second album is often regarded as something of an anomaly in their catalogue. In effect, they tried too hard to emulate the Beatles and aimed for pure pop songs, instead of their more rockier trademark. More seriously, they sold publishing rights for all four members so that all four, and not just Townsend, could earn money for writing songs. Unfortunately, other than Townsend, none of them are very good songwriters. Entwistle was the only one who really took it seriously and not really to his credit. Daltrey quite clearly couldn't be arsed so he only contributed one song, "See My Way", which is truly terrible. Keith Moon wasn't particularly sold on the idea either and produced one joke song and a silly instrumental. This ambivalence on behalf of the rest of the band led on to one of this album's most prominent talking points. Because there was not enough material to fill out the album Townsend sat down and wrote out a ten minute rock opera to tack on the end, namely "A Quick One, While He's Away". Now this was probably the first time such a stunt had been attempted and, of course, it is an idea that Townsend was to soon take to its logical extreme. Overall, the album is most noticeable for not being all that great. It is not a poor album, by any stretch, but considering the British pop albums that were being produced that year, not least Revolver, this really isn't anything special. There are a couple of great originals on here but, for the most part, the songs aren't that special. The opening "Run Run Run" is one of the best tracks and is one of the few tracks on here to be blessed with a good melody. Similarly, "So Sad About Us" has an even better melody and is an even better song. Probably the only real classic composition on the album. I really love those "dum dum dum" lines. Both songs, coincidently, are Townsend originals. But don't be getting too carried away, "Don't Look Away" is also a Townsend original and is one of the worst songs on the album; which given the patchy nature of the album, is quite a damning criticism. The other best track on the album, in my opinion, is actually a cover, "Heatwave". The American version of the album had the original "Happy Jack" on instead which also would have been a best track. Moon's song "I Need You" is actually one of the better numbers, sung in a humorous falsetto and with a witty piss-take of the Beatles. Compared with some of the other songs on here it also has one of the better melodies. He also gives the drum kit such a beating that I have to turn down the volume to prevent my brain from hurting. Seriously. Like I said earlier, Entwistle was the only one who was that keen to be a proper song-writer and so contributed two proper efforts. Neither are that bad (he'll do worse, believe me) but they ain't great, either. "Boris the Spider" is often considered the best track on here but I can't see it. It is too goofy, and the chorus is utterly hook-less. "Whiskey Man" isn't too bad, either, but it certainly ain't that good. It is probably an average track on here. Now for that rock opera. Personally, I'm not a massive fan. It does sound better live, but even then it shows it up as not a consistently good composition. You can't help but think Townsend might have been better splitting it up and using the three or so good parts to it as individual songs. Overall, it starts strongly, dips in the middle, but levels out at the end. This is also the first of the Who albums to have been enthusiastically re-released with a plethora of bonus tracks. An EP, Ready Steady Who, out at the same time is included minus "Circles" and seems to consist entirely of Beach Boys piss-takes; which is alright by me. The tongue-in-cheek cover of "Barbara Ann" is actually pretty enjoyable. The rest I can barely remember although two alternative, and distinctly lesser, versions of "Happy Jack" and "My Generation" are included. The album, itself, is decent but not what you'd really expect from a supposedly "great" band. Don't worry, though, those albums are still to come.

I guess this is effectively the last pop album the Who did before embarking on their more pompous rock excursions. It certainly marks a more mature approach to song-writing with Townsend definitely showing signs of becoming a great songwriter. On the other hand, the style of their music is even more disappointing than on the previous album. To match the maturity of the songwriting the band seemed to have all but abandoned the energetic rock approach and resorted to frequent pianos and keyboards in a bid, I guess, to match the experimentation of other bands at the time. Most frustratingly Townsend rarely gets out his electric and instead plays a great deal of the album on an acoustic guitar. Now I'm not saying if it ain't hard rock it ain't good but this album is definitely much less energetic and forceful than their debut. Daltrey has also abandoned his atonal rock'n'roll vocals for a nasal whine which really shows him up, more than before, as a mediocre singer. This is often referred to as the Who's best album and, while I can appreciate the new maturity in song-writing and creativity, I just can't see it. At all. It barely needs to be said, but given the quality of other albums in 1967, if this is the Who's best album then it certainly shows them not to be a particularly special band. True to the spirit of 1967 this is actually a concept album but at least the Who didn't resort to silly psychedelia. Indeed, this is meant to imitate one of those sixties pirate radio stations with jingles and adverts (all made up by the Who, Moon and Entwistle mainly) interspersing the songs. I guess it works pretty well. The adverts as songs ("Heinz Baked Beans", "Odorono", "Medac") are all pretty lame but the short jingles nicely pre-empt the actual songs. Certainly the distinctive openings to the likes of "Tattoo", "Our Love Was" and, of course, "I Can See for Miles" are made more emphatic by the little radio jingle that precedes them. As for the actual songs, most are pretty good but certainly not up to the calibre that being the best Who album would entail. I actually think this is my least favourite Who album although I don't quite know what that signifies. The opening "Armenia City in the Sky" seems to borrow substantially from Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn with its psychedelic feedback. Still, that's a good thing. The famous "I Can See for Miles" is the other real rocker on the album and is, understandably, a classic song. Moon's drumming is brilliant throughout. The percussion on "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand" is also a novel touch with maracas and what-have-you complementing Townsend's acoustic rhythm. "Our Love Was" and "I Can't Reach You" are both love songs but both are superior songs, the latter probably edging it with the better melody. "Our Love Was" is also privy to one of the Who's first guitar solos, albeit a brief one. I think "Relax" also features a short guitar solo. "I Can't Reach You" and "Relax" are both played on the piano, which again is a new direction for the band. The acoustic guitar does take the sting out of some tracks, though. "Tattoo" sounds distinctly lacklustre with an acoustic (the electric version on Live at Leeds is better) whilst "Sunrise" is just plain boring. Fairly insipid, really. "Tattoo" is also evidence of my Townsend is an overrated lyricist claim. Just because it isn't a banal love song does not entail that it is a great piece of poetry. "Welcome to my life tattoo, we'll spend a long time together me and you.". That's just plain terrible. It would make Ozzy Osbourne wince. "Silas Stingy" marks the entrance of John Entwistle as terrible songwriter. Phew, that one really stinks. The album ends with another mini-rock opera, "Rael". Musically it is better than "A Quick One" but narratively it is incomprehensible. As the sleeve-notes point out, it is also an odd way to end a concept album such as this one. The remastered album is almost doubled in length with extra songs (mainly from Odds and Sods) mixed in with more jingles. The quality of songs isn't actually much lower than the album itself. Indeed, Entwistle's "Someone's Coming" isn't even a bad song and perhaps should have been included instead of the awful "Silas Stingy". Still, the extra tracks lengthen the album to 75 minutes which, as you should know by now, is something I don't like. Well, anyway, if you regard this as the Who's best album, to quote Chevy Chase: "I think you're all fucked in the head." Or was it Oscar Wilde? Well, the point's the same.

Well, after all my bitching the Who become a great band after all. This album is, of course, their first full rock opera (a double vinyl, no less) and it was also the album that really took off in terms of popularity. It was not actually the first full length rock opera, apparently the Pretty Things beat them to it, but it is not really that important. What's more important is the quality of the music and I'm sure, in that respect, this is superior to the Pretty Things' album. Narratively it concerns a deaf, dumb and blind boy who becomes a god or something. Basically Townsend was dabbling in half-arsed mysticism at the time and dreamed up a whole load of crap. The weird thing about being deaf, dumb and blind is how the mind would work. Think about it, you wouldn't have any language and therefore no grasp of conceptual thought. Interesting, eh? Anyway, from what I can tell, he gets cured in the end. In any case, the opera itself takes a back seat to the sheer quality of songs on here. Finally the Who have become a proper rock band and stopped trying to ape the Beatles, wholly unsuccessfully. Daltrey has finally found his voice, after all, and the only moment when it grates is his nasal whine on "The Acid Queen". As the sleeve-notes point out, he really revels in the "see me, hear me" bits. What of these great songs, then? "1921" is a wonderfully emotional piano ballad. It almost made me cry once, but then I think more for personal reasons. Both "Christmas" and "Cousin Kevin" are elevated by excellent harmonies from the rest of the band. For the chorus of "Christmas" Daltrey really roars it out, which is something he would perfect further on later albums. I really love the part in "Cousin Kevin" where Daltrey sings about a cigarette burn. The final song, "We're Not Gonna Take it" is a rousing climax to the album, again with the "see me, hear me" bits. And, of course, there is "Pinball Wizard" which we all know as a classic song. Maybe surprisingly for a rock opera, Townsend refused to orchestrate the album so instead the arrangements remain fairly traditionally rock based, with sometimes Entwistle getting his french horn out. The only real problem with this is on the instrumental in the middle, the pun-tastic "Underture", which is ten minutes long and without anything particularly interesting happening after the first couple of minutes. It certainly did not need to be that long and it really makes the album drag in the middle, which is a great shame. Some of the songs are used mainly for narrative purposes which mean they aren't always up to scratch. "Fiddle About", in particular, is another Entwistle stinker. Keith Moon also pens a stinker in "Tommy's Holiday Camp". Narratively, "Sally Simpson" is an odd change of focus about a girl obsessed with Tommy who goes to see him sermon. "Smash the Mirror" has a really good, almost funky, guitar rhythm for it, whilst "Sensation" is another Beach Boys style effort, although far more mature than the piss-takes on A Quick One. Indeed, this album is simply far more mature than A Quick One. It also benefits from the more mature song writing of The Who Sell Out being performed within a rockier framework. There is actually a cover on here, namely Mose Allison's "Eyesight to the Blind", but it works fairly well within the context of the album. A pretty good song, anyway. The "Amazing Journey" and "Sparks" double bill I'm not wildly keen on, though. You know they used to perform the whole album in concert? I bet that took a lot of stamina. It was also made into a film but apparently it is not very good; I've not seen it, though. Like Quadrophenia, although remastered, no extra tracks are included, which is a good thing given they would have spoiled the narrative flow and besides, this album is long enough as it is. I realise rock operas are a rather silly exercise, confined to the excesses of the seventies, but when they are of this calibre, I ain't complaining.

From: anlormarechal@wanadoo.fr

You said `the only moment when Daltrey grates is his nasal whine on "The Acid Queen".` Well, not really : "Acid Queen" is sung by Pete Townshend.

This album is often regarded as the greatest live album of all time. High praise indeed! And a notion that I only half-heartedly go along with. There is no doubt that this is a truly fantastic live album, full of energy, verve and (for the most part) great songs. If you ask me, however, this album is caught somewhat in between its reissue and its original. The original incarnation of the album was somewhat shorter than this version and, although I'm unsure of the actual track listing, I'm sure some great material was left off. On the other hand, this version includes some material that doesn't bring anything to the album as a whole. For these gigs this material was taken from the band performed the entirety of Tommy slap-bang in the middle. Now, they've recently re-released this album with a second CD with the entire Tommy performance on it but this original, single, CD only includes a small segment from it, namely the "Amazing Journey/Sparks" double bill. Now that was never the strongest point of Tommy to begin with and taken in isolation from the flow of the album they sound distinctly ordinary. If they were going to take anything from the Tommy performance it should have been a stronger individual song. The cover of "Shakin' All Over" is spurious and "My Generation" and "Magic Bus" are both stretched out more than necessary. Of course, if you worship everything the Who did then you're going to disagree with me here. If you are a big Who fan then perhaps this should be a 10* album but, for me, I simply don't think the Who were such an extraordinary band. Of the three singles ("the three easiest"), "Substitute", "Happy Jack" and "I'm a Boy", only the first is a great song, the other two are merely good. We do get "I Can't Explain", however, and that is simply such a fantastic song. The album begins with an Entwistle original that was never recorded in the studio. Which is actually a shame as it is (shock! horror!) a really good song. "Heaven and Hell" is certainly the perfect opening to the album. It is also a great start in that we hear a bit of crowd noise, a couple of bass notes and then suddenly they rip straight into the song. Brilliant. The choice of covers on here is a bit of a mixed bag. Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues" is even better than "Eyesight to the Blind" with a really stop-start rhythm and Townsend shredding the lead riffs. Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" is given a more faithful rendition but it means it remains a great rock'n'roll song. For the other covers, like I said, "Shakin' All Over" brings little to the album and "Fortune Teller", despite being a favourite of the Stones, is hardly a great song. "Tattoo" is also included and, as I said in my Sell Out review, it is certainly improved by being played with an electric instead of the rather thin-sounding acoustic. Still, it ain't a particularly great song. You might expect the greatest live album ever to have better songs than that but, I guess, live albums are more dependent on the performance rather than the songs. It's probably a bit of both. I think the only live album I've given 10* to is MC5's Kick Out the Jams and there is certainly no doubt that this has the better quality songs. That said, nothing could top "Kick Out the Jams", the greatest rock'n'roll song ever. I just regard MC5's album as a more powerful beast than this one. I'd certainly rather have seen the MC5 live than the Who. What you gonna do? Fight me for it? Oh, anyway, we also have included here a live performance of their first mini-rock opera "A Quick One, While He's Away". Yes, it is better live but I still don't think it rocks my world or anything. "My Generation" is intended as the crowning glory on the album, starting out fine but stretching out for fifteen minutes and restating the "see me, hear me" section from Tommy; which is a nice touch. Overall, though, I think it just goes on that bit too long. You've got to work hard to make a song worth a quarter of an hour in length and I think few people ever really achieved it, although Hendrix probably did on numerous occasions. It is unfortunate this review has been rather negative in tone because I really like this album and it is great. However, when you're dealing with an album that is regarded as the best of its genre, and you disagree, negativity can only result. The performance is great, although not as powerful as Kick Out the Jams, whilst the quality of the songs is fairly good, although at times merely decent. Perhaps it is a shame that (at this stage, at least) they didn't have the quality of material to match their fantastically energetic performances.

Although this isn't, strictly speaking, another rock opera don't be getting the wrong idea over this. Townsend didn't have a sudden flash of modesty but, in fact, quite the opposite. He attempted to pen the most ludicrously pretentious rock opera ever with audience participation and a quite simply baffling narrative about a single note being the meaning of life. Thankfully, for our sakes and rock music in general, he didn't complete his Lifehouse project (although I think he has more recently) and was persuaded, instead, to release the material he had written on a normal, single album. Thus, although there is some sort of similar theme running through the album (mainly of a post-apocalyptic nature) there is no narrative flow. I think partly, as a result, this sometimes gets referred to as the Who's best album as it avoids the typical seventies' pretentiousness of their full blown rock operas. It also sometimes gets called the Who's best album because it begins and ends with two of the Who's greatest ever rock songs, and certainly their pinnacle as a hard rock band. "Baba O'Riley" opens the album and "Won't Get Fooled Again" ends it. I fear for you if you are not wholly familiar with both songs but to briefly sum them up, they both use an escalating synthesiser while crashing guitar power chords are layered on top and Daltrey roars away to his heart's content. It is pretty impossible to say which is better. "Baba O'Riley" has a better intro with the piano, then drums, then guitar all being layered over the synthesiser. It only has two verses and choruses before eventually disappearing in a climatic fiddle section. I guarantee at least two film trailers a year will use it as backing. "Won't Get Fooled Again" is more traditionally structured and longer as well. It also contains Daltrey's greatest ever moment, namely his scream towards the end. It is certainly one of the most famous screams in rock music. Unfortunately, the music sandwiched in between the two classics is a little too patchy to be considered the Who's greatest album. The album as a whole, though, is probably ample proof that, for the most part, the Who were a greater hard rock band than sixties pop outfit. A bit like Deep Purple, I guess, but on a much grander scale. The real point of controversy on the album is the double bill of "The Song is Over" and "Getting in Tune". Both are piano ballads concerning Townsend's story about one note saving the world or something. Like "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" it is hard to definitively distinguish which is the better. Unlike with the aforementioned couplet, neither of the songs are very good. "The Song is Over" goes on for upwards of six minutes whilst "Getting in Tune" features some of the most dreadful lyrics ever penned. I'll say it again: Pete Townsend is a good lyricist, how exactly? I once played it in my friends' company and they literally burst out laughing when they heard the chorus. I've never been more ashamed. Well, clearly I have but it was still embarrassing. Perhaps, that is why, deep down, I have a resentment of the Who. Entwistle still won't quit while he's behind and throws yet another number on the album, "My Wife". Now, it isn't terrible and it does has a certain pace to it, but it still proves Entwistle should have stuck to what he did(/does) best - playing the bass. "Bargain" is more post-apocalyptic power chord bashing but it still sounds pretty cool. I can't believe I've never heard it on an advert either. I'd like to think Townsend has refused to sanction it for decency's sake. As opposed to the grandiose efforts, like the peerless hard rock numbers (eg. "Baba O'Riley" etc.) and the jarring piano ballads, there are, at least, a few more subtle efforts on here. "Love Ain't for Keeping" is a pleasant, brief acoustic number, "Going Mobile" is a jaunty little number with Townsend on vocal duties and "Behind Blue Eyes" is an all-round clever song about being the baddie. It starts out with restrained acoustic picking before escalating into a crunching rocker. A problem with this CD is, again, the sheer number of bonus tracks on here. I realise it should be a good thing but I find I listen to the album less when it is stretching out to double its normal length. I guess it is somewhat irrational but, I'm sorry, that's just the way I am. None of the tracks are that special, although none are bad. Couldn't we just have bought Odds and Sods and that would have been the end of it? Well, I haven't marked the album down because of the proliference of bonus tracks. I've marked it down because it contains a smattering of mediocre material that prevents it from being a truly classic album. And thank God it is not the actual Lifehouse rock opera.

Finally, finally, finally, after six albums we come to a Who album I really like. More than that, I think I may love this album. On John McFerrin's Who by Numbers review he gives an interesting account of why Townsend thought he should disband the Who after this album and, although I'm not going to repeat it, I think he should have done. This is certainly the crowning glory of the Who's career. It is, of course, another rock opera but what an absolute masterpiece it is. Unlike his previous pretentious, mystical efforts Townsend stays closer to home and writes about a London mod called Jimmy growing up in the mid-sixties. (He's a big Who fan, coincidently.) The plot makes absolute perfect sense, although perhaps it is helped by the fact it is written out in the first person perspective in the liner notes. Very rarely are the quality of the songs sacrificed for narrative flow. To an extent this double album (2 CDs as well as on vinyl) is really only three or four songs cut and pasted throughout the album. But what songs! I don't care how many songs use the same section, when I hear Daltrey sing about riding a GS scooter with his hair cut neat and his checked jacket I'm in mod heaven. At this stage I'll also give an honorary mention to Daltrey's performance on here. For the most part, it is really good. He still roars a lot but he has also taken on a much more sensitive style that is a million miles away from his nasal whine of The Who Sell Out. I think his case is helped by the fact that it is a lot easier to sound emotional about real life rather than about singing a magical note. "Cut My Hair" and "I'm One" are two of the most emotional songs on the album and Daltrey's performance of them is absolutely perfect. Well, credit also to Townsend who wrote such magnificent songs in the first place. I think "Cut My Hair" just shades it as my favourite song on the album. It is also the best in a series of good songs with "cut" and "hair" in the title. There's David Crosby's "Almost Cut My Hair" and Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" to name but two. Anyway, I just so love the Who's "Cut My Hair". I love the way the lyrics question the herd-mentality of mod life and that very last couplet - "it's all a game and inside I'm still the same. My fried egg makes me sick first thing in the morning." - sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear it. And that wonderful middle-eight - "why do I have to be different from them just to earn the respect of a dance-hall friend?" I know I've been bashing Townsend's lyrics quite a lot but the entirety of this album is absolutely perfect. Well, almost perfect. The opening line of "I am a man who looks after the pigs" from the mediocre "The Dirty Jobs" is still somewhat embarrassing. That is one of the very few songs that is more there for narrative's sake. And it isn't even that important, narratively. It isn't a terrible song but on here it sounds distinctly sub-standard. Back to "I'm One" - I hope my enthusiasm over "Cut My Hair" hasn't obscured how great this song is as well. A wonderfully emotional verse and a crunching chorus add up to one mighty song. The lyrics are of a similar vein to "Cut My Hair"'s but no less good. "The Real Me" and "The Punk and the Godfather" are both hard rock efforts but still supremely good, the former edging it as the better. The opening of "The Real Me" from the waves of the opening mood-setter "I Am the Sea" is crunch-tastic. The only real slight dip in quality on the first CD is with the trio of the aforementioned "The Dirty Jobs", Daltrey's lacklustre "Helpless Dancer" and the best of the bunch (although still not great) "Is it in My Head?" You might argue three lesser songs is something of a draw-back but I am willing to overlook them in favour of the work of art as a whole. And this is a work of art, alright. The first CD ends with "I've Had Enough" which uses the GS scooter bit (hurrah!) but is also a fine song in its own right. It starts out quite rockin' but undergoes a u-turn and turns into an almost country & western number. You might be laughing but do you hear those banjos on the verses? That's at least C&W influences. The second half of the album is maybe not quite up to the standard set on the first half but there is barely a whisker in it. "5:15" opens the second CD and it is yet another Who classic. It reprises the opening lines of "Cut My Hair" ("why should I care?") before launching into a brass propelled hard rocker. "Girls of fifteen - sexually knowing" roars out Daltrey before changing to tortured loner for the chorus "inside, outside - leave me alone". Another masterpiece. "Sea and Sand" again reprises the GS scooter sections but with more poignant sections about "the girl I love". Keith Moon sings part of "Bell Boy" and while it is a bit silly in parts, it is still another really good song. "Doctor Jimmy" is another hard rocker, and still great, although maybe its eight minutes length isn't entirely justified. The two instrumentals on the album, the title track and "The Rock", are both furlongs better than Tommy's "Under-bore", perhaps because the musical themes on here are that bit more memorable. The album ends with "Love Reign O'er Me". Does anything more need to be said? Well, I guess I owe it to those who aren't familiar with it. Basically it is Townsend's greatest piano ballad. The piano lines sound like rain and the synthesisers are simply perfect. Daltrey is also able to roar the chorus as he sees fit. A nigh-on perfect end to a nigh-on perfect album. Who (pun not intended) would have thought rock operas could ever be this good?

From: Juan Pablo Arriagada

Hi Jack: Congratulations on the page you have about rock albums, great reviews, and great bands too! However I have a correction in a review you have about The Who's Quadrophenia. In one part you say, and I quote... '"Cut My Hair" and "I'm One" are two of the most emotional songs on the album and Daltrey's performance of them is absolutely perfect.' Well, you probably say that because those two songs are sing by Pete Townshend !!, instead of Daltrey =) Cheers Juan Pablo Arriagada

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