The Who don't get a lot of respect these days. Oh sure, Rolling Stone still regards them as the third band in the great British triumvirate (the other two, obviously, are The Beatles and The Rolling Stones). And sure, they get a ton of radio play, what with Who's Next being one of the three most played albums on classic rock stations (Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zeppelin IV). But alas, the majority of the current generation takes a more cynical view towards them. I know this because until less than a year ago, I was one of these people. I hated The Who, or at least the little bit of them I had heard. Based on all that I had read and seen and heard about them, my opinion of them was basically such: they were that band with the big-nosed guitarist that only knew how to play two or three chords and had written that annoying Pinball Wizard song. They played abnormally loud and would jump all over the stage and break their instruments to disguise the fact that they really had very little in the way of talent, and this was the only way they could entertain. Eventually, they had gotten into using synths a lot, which they used to write horrifically overblown pieces before their drummer died, after which they turned to crap, broke up, and kept reuniting to suck more money away from gullible ex-hippies. I think that about covers it.

Words cannot begin to express how wrong I was. These guys were great! So great, in fact, that it is my firm conviction that they were the greatest rock band ever. (I'm not really putting them ahead of The Beatles, btw; The Beatles advanced their music and their songwriting abilities to a point that completely transcended anything which had been done before, and to limit them by calling them a 'rock' band can only serve to insult and minimize their accomplishments. As for The Stones, well, I love them to death, and I do think that they had longer period of total dominance at what they did, but that's more an implication of the Stones' consistency than the Who's talent. The Who, IMO, could hit highs the Stones could only dream of, and this from somebody who loves Jagger and Co. But enough about them; this page is about The 'Oo.) You see, this band had the three things which every band desires to have, and they had them in spades.

1. Playing talent at every position. This cannot be questioned under any circumstances. Drummer Keith Moon, although it might seem that he was just sloppy, was, arguably, the greatest drummer ever. He had a sense of rhythm, to be sure, and he kept time as well as he had too. But he was not about to be limited by normal 4/4 beats. Rather, his playing was almost pure catharsis, with insanely fast and powerful bashing and crashing all around his 16 drum set, giving The Who a dimension that a normal drummer couldn't have even come close to providing. And he never played drum solos! Rather, he treated his drums as a lead instrument at all times, a critical helpmate to the riffage and the bass lines.

And how about those bass lines anyway? Intensely melodic, yet powerfully driving notes were the forte of John (The Ox) Entwistle, the greatest bassist who ever lived. Yeah, that's right, all you Geddy Lee fans out there, I said the greatest. It is only a tribute to Entwistle that almost every single studio album The Who ever released has been called one of the top 5 bass albums by some major music publication or another. And I can't dispute any of them! It IS possible to contend that he wasn't the most technically proficient bassist ever (though even that is REEALLY dubious - watch footage of him in action if you have doubts), but he chose his notes better than I can really express. But John was not just a terrific instrumentalist; no, he was also the finest backing vocalist in the business for almost 15 years. Whether harmonizing, chipping in a falsetto, or using one of his 'funny' voices, he could always be counted on to keep the audience entertained.

Meanwhile, although this would have seemed totally improbable in 1965, lead singer Roger Daltrey distinguished himself as one of the greatest vocalists of the 70's, putting on amazing performances for short singles and epic grandiose projects alike. He sang loudly, yet clearly; he growled, and yet showed great tenderness when he had to. In other words, basically anything that was asked of him, any interpretation that he or another felt should be made, he could deliver it in ways that continue to boggle the mind. And, unlike his contemporary, Robert Plant, his voice got better, not worse, as the years went by (although it somewhat gave out in the 80's and 90's, but that's still far longer than Robbie lasted). He didn't have much range, but for POWER, Daltrey is my main bet.

And last, but certainly not least, was guitarist/expert-noisemaker/occasional lead vocalist Pete Townshend. Now, his soloing ability was nothing special, and in fact was quite rudimentary (though he did occasionally come up with some solos that would but Jimmy Page to shame). But that's not what made him special as a player. Even if he wasn't amazing in the traditional lead guitarist sense, he was almost indisputably the greatest rhythm guitarist in the history of rock. None, save possibly Keith Richards, was able to pound out clever riffage with the power and the ease that Pete was able to. And he was an expert in feedback creation too, which makes sense; he was the one who discovered feedback in the first place, back in 1963 (this is a major source of contention in the music community, btw; some credit Pete with the discovery, others the Beatles, citing I Feel Fine as evidence, and still others Hendrix or even Barrett. The fact remains, however, that the account of Pete is the first chronologically, and so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt). And he had a really good voice too! But more than anything else, though, he had incredible intelligence, which leads me to the second requirement of a truly amazingly good band.

2. Fantastic songwriting. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise; Pete Townshend was/is a genius, pure and simple. In fact, I would say that only Lennon and McCartney exceeded him in melody-making ability. He was remarkably diverse, too - whether it was a crashing 3 minute punkish-rocker, a short tender pop song, or, at the other extreme, a full-length rock opera, he could churn out angsty lyrics and jaw-dropping melodies with the greatest of ease. And he also had a wonderful sense of how to properly use synths, realizing in the early 70's that they could be used just as effectively for counterpoint as they could for good ole-fashioned wankery. Although he became tired of the group as the years went on, and his songwriting became slightly more erratic, he still had the ability to pull out a good tune, even if he didn't always give them to the rest of the group (I'm in particular looking at their last two albums). But I ramble. For you see, Townshend eventually getting sick of The Who and probably trying to sabotage their reputation is an example, albeit somewhat negative, of the third trait needed for a truly great band.

3. Distinct, interesting, and barely compatible personalities in each member. This group was almost always about 20 minutes from self-destructing, and Daltrey practically made a career out of punching the lights out of his bandmates, producers, and various hangers-on. More often than not, though, this was actually beneficial for the group, as Pete had the ability to channel his frustrations into his songs, which added an even more human dimension to his work. Meanwhile, they were all true rock-and-rollers, or to be more accurate, punk-rockers (come on, don't EVEN tell me that I Can't Explain and My Generation aren't at the core of proto-punk) . All the cliches of the punk movement (smashing instruments on stage, trashing every hotel room, living horribly debauched lives) were started by these guys. Heck, they were banned for life from Holiday Inn in '66 or '67 when, for Moon's 21'st birthday, they managed to get a car (I believe it was a Volkswagen Beatle) into the 5th floor swimming pool. A time before that, Moon got completely drunk and dove into a empty pool head first, and there are a zillion other stories of this type. If you have any, I would love it if you, the reader, would send me some.

But that is not why you have hit this page. You're here for the albums, and so, without further ado, "Ladies and gentleman, a nice rock and roll band, from Sheperd's Bush London, The 'Oo."

What do you think about the Who?

Barry Allen Schnorr (bas29@cornell.edu)

I have to agree with your general evaluation of the Who. I had a similar bad first impression from the radio and from the first 2 albums I heard, which happened to be Face Dances and By Numbers. I'd ask, "Why such short, dippy songs? Where's the _science_?" and dismiss them with a remark of "feh" and a swat from the back of my hand. And I liked Elton John's remake of Pinball Wizard better than the original.

It takes a little while for the appeal of simple but well-done riffing to catch on (to me, anyway, maybe I'm just slow). In terms of writing, Townsend was up there with Keith Richards, BUT with a much more talented rhythm section (and vocalist, for that matter) to back him up. I think that calling Moon the greatest drummer of all time is a bit of a stretch. He did not make his drumming stand out--not as if that's strictly a bad thing, because it gets annoying if drummers crave attention so much that they insist on stupid drum solos, for instance--but nothing about Moon's playing really stands out from my point of view. (Maybe he was better live.) Otherwise, excellent explanation of why the Who was so good.

But...what's this nonsense about suggesting the Beatles may have been thebest rock band of all time? Have you been brainwashed by the Beatle troopers? Just because they were popular doesn't mean YOU have to like them. The Bee Gees were pretty popular too.

Marylin Johnson (MJohn59958@aol.com)

I have enjoyed listening to the Who since high school (Can't Explain). During my college years, my boyfriend's (now my husband) roommate had the album Tommy and I loved to listen to it when a guest in their apartment ( I bought the album myself quite a few years later). The song Won't Be Fooled Again was very timely when it was released in the '70's ( I was doing my student teaching in an urban high school at a time of social turbulence and the song struck me as being both inciteful and satiric). Behind Blue Eyes impressed me as a beautiful and soulful song. My favorite Who albums are Tommy and Who's Next.

Button8950@aol.com

I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews. I'm a new Who fan, and there are so many good albums I didn't know where to start. These reviews really helped, just to see what one person has to say. Thanks!

Pierre Robert (probert@lure.u-psud.fr)

Few words.
First, please forgive my bad english, my excuse is : I am French (nobody's perfect).

I recently took a look on your page about the WHO. To the old fan that I am (I'm 43) it was like a pomade on my heart reading your words. Definitely yes, the WHO were (and still are to my very own regard) the greatest rock band all over the world.

Four members, each one so different with the others and so brillant in his own part, could provide in a grace's state several monuments of rock music that still make references today (for exemple : Tommy, live at Leeds, who's next, meaty beaty big & bouncy, quadrophenia, ^Å).

About these four members there is so much to say that you already know, let's do shortly.

Roger DALTREY, amazing singer, deep and loud voice but also delicate, enormous charisma.

John ENTWISTLE, a bass virtuoso, a stone to hang on up to on stage that garanty the equilibrium of the whole thing.

Keith MOON, a very own caracter himself, the greatest rock drummer I ever heard.

Pete TOWNSHEND, so intelligent, a pure genius.

I saw them several times on stage. Oh boy I remember each one, it was amazing performances and surely the best rock shows I ever saw until now. I'd like to say so much more but my english is not enough good.

Bravo for right comments on the WHO. Long live rock!

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

For a long time I had a debate with myself on who was the most overrated band in the history of rock music. Although many 90s bands are pretty overrated, I firmly believe (and hope) that in thirty years or so that no one will care or remember about crap like Nirvana or *Nsync. So to find the most overrated band we must look in the past. U2 is pretty overrated, but still too recent. So I looked even further back. Look what I found, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Who. Well, I can immediately dismiss the Beatles because not liking them is either extremely close-minded or downright inhuman. So, we are left with The Who and The Rollong Stones. It ends up being that the Rolling Stones are more overrated as far as musical qality goes and The Who is more overrated as far as talent with their instruments goes.

The Who proves that the term "greatest (insert rock instrument here) ever" no longer means the one who has the most talent with their instrument. I mean Kieth Moon is a decent drummer, but he can't touch Jayson Sherlock, John Rutsey or Billy Cobham but the who is more popular than those other bands there so we'll ignore the simple fact that there are plenty of drummers better than Kieth Moon and blindly slap the title of the greatest ever on the drummer for one of our favorite bands.

And John Entwistle as the greatest bassist of all time!? COME ON! I can name five off of the top of my head who are better: Steve Harris, Greg Lake, Chris Squire, Rick Laird, and even Geddy Lee. But we like The Who better than Yes, ELP, Mahavishnu, or Rush, so we'll give the title of best bassist to Mr. Entwistle. Give me a break!

Pete Townshend is a pretty good guitar player, but I wouldn't dream of putting him on the top 10 guitarrists. I mean he doesn't deserve to be up there with Keaggy, Becker, Howe, McLaughlin, or about a dozen or so 80s metal guitarrists I could probably list, but I won't.

Ok, now that I have finished that little speech there, I would like to say two things. First, I have not heard EVERY song that The Who has ever done so if any feels the need to, feel free to send me the names of a few songs where The Who's talent is shown and If I've heard them I'll reply and if I haven't, I get a copy of the song and then reply. Only if you want to, I really don't care much. But also get a copy of the song "One Word" by The Mahavishnu Orchestral; it makes Moon and Entwistle look bad.

Second is that as far as good songwriting goes, The Who really isn't too bad. Although I've never cared much for some of their hits like "Squeeze Box" or "My Generation" and "Magic Bus," they've got some classics like, of course, "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Christmas." Plus, Tommy is one of the greatest album I've ever heard.

So The Who isn't the most overrated band of all time, but they're up there. I don't hate them, but sometimes I grow tired of everyone loving them so.

(author's note): THIS is not going unanswered. First of all, Robert is right about one thing - I do NOT define "best ever" as "person with the most talent." Raw, God-given talent is vastly important, but it is not the criterium I use. My criteria are essentially as follows (sure, there are others, but they can all essentially be written as permutations of the following):

- How much does the performer contribute to the enjoyment of the listener in the context of any given song? In other words, how entertaining is it to listen to one of his parts?

- How important is he to the general sound of the group, and would the nature of the group be altered beyond repair without him?

If we use these as our requirements, then both Moon and Entwistle slaughter the competition you have brought up. (Well, if you consider complexity and speed of the parts your sole requirement, maybe they don't, but I often dig subtlety. I mean, Steve Hackett is one of my favorite guitarists, and nobody would accuse him of being able to take on Howe in a shred-fest). Both Squire and Lee are high on my list (but Greg Lake? Come on!!), but part of the reason is that they are always mixed very high and as such it is easy to focus on them. John was almost always content to not be the central figure of any given song, but take him away from almost ANY Who song, and you will feel the difference. And, as one astute commentator on the Starostin site pointed out, John was the force that kept the Who's live act from descending into complete chaos. Pete and Keith would be doing whatever, and John would always be able to bridge the gap between them to keep the sound coherent.

And as for Moon, well, could you possibly imagine the rollicking sound of The Who without Moon? The man's ability to drum around and through the beat without, again, falling into complete chaos was equalled only by Bill Bruford (my co-number one).

As for Pete, well, I will admit that it's hard to really get a grasp for what he's doing on any given studio record, as the band always went for a more quiet, subtle approach. Only on an acoustic paradise like Tommy do things really become clear. But that's why we have albums like Leeds and Wight. In both cases, but especially on Wight, Pete absolutely annhilates the listener with the simultaneous crispness and enormous volume of his riffing. And even though he could never solo like a madman, his solos almost ALWAYS fit into the songs perfectly and controlled the tension and mood of the song in such a way as to floor whoever heard it (the best example is his work on the Wight version of We're Not Gonna Take It.)

So, yeah. Somebody can have all of the talent in the world, but if they don't entertain me at all, I couldn't care less.

Thought09@aol.com

I sent a couple of emails that kinda disagreed with you on a couple albums, but I don't want to come of as a total jerk. I absoultely love your opening paragraphs on the site explaining why the who are underappriciated in our era. Wonderful writing I loved it. Also, I agree w/ you completely on your comments to that prog-rock obsessed guy about the who as musicians....You kick ass...

(author's note): To quote the great Kevin Spacey, "I rule!"

LONG LIVE THE WHO! Daniel

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

Ok now, after such a vicious author's note (although I was a little on the hostile side too), I feel obligated to respond. You gave your criteria for the title of greatest and that gives me a somewhat better understanding of where you are coming from. But the title of greatest to me has always been a statement of a fact. For example, Billy Cobham is a better drummer than Kieth Moon. But from there the opinion enters the picture. You enjoy Kieth Moon's drummming more than Billy Cobham's. At times I'd agree with that. But then (to me at least) the title is no longer who is the greatest, it is who is your favorite. Another example would be the fact that John Enwistle is not as good of a bassist as Steve Harris. But then the opinion is that you like Entwistle's bass playing better than Harris'. Then the second thing you have brought up is how important are they to the sound of the group. Again, this is opinion. Entwistle may be a vital part of The Who's sound, but there are probably those out there who think that he takes away from the sound and overall quality of the group. (Hey, there's always one or two who thinks like that.) I again compare him to Steve Harris. Harris make great contributions to Iron Maiden, his sound is necessary for the band (not to mention his songwriting) to always feel like Iron Maiden. But is he as important to Iron Maiden as Entwistle is to The Who? You'd say no because you are a huge fan of The Who, but I bet there are some huge Iron Maiden fans who could debate Harris vs. Entwistle with you for hours. The same goes for Lee and Squire.

A personal example of these points I could make would be my opinions of David Gilmour. I love the guy's guitar playing and I doubt anyone could fit the Floyd sound better than he does. He would easily fit on to my top 10 favorite guitarists. However, although he has had a few great solos, he could never compare to the talent of John McLaughlin. Therefore he does not deserve a position on the top 10 best guitarists.

As for blending in and not being "the central figure of any given song," it never bothered me when Lee and Squire have emphasis put on them. I mean, what are guitar solos for anyway? To let the guitarist have the spotlight for a portion of the song. The same goes for drum solos, bass solos, flute solos (i.e.Thick as a Brick) and violin solos. Hey, I can even sit for nine and a half minutes enjoying Jason Becker showing off in "Speed Metal Symphony." The point is that I really don't mind the focus on a single member of the band unless they are terrible at their instruments and are playing crap.

I guess I've made a little too much fuss for what I consider to be a poor choice of words. But I hope that this helps follow up the things I have said.

NOTE: About Greg Lake, while I am really impressed with his work on "Only Way," a few more listens to Quadrophenia showed me that I was in error whe I said he was better than John Entwistle.

didier Dumonteil (dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr)

I think that you've got a lot of nerves to mention the Who in the same breath as the Beatles.THe Who's music hasn't that much worn well ,compared to that of the Byrds of the Velvet  and even the Stones ..

And to deny the white album and Abbey Road a 10 is unbearable.

(author's note): Boy, you'd think that writing the explanation of the ratings in giant, bold capital letters would have done the trick. Guess not.

Frankly,sport,the Who can't be compared with LMc,Dylan,Wilson,Reed , Young .

Outside the Who and Jethro Tull (who cares nowadays anyway) a nice site!

Keith Neely (keith213@webtv.net)

The Who were an embodiment of the true spirit of rock and roll. The first real punks. One only needs to listen to "My Generation" to hear the brashness, attitude, ferocity and rebelliousness of their music. These guys had REAL attitude.

Aside from that, they were fortunate enough to have one of the few absolute geniuses of rock and roll in Pete Townshend. The sheer amount of quality music the guy has written is staggering.

When future generations ask "What was Rock and Roll?", they will only have to watch a tape (or whatever they will be using) of The Who on a good night.

I could go on and on about the talents of the individual band members, particular tracks and albums etc., but that would take entirely too long. I'll just say God Bless The Who, because I've had many a spiritual experience listening to their music. But you must check out "Uneasy Street" from Coolwalking-Best of Pete Townshend. Wow!! An absolutely dynamite and thought-provoking tune.

I just want to briefly touch on this "he's number one or he's not in the top ten bass/drum/ guitar" bullshit. It's the diversity of the music and the players that make rock and roll such a beautiful and free form of expression. And besides, the first three simple, crashing chords in "Baba O'Riley" mean more than all the notes Malmsteen, Becker, MacAlpine and all those other shred-meisters ever played put together. That shit ain't even rock and roll!!!!

Peace be with you all.

Ryan (Ryan.Kasper@colorado.edu)

    First and foremost, I would like to thank you for making it known that The Who are underappreciated.  If we were to exist in some parallel dimension where The Who had never existed, this country would be further pussified (I use this word compliments of George Carlin) by such bands as N'Sync, Backside Boys, etc.  The problem these days is (and maybe I'm just getting old... but I'm only twenty) that this country has absolutely no spirit anymore.  Its like when you were in high school.  You become jaded and you just stopped giving a shit.  You just settled for the situation you were in and dealt with it (or, unfortunately you may go nuts and decide it would be a good idea to shoot some people).  My point here is that this country seems to be settling for Pussified nonsense and cheap imitations.  It thrills me to death that Pearl Jam are performing Who songs, and Eddie Vedder and Pete Townshend have played together.  Because I like Pearl Jam and I think they have integrity, I will buy and grow to like anything they come out with.

    Enough about that.  I enjoy the fact that you base your reviews on some requirements that may seem quite subjective as far as interperetation goes.  I mean honestly, who wants to hear some ass that rates everything "objectivley" based on a list of requirements someone else has made.  Bravo!  I like your take on this stuff.  This is the best question a critic can ask: Is this stuff meaningful to me?  Nice work on keeping it real in this department.  One can review computers objectivley, but interpretation of music is lost when one attempts such blasphemy.

    Another thing.  I am also not a Beatles fan per se.  I mean I like the stuff I've heard, but it never really grabbed anything inside of me that made me cherish any work in particular.  The way Quadrophenia sends you on an emotional rollercoaster through teenage life is what attracted me to it when I was 14.  And it still applies to me.  It always will.  Can you help explain to me why they receive more praise today?  Are there songs I absolutely must listen to?  Is there any way in hell they have the same creative genius and manpower as Pete Townshend alone?  Not to mention the other three members of The Who.  Just wanted to get another point of view on this stuff.

    The music of The Who expresses more emotionally, spiritually and ideologically than anything I've ever heard.  Additionally, it is my belief that The Who are the band that originated rock as we know it today (and I am referring to real rock, and punk too).  Any evidence against this?  I know The Who had influences too, but their impact in my eyes is astounding.  Nice job on the page.

    Sincerely,

        Ryan Kasper

JohnnyB8@aol.com

Wow! What a great reveiew on this band. The Who, Beatles, and the Hendrix Experience are my favorite groups of all time, and i have heard every album ever made by each group (and what a bore it was to sit through Band Of Gypsies , but whatever. BTW, I know that that isn't the Experience). I found no flaws in your special paragraph. I would, however like to respond to the comments from Mr. Robert Grazer. Mr. Grazer, i do realize that the Who is overrated, but you cant overlook their talent because of it. I mean, next to Lennon/McCartney, Townshend is probably the greatest songwriter of all time. Yeah, i know all you Stones fans are going to throw Jagger/Richards at me, but they are a couple of feet behind Townshend. Mr. Grazer, why dont you grab a copy of Who's Next, Who By Numbers, or Live at Leeds (probably the greatest live album ever, although they did cut out all of the Tommy performance except for Amazing Journey-Sparks) or howabout......oh yes....you all know what i'm talking about.......QUADROPHENIA!!! So, thats all that i have to say until the next review.

richard (richard@dpbayley.freeserve.co.uk) (11/12/01)

There is not much too add to what has already been said. Certainly never has so much talent been packed into a band. They never used filler fodder on their albums. Everything meant something. The best who track ever? 'Won't Get Fooled Again' live at Shepperton Studios from The Kids Are Alright CD.

Jared Lentz (ddjlentz@hotmail.com) (11/25/01)

Hi! I really enjoyed reading your Who album opinions! I was a lot like you at first- didn't really get into the Who until I listened to them for a while. I have always thought Led Zeppelin to be the best band ever, but I have second doubts now- the Who are just simply amazing. I think the deluxe edition of Live at Leeds makes the album nothing short of a 10 rating. That is the absolute best record, ever. Pete can really put out his power chords and even go off on a nice solo. His notes have so much bite to them. It's hard, bone-crunching music but its amazing how polished and bright it is at the same time. It is never grungy or muddy. It's fantastic.

Kevin Saliba (raylomas@euroweb.net.mt) (5/24/02)

Hi John,

             I am a great fan of The Who and of The Beatles (among many others).

  I found a comment on The Who unofficial offical site. It states the following:

  "Let's get one thing straight right now: Paul McCartney---the most innovative bass player EVER. John Lennon---more intellectual and acidic than Pete Townshend ever could have been. George Harrison---the third best songwriter in the Beatles and yet wrote better stuff than Townshend did. Ringo Starr---the best rock drummer ever. He didn't have to show off to make his point---he served the songs. Four hundred years from now, people will still be discussing the Beatles and their impact on music, society, etc. The Who will be a footnote. Think about it, lads---there wouldn't even BE a Who without the Beatles."

  I won't go into details, but I just have to point out that these statements are among the most stupid comments I ever read. Anyway, what do you think about this dork? (this might be a good topic for your 'lengthy debate page").

(author's note): I think this is basically overreacting. The Beatles are the greatest group ever, imo, but that doesn't make them the be-all/end-all of greatness. To me, this is the kind of overreacting that causes people to cultivate anti-Beatles biases in the first place.

Jeff Rosenthal (JeffR714@comcast.net) (8/13/02)

BARRY

THE BEATLES ARE CREAM OF THE CROP FOR SURE THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT BUT IF I HAD TO PICK BETWEEN THE ROLLING STONES AND THE WHO I WOULD HAVE TO GO WITH THE WHO I'M 38 BUT STARTED LISTENING TO THE WHO AT 12 YEARS OLD (BELIEVE IT OR NOT) AND THAT WAS 1975 JUST AFTER THE WHO BY NUMBERS WAS RELEASED WHICH BY THE WAY IS HAILED AS A CLASSIC WHO PIECE AS FAR AS "THE BAND ITSELF IS CONCERNED"

BUT THEN YOU HAD THE CLASSIC QUADROPHENIA! BY THIS TIME I WAS TRADING ALBUMS WITH THE OLDER GUYS IN THERE MID TO LATE TWENTIES AND I REMEMBER GOING OVER TO THIS GUY THAT LIVED AROUND THE BLOCK I FORGET WHAT WE WERE TRADING FOR BUT HE PUT QUADROPHENIA ON AND HAD SAID JEFF THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS I EVER LISTENED TO OF COURSE BEING SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR WITH THE WHO I SAID MAKE ME A COPY AND THRU ALL THE YEARS SINCE THE HAVE BEEN SECOND FAVORITE...I'M LISTENING TO TALES FROM THE WHO WHILE I'M TYPING ANOTHER CLASSIC THAT WAS RELEASES UNDERGROUND IN RED & BLUE VINYL ALL I HAVE IS THE SILVER CD....BUT THE WHO

FABULOUS, AMAZING, TIMELESS.....JEFF ROSENTHAL

Peter Wingert (pwingert@wscu.com) (9/24/02)

I had the pleasure of growing up, listening to the "OO since the early sixties, when they were competing with early Stones and the sound of the day that was the Beatles.

I fell in love with their singles like Can't Explain, My Generation, Pictures of Lily. In fact all the songs from Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy are probably their best material.And so I thought until I heard Live at Leeds. The bombastic drumming and heavy three chord work of Townsend and steady rythmic basslines of the Quiet One opened my eyes to the live act. The Who visited my town in '68 and never again till 1980 when I saw them.I caught them in Chicago in December 1979, not long after the disaster in Cincinnati. The show is videotaped on Maximum R &B. If you look closely directly to the left of the stage, thirty rows back, that's me dressed in a suit. I just flew into town two hours earlier on a business trip. Five concerts later, they remain my all time favourites. I love these guys.

PurpIeStain@aol.com (2/26/03)

The Who is the best band to come out of Britain. Yeah the stones are ok, Zeppelin rocks, and we all know that the Beatles changed rock. But Tommy is the best album I have ever heard. The members of the Who are musical geniuses. They are totally overlooked and underplayed on the radio and its really a shame to deprive everyone of their music.

I love the Who. Wish I could have seen them live.

Thats what I think about them.

PS cool site

john hildebrand (luckyluke@ihug.co.nz) (9/30/03)

Settle down mate you are going a bit to far, sure The Who are a good band but to start screaming there 'the greatest" this and "the best that"   is a bit over the top. And its no reason to say there better than others, "The Who" preform great together and that is what makes tham a good band, you can't shout out things just because thats the way you feel, compare  Roger daltrey to Jim Morrison , Robert Plant , Ozzy , Roger Walters , Chris Cornell. Can you compare them. . . . . . . .  no you cant because there all completly different singers from different era's. You say you've been listening to "The Who" for a year now, so how long will it be before you find youre next craze and start a new web site and saying how great they are.Look im a who fan as well but i think Pete Townshend will even tell you they wornt quite the greatest. And hey I dont mean to hack you down, I see you have some good taste in music.

Howell (l.howell@ntlworld.com) (11/17/03)

Your site asks, what do we think of The Who?

  Quite simply...the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world.

  Enough said.

  Loved the site, many thanks

  Dave Howell

Angelmo645@aol.com (4/29/04)

The Who....hmmm....what can I say what hasn't already been said before?

I freakin' worship these guys.  I love their music, I love their personalitites, I love them despite every one of their flaws as a band (and believe me, there are plenty!). 

Although each band member was important in their own way, I mainly direct my thanks towards Mr. Pete Townshend.  I believe that the word "genius" is overused these days, so instead I want to thank Pete for what he is: a complex, complicated, sensitive, arrogant, stubborn, talented, spiritual, beautifully flawed human being and artist.  His music had gotten me through some of the difficult and lonliest times of my life.  Until I discovered The Who, I don't think there was any kind of music out there that I could truly relate to.  Pete writes about important things like the lonliness and frustration of adolecence, he writes on a spirtitual level and although it can come off as pretentious at times, most of the time I find it beautiful and exhilerating.

Long live Pete and long live THE WHO

"MikeCalla" (mikecalla1975@yahoo.ca) (11/23/04)

You may or not put this up on your site but I had a good time writing it - very cathartic – thank you... Stating the obvious now would be redundant. So I will state what I know. You could pick hundreds - nay thousands of musicians far more capable than any member of The Who. But that is not what music about. If it were, I would never listen to a pianist other that Oscar Peterson. Or listen to a drummer other that Buddy Rich. Or a composer other than Bach. The list could go on, and on. – No, I listen to music to invoke a sense of emotion, whether it is elation or wonderment, or whatever. Of course we can listen to the mechanics of a musician, or song and pick it apart, but we can also listen for those little quirks and mistakes that remind us that some musicians are not THE best - but human. The first time I heard “Live At Leeds” (the original, six song album) I thought – this is what rock and roll is supposed to be. I am 29 now, but I heard that album before I was 10. I didn’t give a damn how good or bad the bands musicianship was. At that time I couldn’t differentiate if Keith Moon was better or worse than Ringo Starr, but I swear I knew Keith made me feel different – in a good way. I liked how that album made me feel. Visceral. Made my hands turn into fists. Made my eyes squint when Pete would hang a chord and it would slowly but surely breath fire as feedback. And you what know what, it invokes that response in me to this day. Sure I get other fantastic – awe inspiring responses from other musicians – i.e.; the beauty of Debussy’s Clair De Lune or a Billie Holiday throaty impersonation of liquid butter. Throw in a Steve Howe lick and I have my “Stranded On An Island Collection”. But that is what music is supposed to do. Kudos to John for a damn good essay on his love for a band, I wish there were more sites like this!!

Now here come my opinions and contradictions. The Who? Best band ever? Yep!! Seeing Pete and John play live was like no other concert experience - and I’ve been to tons!!! – seen them all - new bands – old classic rock bands – jazz bands etc, etc, hell I even saw Oscar Peterson play a private concert in front of a dozen people. Any way…. Now I’ve seen both Pete and John as solo musicians and together as The Who. All I can say is wow. Very, very powerful, even in their golden years. I saw John, in a small club here in Toronto Canada. I stood at his feet. I’m a bassist, so for me this was comparable to a one year long orgasm. My God that man was powerful. That bass was screaming from pain. He was running up and down that neck with such constrained reckless abandon - and then - so delicate at times… I couldn’t play bass for month. Once again visceral! Now for Pete – Now I’m fairly young so my music tastes vary quite a lot – in high school I saw some seriously heavy b ands play live. Punk bands, metal bands and whole lot of others - Then I saw Pete play. I had seen him before; first solo – actually the first date of his first solo tour ever, mostly acoustic(still very powerful). Then I saw him do the Quadrophenia thing – my brother begged me not to go – he said “It’s gonna ruin it for you!” And it did! They had like a dozen and a half musicians on stage. Horns, percussion, a whole lotta of other crap too. Not The Who I wanted to see. Then in Dec 2001, I believe, once again their “last concert ever” here in Toronto. I saw The Who I knew once existed. Granted Keith was not there, but growing up as a kid I realized I would never hear him live, but sadly John had just passed away. Too Bad. But Pete, Pete made up for it. He was possessed. That guitar was bending under his hands. I could see the neck warp under his power chords. That made all those young guitarists with all their rage and attitude seem like kittens- really, cute little kittens. They couldn’t hold a candle to his emotion. I’ve never seen anyone put that much passion in to their guitar. It was total commitment – maybe a glimpse of what it was like to see Moonie live. – Ahh I could write all day about this band – now I wanna go listen to them – maybe Live At Leeds – My Generation I think.

SolomonsOther@aol.com (03/15/05)

Behold... a great band with a ton of great songs. However, much like Genesis or Pink Floyd, the major problem lies in the question: Do you dig the early work or the later work? Are you in it for the hilarious 60s jingles or the heart-wrenching 'proggy' experiments a la Quadrophrenia? I'm ignoring Tommy because I own the Live at Isle of Wight 1970 DVD, where they play Tommy live. I had never heard the original studio album and when I bought it, I couldn't stand still because I missed the energy that was put into the live performances. But Quadrophrenia strikes me as somewhere on the border between Genesis's dark psychological parables (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) and Led Zepplin's cock-ballsy meanderings on.... well, anything that doesn't sound like Stairway to Heaven. I consider it to be their best 'rock opera,' though the best ALBUM per se would without a doubt have to be The Who Sell Out. Incomplete albums like Who's Next get on my nerves. Otherwise... a 5 star band all the way.

SteeleAndDavid@cs.com (04/16/05)

I haven't even read about the albums, but as a long-time Who lover, well, you pretty much took the words out of my mouth.  Townshend's a lyrical genius, Entwistle is/was an insane vituoso, Moonie is/was beyond savant gifts and Daltrey has one of the most powerful and awesome voices in rock and roll.  The Who are #1 always and forever!

bob dufton (robert@dufton1.fsnet.co.uk) (09/25/05)

Hi, My group ' The Templars ' played many a support band to The Who in the mid 1960's, whenever they played ' Up North ' i.e. Warrington Co-op Hall,Parr Hall, Stamford Hall and lots more. I decided to buy a marshall amp. on the strength of this, and quickly had it top boosted, after hearing  Pete, and also the Small Faces. who we also supported many times

My gretch guitar would stay on feed back forever,wow, bloody exciting in it's day, especially with my ' Sperrin Fuzz Box . !!

More nostalga 2 cum.

Bob.

TIMOTHY MCCULLEN (tmccullen2004@yahoo.com) (10/12/05)

Everybody is comparing Moon and Entwistle to other players in other bands.You have to remember, these two individuals invented their crafts, techniques ect. Everyone else just tried to model themselves around The Who. Even to me I thought The Who could blow any one off the stage, old and new! Especially Entwistle.

"McGruer, Chris" (cmcgruer@owensound.library.on.ca) (02/11/06)

Well, first and foremost I think we have to ackknmoledge that "The Who"  were one of the BEST and GREATEST live acts to come out of the rock/pop genre.

Although one may quibble about their studio recordings and wonder where they rank compared to other bands, after veiwing "Live at the Isle of Wight" there is no doubt that at the top of their game they kicked the beatles and the stones ass in the arena.  They rank at the top of thec class for live bands and in my books this ranks them at the top of the heap in the rock pantheon.

Erik Jørgensen (erik.jorgensen@vip.cybercity.dk) (05/28/06)

Nice site and a well written essay with many good points. Listening to The Who was simply the defining moment in my life as a lover of music. Never had I heard such music. The most beautiful noise in the World.

mark flanagan (mark@pelletizer.com) (09/03/06)

My admiration for the band runs in streaks. Sometimes I love them, yet it's not something I can sustain.

Most bands I admire, even when I go through a stage of not listening to them, I always remain a fan. With The Who I either love them and hear their genius, or I can't stand them. It's weird.

I have a hard time rating The Who vs Zeppelin. I feel The Who were a better band, but I'd rather listen to Zeppelin most of the time. Know what I mean?

Please don't go knocking Plant vs Daltry.

If all you have is daltry "lasted longer" than forget it. Plant just had something going for him. Despite all the campy mannerism's he had "IT" in a way Daltry could only dream of.

Pete Townshend, as you pointed out, had an amazing gift for being able to write songs, transcendental songs, for another person to sing. That's not easy.

I agree that no single man outside of the Beatles could run with him in the rock music game.

Entwistle and Moon were as good a rythym section as ever graced a rock stage. Again the competition seems to come from Zeppelin. John Paul Jones and John Bonham were also very good but I give an edge to The Who duo.

james.malmstrom@ubs.com (01/13/07)

Of course The WHO rule - agreed that they are deserving of the title the BEST ROCK 'N ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD. Your point that The WHO could reach highs that the Stones could only dream of is correct insofar as Townshend's songwriting, and their performances, from '67-1973 was and were absolutely untouchable. As for the greatest bass player debate please inform Mr. Grazer that evaluating bass players is best done by their peers. Bass Player magazine has always considered Entwistle the greatest of all-time. It's really not even that close. Moon? Brilliant and also untochable in the early years but his play suffered terribly near then end when he became a bloated, drunken shell of his former self.

Skye Reding (LuvAndPeace2U@webtv.net) (03/30/07)

Generally I agree with everything you said about The Who. The Beatles have always held the most special place in my heart. I don't mind at all mentioning The Who in almost the same sentence. They were 2 different bands. I always thought it was awesome the way it appeared all these British groups from the time of the British Invasion- my very favorite time in history of music personally- all seemed to admire eachother. And applaud eachother's accomplishments. I remember being 7 years old - about 11 yrs after the release of My Generation and hearing it on the radio and instantly understanding that this was considered an edgy song in it's day! I LOVED it! I could easily understand-even at 7 years old- that The Who were influential to the punk scene. Which was barely any kind of a movement in certain parts of America at the time. I remember hearing Who Are You loving the "who who who who" part of the song. I may have been a little girl but I knew cool music when I heard it. My cousin and I loved to listen to I Can See For Miles. Singing the " miles and miles and miles...." part of the song much longer than we should have and thinking it was funny. Cut me some slack after that comment. We were little girls after all. And listening to The Who no less! We loved that song. Which made us pretty hip for our age when you think about it. Older more experienced girls still consider The Who too wild for them. The instrument smashing, hotel trashing, and sheer loudness of their music made The Who more of a man's band in many ways. Certainly not for little girls. The Who always seemed to be playing on the radio. Magic Bus became a song I'd recognise when the first chords of the music started. And I looked forward to it. I realised even at my young age at the time these 4 musicians from England were very important to music and it's history. That people would be talking about them for years and years to come. I was correct in that observation. And that's not bad for a little seven year old girl sitting in the kitchen listening to the radio before school. I consider kids from my generation pretty lucky even though I would gladly have been a teen in the early 60s or so. Kids my age still got to hear groups like The Stones, The Beatles, The Who on the radio and NOT on some classic rock station. Music today pales miserably by comparison. The musicians were amazing back then and The Who are proof of that. Keith Moon blows me away! I'm in awe of him. His facial expressions while he plays and twirls his drum sticks and moves his arms around like a wind mill. It's mesmerising. Just watch his performance in The Kids Are Alright on The Rolling Stones Rock-n-Roll Circus and you'll see what I mean! Pete Townsend's song writing is just phenomenal! An endless flow of music and lyrics must be going through his brain at all times and it comes to him with ease! I'm jealous is all I can say! He is second only to Lennon and McCartney in my book. John Enwistle. Gotta love the man for his demeanor onstage with the other 3 acting like they could all explode at any time. Despite his cool reserve onstage John always appeared as entertained by the other 3 showing off as the audience most likely was. Listen to John's playing on Sparks off the Tommy album and dig the man. He was a dedicated and talented musician and it showed! I admire him for that! Roger Daltrey voice is right next to Robert Plant in my opinion. You could feel the breeze from his voice blowing your hair back everytime you heard a Who song! It was that powerful! And the way Roger would swing his microphone around on stage and catching it in the nick of time with much ease still leaves me dumbfound and wondering how many times one of his band mates got clocked in the head when he first decided he was gonna do that little trick.

Well, I could go on and on but I will quit here. The Who are in a class by themselves. Thanks for reading and letting me express my opinion about one of my favorite bands....

Kolby Kramer (gkkramer@gmail.com) (05/03/07)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but contrary to what everyone thinks, Keith Moon DID play drum solos.  And he was awful at them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hngmb0pTcMY&mode=related&search=

Eesh, pots and pans, anyone?

Patrick Dermody (pdermody@twcny.rr.com) (04/29/08)

I just wanted to comment on what Kolby Kramer showed to prove.  I'm no expert on drumming, but that video didn't seem too bad.  He's banging the heck out of his kit and is making it very rhythmic and enjoyable.  Just my opinion.

---

The Who Sings My Generation - 1965 MCA
9 (12)

Best song: My Generation

Send me your thoughts

David Uskovich (dau@mail.utexas.edu)

Have you seen the cover for the U.K. release of "My Generation?" It's way cooler than the U.S. cover. It's got the band, in their pop art outfits (Union Jack coat etc.), photographed from a bird's eye view. They stare up at the camera all snotty and punk. I found the album on vinyl about 15 years ago, and I still kick myself for not buying it. I guess that photo has gotten exceedingly rare, because I can't even find it on the Internet.

Gene Kodadek (g_kodadek@hotmail.com)

I took this one to the used record store. I love My Generation, but there's little else to recommend the album. I agree that the attitude is certainly there, and at least SOMEBODY in the mid sixties had something better to write about than their girlfriend. But the songs just aren't very good.

Eric Benac (benac@voyager.net) (5/31/03)

you should get the deluxe reissue of this album that was recently released: it contains the british cover that guy was raving about and it is quite cool. plus it comes with a shit load of bonus tracks: but hte best part ist he improved sound. except on my generation, the song: it seems neutered somehow. nevermind: it's good.

---

A Quick One - 1966 MCA
7 (10)

Best song: Boris The Spider

Send me your thoughts

Elliot J Huntley (elliot@ejhuntley.f9.co.uk)

No comments as such, I can't write record reviews but I was wondering could anyone tell me why Daltrey only ended up writing one song for the album? Indeed could anyone tell me why, to the best of my knowledge he only received a writing credit on 4 songs in his entire Who career. I can't believe that he had no ideas to contribute or that he wasn't allowed - Moon certainly was allowed much more album space.

Thought09@aol.com

Yes, i'd have to agree that this album is subpar, but c'mon, "let's pretend this one never existed" ? This album has to be one of the top 10 of '66 at least....maybe top 5. Yeah, it was a dumb idea to have all the members write songs for it, but I don't think the songs are that bad. I admit that I was a little dissapointed in this album when I first got it, but in retrospect it's great fun. I would still rate this album higher than any who album post who by numbers.

(author's note): Well, I might have underrated this album, but top five of '66??!! The year of Revolver, Blonde on Blonde, Pet Sounds, Aftermath, Fifth Dimension ... ?

Run Run Run is a kick ass r&b rock song that has an awesome crunch to it. I mean no one had this kind of punk-rock groove back then. Boris and Whiskey Man start the tradition of John's rather weird songwriting style; absolutely classic. Cobwebs and Strange is AWESOME!!!! What other bit of recorded music can convey what a loon moon was....PSYCHO!! british patent exploding drummer... So Sad About Us is one of the greatest examples of a british 60s power pop song ever --- awesome. I personally think they shoulda used this as their single and not happy jack (even though Jack was successful).....and what of the title track? Every keeps noting how this started Pete on his rock opera trend....but c'mon, this is a far cry from the grandiose concepts of tommy....this is pure who humor and sillyness. Rock should never take itself too serious (even PT suffered some from that) and this tune was just a freakin' hoot.

You have to remember that the who of 'a quick one' and the who of everything post 'sell out' are really two completely different groups. Pete said himself in the mid 60s that the who didn't have any talent or substance, it was just pure sensationalism...of course we know that's bullshit...but you have to realize that even to the members of the group the feeling, appearance, volume, and radicalism of what they were doing were more important than the individual songs. I listen to this album and experience the WHO circa 1966, not writing the rock-will-save-the-world stuff of lifehouse, but just being a hard rocking fuckin rock and roll band busting onto the scene.

(author's note): At the same time, though, I would much rather listen to the group's singles from the same era, as I think they convey the hard rocking aspect of this era of the Who much better.

Gene Kodadek (g_kodadek@hotmail.com)

This one blows.

Trfesok@aol.com (11/06/04)

I tend to enjoy this one a bit more every time I put it on, but not much. It's clear that they were trying to come up with their own Revolver. It rivals that album for diversity, to be sure. But not in songwriting, to be sure of that, too. "Run, Run, Run" and "So Sad About Us" wouldn't be much without the band's instrumental prowess behind them. "Cobwebs and Strange" and the title track are interesting, kind of fun experiments, but they aren't entirely successful, either. I find that John's songs (including the bonus tracks, especially the hilarious hypochondria of "Doctor, Doctor") are actually consistently stronger here than anyone else's. And the cover songs are pretty much filler as well.

  I think I would enjoy the songs, though, if the album had been recorded better by new producer Kit Lambert. On the remaster, Keith's careening drums and John's loopy bass come through clearly, but the tinny guitar and high voices sound really weak. You wouldn't know this was the same band that was coming up with legendarily loud and powerful live shows ("A Quick One," in particular, is incomparable in live versions). Unfortunately, they wouldn't resolve the inconsistencies in the studio for a few years yet, with this album suffering the most.

Nathan Schulz (nschulz4537@gmail.com) (04/25/06)

Hi John, I'm a young man with ambitions of possibly starting my own review site, so I thought I'd post my "A Quick One" review which I wrote for my possible site.  Here 'tis:

This is one unexpectedly shitty album.  Before recording their second album, The Who were strapped for cash, and what that meant was that every member would have to contribute original material, they'd have to record the shittiest sounding cover ever done by anyone, the whole album would have to sound like it was recorded and mixed in about a half hour, and there'd be no cello.   The results are often dreadful:  Heatwave is so fuckin' out of tune you wouldn't believe it.  "Cobwebs and Strange" sounds like four people walking around a room bashing toys together, which is essentially what it is.   And have you ever listened to Moon's lyrics and singing to "I Need You"? "Knowing:  Is what people tell you,"   just despicable stuff, really.  It certainly doesn't take The Who to write material of this caliber.  I'm not sure who you are, but trust me, you could've done better than that.

However, the non-Moon non-Cover songs are better.  Three of the four songs Townshend wrote aren't particularly exciting, and don't really sound too different from the lesser material on the debut.  The title track is pretty ambitious though, a nine-minute multi-parted rock opera that predates any concept album I can think of.  My favorite part of the song is when Ivor the old engine driver has "relations" with the protagonist.   Good song, good song.  You know what else is a good song?  See My Way.   Yeah, in spite of all its flaws, I can't help but sing along "Some way, Some day, I'll find a way, To make you see my way!"  Although the tune rhymes "way" with "day," and then with "way," and then with "way" again, you can't help but love it.   Oh, and also Entwistle's groovy psychedelic surf-rocker "Boris the Spider" is easily the best thing on here, and "Whiskey Man" isn't really that bad.

Even though I can't say I enjoy this album, it is a little admirable.  This album is blessed with a newly found sense of rudimentary experimentation and diversity but plagued by horrid production and songwriting.   It's totally excusable though, as they badly needed money, and would dramatically improve in quality hereafter.

Oh, there's also some bonus tracks, but I'm not listening to anything that was rejected from this album any time soon, so you're on your own there.

How's that then?

---

The Who Sell Out - 1967 MCA
9 (14)

Best song: I Can See For Miles

Send me your thoughts

Barry Schnorr (jpmorgan@imsa.edu)

What an amazing album. I do disagree with you about some of the relative stronger and weaker tracks on it, though. Sunrise and Mary-Anne With The Shaky Hands fail to thrill me--I really like the formers guitar line, but the singing is just too sappy. But Relax, while not the best song theyve ever pressed, is kind of catchy.

And I really dig Rael. Its a little weird hearing that guitar line "again" after getting used to it on Tommy, but Im not complaining! The playing is, if not amazing, at least rousing and powerful. I hear in this not only of Tommy, but also of ELPs Karn Evil 9 Impression 3, like in those rolling "Now Captain listen to my instructions..." lines and the ideas of betrayal and chaos. Exactly what it has to do with Israel Im not sure (this was around the time of the 6-day war) but its a great story anyway.

Dont skip on those bonus tracks either! Jaguar, Girls Eyes, Hall Of The Mountain King (they could even do sound effects to the level of Pink Floyd when they wanted to--cool), Glow Girl, Early Morning Cold Taxi--all are great. Some of the others are somewhat weak, but its impressive that outtakes of this quality are the stuff left OFF the albums.

Oh and psst: You spelled "Tattoo" wrong, and there is no such word as "persay" or "per say". "Per se" is the phrase, Latin for "itself" or "of itself".

Rich Bunnell (richbunnell@home.com)

To Barry Schnorr: Actually, "per se" literally means "through itself." "Of itself" would be "Sui." Yeah, the root of the word "suicide."

JohnnyB8@aol.com

I love this album. And i only got it yesterday! (2/18/01) My favorite songs are probably Silas Stingy (I know, not an original, but still great harmonies "Money, money, moneybags, money, moneybags there goes mingy stiiingy..." and I Can't Reach You. Rael is a good song and Daltrey's Early Morning Cold Taxi isn't too bad. I have a question, though. Is that Keith Moon and John Entwhisle singing lead on Keith's Girls Eyes? I know that they wrote all of the commercials together, but they sing really good together if its them. So, someone, if you know for sure, post a message here at the site or send me an email at JohnnyB8@aol.com. thanx alot. seeya.

(five minutes later)

in your review, you have just a little mistake...the Rael lines aren't from Sparks, the Sparks lines are from Rael. heehee

Gene Kodadek (g_kodadek@hotmail.com)

Probably the most fun Who album. The extra tracks on the re-release should have remained on the cutting room floor.

Joe H (jcjh@home.com) (11/25/01)

Incredible record. Everyones pretty much hit the mark with this already so i wont say much. The concept and the commericals are hilarious to me though, and "Odorono" is an awesome song for a song about deodorant!! Im really glad Townshend sang these ballads too, like the amazing "Our Love Was", "Sunrise", and "I cant reach you", cuz sometimes i just tend to prefer his voice to Daltreys, and i couldnt imagine him singing them either! I love this album, and i hope you will too. I'd definatly give this a 9/10.

Trfesok@aol.com (11/06/04)

The concept itself is probably the most realized of any of the 1967 concept albums (with the possible exception of Days of Future Passed), but it's definitely the one with the best sense of humor. The Who don't take it too seriously, fortunately. "I Can See For Miles" definitely stands head and shoulders above everything else here, but the rest of the songwriting, I agree, is stronger than on the last album. Kit Lambert's production is still pretty weak, though.

  I also think that you underrate the bonus tracks. "Early Morning, Cold Taxi" and "Melancholia", I think, have much better vocals from Daltrey than anything on the album proper, as his style begins to develop towards what he'd achieve on Who's Next. The latter song is an interesting find -- according to the liner notes from Scoop, Pete didn't even remember playing the demo for the band, never mind recording it with them!

  Another nitpick, is (just as the original "Happy Jack" should have been on the reissue of A Quick One), "Substitute," "Call Me Lightning," "Pictures of Lily" and "Magic Bus" should have been included among the bonuses. Great A-sides that were also recorded during this period. But I guess that would have led to a double CD..

---

Tommy - 1969 MCA
9 (14)

Best song: We're Not Gonna Take It

Send me your thoughts

Nick Karn (glassmoondt@yahoo.com)

Here's a thought I have dealing with what occurs at the beginning... the opening lines of the album are, "Captain Walker didn't come home, his unborn child will never know him." To me that implies that he was murdered or died in some tragic accident. So what is the deal with Tommy 'seeing his father murder his father's lover'? I'm not sure what happened, as I guess Pete purposely left things obscure, but the opening line rules out that possibility IMO.

(author's note): I have responded to Nick on this and have explained my justification for my viewpoint of the story. At some later point in time, I may or may not attach a link to a FAQ of sorts with regards to the story.

This album pisses me off, though, because there's so much great stuff here that, if it was consistent enough, it could be one of my favorite albums of all time, but I hate "Underture" (a HUGE blight here.. boring beyond words), "Welcome", "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" and other stupid corny short bits as much as I love "Go To The Mirror!" (what a melody), "Overture", "1921" and "Sally Simpson". So that's how I came up with the 8. I need to go get Quadrophenia and Who's Next. You and George have talked me into getting more Who stuff. :)

"Lutz, Leonard" (llutz@ADESTA-ITS.com)

Tommy Walker sees his father murder his mother's lover,

"Captain Walker did'nt come home, his unborn son will never know him"

Robert Grazer (xeernoflax@jack-the-ripper.com)

My favorite Who album. While the story is downright stupid the music and some lyrics are fantastic. There are too many tracks to go into individually, but I'll mention a few. "I'm Free" is one of the standouts. It's very simple, but very good. The popular "Pinball Wizard" is great even if it's somewhat overrated. "1921" is an excellent song on here, and so is "We're Not Gonna Take It." I think I'll stop there before I name every song on the album. No, I'll mention one more. I LOVE "The Acid Queen." BEST TRACK: MAYBE "Christmas," but I don't really know because they're are all pretty even.

COMPLAINTS: While no songs are completely bad, a few of them have some very bad parts. Nothing that significant that needs to be mentioned in detail, but just know that they exist.

RATING: My Scale ***** John McFerrin's Scale: *10(14)*

Thought09@aol.com

I know not why everyone on this page bashes the story of tommy. Put simply enough, all it's about finding your inner peace and spirituality. Ok, it's a little more complex than that, but the point is that you don't need to pay attention to all the little specific bits that happen in the storyline. Sparks is tommy...I mean, more can be explained though those notes of the point of the tommy concept than anyone set of lyrics, IMO. Which is why I don't mind Underture. Yeah, it's a little long and repetitive, but I can listen to it and just get into a trance of what tommy's feeling inside his soul. I mean the fact that tommy's deaf dumb and blind is just a cover for what townshend felt about himself and others at that time....the feeling that people are deaf dumb and blind to their soul. Pete, around '68, was starting to shun the rock star lifestyle that he was involved in with all the acidheads and whatnot, and was seeking spirtuality like many people do at one point in their lives. There were other points to tommy, like the fact that if you try to find easy answers to life's problems and just join the trend or follow blindly with the group, you may well be crushed and realize that it was all a hoax...but basically finding your inner peace is the point...not 'well tommy was born, then his dad died, then he was abused, and they couldn't find help for his condition...etc, etc...

JohnnyB8@aol.com

Ok, look. Before I start, i just want to say that, as most of you know, the beginning of the story can be easily explained through A Quick One, While He's Away.  So, based on what i've read, heard, and seen in the movie and play, here is the story, step-by-step (i'll put it in chapters) And i hope that you like to read because im going song-by-song as well:

Chapter 1 (Overture~It's A Boy)

      Captain Walker is sent to war while his wife is pregnant. Apparently, he dies during this time. Tommy is born at the end of the war, however, it appears to be too late because Capt. Walker is dead.

Chapter 2(You Didn't Hear It or 1921)

      Tommy's mother meets a nice guy who really isn't a bad character (Ivar or Ivan the Engine Driver from A Quick One, While He's Away), or so we think. Tommy, his mother and her lover live together for a while. Some time passes and Tommy grows to like this new man. One night, before Tommy goes to sleep, a shadowy-like figure appears in the hallway. It's Captain Walker. He takes a look at his son before he enters the mother's room. When he gets to the mother's room,he sees her with the lover and then either he is killed by captain Walker or captain Walker is killed by the lover, but ill go with the liner notes, which says that Captain Walker killed the lover. (This means that either the liner notes or Ken Russel is wrong.) Now, Tommy had followed his father (Captain Walker) into the room and saw the whole thing. Tommy's Mother (who i will refer to as just Mother) and Captain Walker (who i  will just refer to as Father) pull Tommy aside and tell him that he saw nothing, he heard nothing, and won't tell anyone about the incident. Tommy goes deep inside of himself and becomes deaf, dumb, and blind.

Chapter 3 (Amazing Journey~Sparks)

      Now, i believe that this song should not even be on the album, basically because the second half (Sparks) is the second half of Rael 1. Dont get me wrong, its an awesome song but it just doesnt belong on this album. If i could take it off and put another song on the album, it would be Heaven and Hell, but it would be at the end (I'll explain that at the end of my story here). But basically, this song should be after the Hawker~Eyesight to the Blind, and im rambling so ill stop and just say what i have to say. This song is about what Tommy sees inside and what he is feeling. Tommy sees himself inside his body and is just flying through different visions in his little head. Then, Sparks is what he is. Tommy is Sparks. Tommy feels Sparks. Tommy sees Sparks. Tommy hears Sparks. It's hard to explain, but that is the basic outline of the song.

Chapter 4 (The Hawker or Eyesight to the Blind)

      Ok. This song is pretty easy. The Hawker is a preist or minister of some sort. His church is that of the religion of Pop Culture. The members of the religion rely on their gods (musicians, actors, actresses) to cure their illnesses. So, Tommy's mother took him to to the church/temple/whatever to try to cure him. Well, Tommy ends up accidentally destroying the church, oh, and by the way, he isn't cured.

Chapter 5 (Christmas)

      Well, its that wonderful time of year again. Where everyone is getting wonderful presents and such. Sucks for Tommy. Since he can't hear, see, or talk, he has no idea about anything thats going on.. By this time, Tommy has his whole family  wondering about him. Wondering what is going on inside his head. Wondering if he really can tell whats going on, but he just doesn't know how to respond.

Chapter 6 (Cousin Kevin)

      Another easy chapter. Tommy's parents have to go somewhere, so they leave him with Cousin Kevin, family meanie. After Tommy's parents leave, his Cousin puts him through hell. He leaves him outside in the rain, pushes him down the steps, and ducks his head under water. Tommy's parents come back, but there is no sign of any harm done to Tommy because Kevin fixes him up.

Chapter 7 (The Acid Queen)

      What a weird one this was...Tommy's father takes him to a drugged out dancer who thinks that she can cure him. He is subjected to all types of crap, none of which can cure him. That's it.

Chapter 8 (Underture)

      This really doesn't need an explanation. Its much like Sparks. Its what Tommy is feeling deep inside of himself. Basically a continuation of Sparks.

Chapter 9 (Do You Think Its Alright?~Fiddle About)

      Ok look. There is more to this than just " OOH!Tommy got raped by his uncle!". Tommy's mother and father, i guess, realized that Cousin Kevin wasn't the best babysitter, and besides, he was just a teenager like Tommy. So, they decided to leave him with a responsible adult, enter "Wicked" Uncle Ernie. It comes time for Tommy to go to bed and uncle Ernie really isn't with it. He molests Tommy. Tommy's father then comes in the room...

Chapter 10 (Pinball Wizard)

      Tommy begins to have visions again and he sees himself. He follows himself to the middle of a junkyard and finds a pinball machine. He teaches himself to  play the game and ends up defeating the local champ. He makes the news and Tommy is everywhere. Its Tommy-Mania as the people of the town go crazy for him. Tommy becomes a mega-star teen idol-like character.

Chapters 11 & 12 (There's a Doctor Ive Found and Go To The Mirror, Boy)

      Tommy's father finds out that there is a doctor in the town who can cure him. The mother, father, and Tommy get there and the doctor tells them that there is no hope at all for Tommy. He tells them that Tommy will be in that condition forever. But, Tommy's father is wondering about him. He doesn't really think that Tommy is Deaf dumb and blind.

Chapters 13 & 14 (Tommy Can You Hear Me and Smash the Mirror)

      Tommy's mother, i guess, loses her mind and starts to beg Tommy to answer her and listen to her. She yells at Tommy because he has no idea. She then accidentally hits Tommy with a mirror in a rage.

Chapter 15 (Sensation)

      Tommy, somehow, is woken up from his disabilities and can suddenly see, speak, and hear. He is telling everyonr about his being introduced to the world (or as he would say "i became aware this week").

Chapter 16 (Miracle Cure)

      Just a little bit about Tommy being cured. It is about a newsboy who is letting the world know about Tommy being cured.

Chapter 17 (Sally Simpson)

      This is a story in its own. This is the story of the girl who let rock and roll run her life. Sally's father was one of the men who feared rock music. He was a preacher who was very much against against it. His daughter, Sally, admired Tommy. Like i said, by this time, Tommy was like any other Donny Osmond or David Cassidy:All the girls loved him. Sally was forbidden by her father to go to Tommy's performance, but she decided to sneak out and go anyway. She got there and tried to reach Tommy. She jumped onto the stage to touch him, but was thrown off the stage (which is even obvious without the movie because it actually tells you that someone threw her.) by a uniformed man. She hit a chair on the way to the ground and split her cheek open. She needed 16 stitches to close the gap and her father just sat back and thought "I Told you so". Sally ended up marrying a rock musician and basically ruined her life. The moral of the story? "Mothers, dont let your boys grow up to be cowboys."

Chapter 18 (I'm Free)

      Tommy is letting the world know that he is no longer a prisoner of himself and wants everyone to join him. He wants everyone to see his way and join him in his way of life. He is asking the world to follow him in the pinball lifestyle.

Chapter 19 (Welcome)

      All of Tommy's followers have shown up at his camp and he is welcoming them. It seems as though there is not enough room to keep them all ("There's more at the door......We need more room, build an extension....") so he brings them all to the holiday camp.

Chapter 20 (Tommy's Holiday Camp)

      A short, annoying, stupid addition to the album by Keith that explains Uncle Ernie all cleaned up and helping Tommy at the camp. Most of Tommy's followers show up here.

Chapter 21 (We're Not Gonna Take It)

      Ahh. The grand finale'! This is it. Now, based on the movie, Tommy apparently has everything under control, that is until his followers turn his advice against him and start to rebel. They kill Tommy's parents and run him out of the camp in chaos. Riots are breaking out and people are going crazy. Ha. Ken Russel is a very imaginative man. Now, unless that is the way Pete intended the story to be, this is all wrong. According to the liner notes, Tommy has everyone under control and the people who followed him learned to   play pinball and were cured. Everyone then listened to what Tommy had to say and everyone lived happily ever after alleluia amen.    

MY OPINOINS

      Earlier, you read that I thought that Heaven and Hell should have been a part of this opera. Even though it wasn't written yet, it still has a lot to do with the story, well the movie anyway. Yes, if the opera is supposed to be like the movie, where Tommy's parents get killed, I would have him sing Heaven and Hell instead of the "listening to you..." thing that goes on and on. The reason for this would be because he would be so upset that his parents died, and he was deaf, dumb, and blind for most of his life, and there were other people with his condition. He would be wondering "Why can't we have eternal life, and never die? Never die..." I mean, when you think about it, and according to the movie, Tommy had a pret-ty crappy life. He was deaf dumb and blind for a while, his parents were killed, he saw his mother's lover kill his father, his followers rebelled against him, his cousin tourtered him, his uncle raped him, and some nutty, drugged-out "Acid Queen" tried to give him a cure by sticking him in a coffin and turning him into all types of crap. Wheew. That's alot for some dude to have to go through. There are some songs that really don't need to be on the album, but its like "well, if i take them away, the album makes no sense at all." So here would be my single-album "Tommy"---

SIDE 1
Overture~Its a Boy
You Didn't Hear It (1921)
Christmas
Cousin Kevin
Underture

SIDE 2
Pinball Wizard
There's A Doctor Iv'e Found (My favorite song on the album)
Go To The Mirror, Boy
Smash The Mirror
Miracle Cure
I'm Free
Welcome
We're Not Gonna Take It(~Heaven and Hell)

KK. I hope that this cleared up the story for you guys. If it didn't, and the movie didn't, and the play didn't, then just forget it because you will never get it. Sombody up there kinda put out the whole idea of the story, which is about inner peace and spirituality. So thats it. Thanx for listenin and, oh yeah remember.....ITS JUST AN ALBUM!!! Thank You.

Gene Kodadek (g_kodadek@hotmail.com)

Dumb story, great music. I have arranged several of these songs for fingerstyle guitar, and they're some of the strongest in my repertoire. Great, timeless stuff.

Stephen B Marseille (sbm82@columbia.edu) (7/21/01)

One basic correction that many Tommy fans are mistaken about: Tommy is NOT the world's first full length rock-opera. That honor goes to The Pretty Things's "S.F. Sorrow," which came out the year before and features a not too different story line. In fact, Pete T. has been quoted on the matter as saying it was VERY influential to him in making the album. Tommy is more consistently good, but I think the best songs on S.F. Sorrow beat all of Tommy... like "Baron Saturday," "S.F. Sorrow is Born," and "I See You." (The song titles alone should help point out some of the story similarities).

Hugh Trimble (8/15/01)

I'd say that besides The Who Sell Out, this is the best Who album I've heard.  I like it a tremendous lot, but I actually don't think that it is as accomplished as Sell Out - there is more variety and wit there. In Tommy, though, there is stunning musicianship throughout by all members - Daltrey's sheer range of styles, demonstrated superbly on Christmas, in which he jerks between belting out 'Tommy doesn't know what day it is...' and the hauntingly beautiful 'See me... feel me... touch me... heal me', is truly incredible. 

    I actually enjoy Underture a lot, and although it is just an extended version of Sparks, which is an extended version of Rael, it works well in the context of the album and thoroughly rocks - unless, of course, you're desperate to get to 'Fiddle About' (a rather indescribable song - imagine child molestation performed by a camp Disney villain while singing 'Heinz Baked Beans'... in fact I have been known to burst into song in the company of... anyone very much, and let rip with 'I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie!', only to be met with truly disturbed faces when I return from my gleeful sing-song.  Okay, I've worried everybody now.)

    The most important thing that I can say about this album, however, to people who may want to buy it but are put off by the story, is this:  to me, the story is completely unimportant.  The whole style never makes the story seem disturbing or portentous - it says it all that the songs about bullying and child molestation are handled, albeit a little tastelessly, by the man who brought you 'Boris the Spider' - and I totally ignore the story for at least the first three sides, each time.  In fact, when I read your interpretation of the beginning - I have never seen the film or the show - I was rather alarmed.  There is nothing in the lyrics which directly implies murder or anything to my mind - hey, maybe he saw his parents having sex or something.  That's the beauty of the album... the story is dumb, but you can think about it if you want.  It's never forced down your throat, as in The Wall, at least until the last quarter of the album.

    It's this last quater (maybe the last third) that I'm critical of, though.  The first two-thirds of the album, are fantastic, but there are too many pointless songs in the second 'act' - Miracle Cure, anybody? - and when Tommy is (totally implausibly) cured from his autism (autism explains Tommy's problem quite well... I'm no expert but I understand that it severely hinders the ability to communicate and express oneself... coupled with Tommy's psychological internship, this could lead to people's belief that he is deaf, dumb, and blind... heck, there I go - I said the story wasn't important but you can think about it if you like) Roger Daltrey's singing, coupled with the lyrics, just get annoying to me.  In fact, that may well be the point.  When it comes to 'We're not gonna take it', after the tedium of Sensation, I'm Free, and Welcome, I find myself agreeing with the crowd, thinking "Yeah, shut up, you great Nancy.  Let's rock!"

    However, the few duff songs, made worse by bunching them together, can be totally forgotten during 'We're not gonna take it'.  The build up, from the whispered dissent We're not gonna take it... right to the totally visceral later chanting and threats (even then, not disturbing: 'gonna rape you' (that's figurative, btw) is again just a cheery, rocking line like the others) is exhilerating, and when it all slows right down and returns to the masterful Listening to you reprise a shiver runs down my spine.  It's great stuff.

    All in all, Tommy is a superb, likeable, and thoroughly enjoyable album.  If the story appeals to you, then great, buy it.  If the story in fact puts you off completely, as it did me before I recieved the album as a gift, then buy the album and forget the story.  Whatever you expected to be disturbing or depressing is enjoyable and entertaining (even if the Uncle Ernie episode is a little sick) and as a whole the album is thoroughly uplifting.

    This is one of my all-time favourite albums, even though I don't think it's actually as good as some of the Who's other works, I find it more likeable.  And that's the main thing. 9 out of 10

It loses a point for Tommy's post-Miracle Cure whining.

Shut up, you great Nancy!

Trfesok@aol.com (11/06/04)

OK, pinball as a means to enlightenment is not the religious path to follow -- the allegory doesn't entirely work.  But as a statement that people want an easy path to Nirvana is crystal clear. Aside from the concept, it's musically excellent. I actually have the two-CD version, pre-remastering, and it still sounds wonderful. The CD transfer does help to compensate for the still-wimpy production of Lambert. Roger's singing is the best yet ("Sally Simpson" shows him handling the melody quite well),although the power of his live performances had yet to be captured. "Underture" seems to be padding to flesh the record out to double album length -- you're right, it didn't need to be 10 minutes long. Otherwise, no filler. Still, I do think that the public overrated it, especially when compared with a lot of what came after it.

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Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy - 1971 MCA
9 (15)

Best song: I Can See For Miles (well, all of them actually)

The greatest compilation ever (or at least tied for first with Past Masters 2). It's out of print currently, so you can probably settle for My Generation: The Very Best of the Who, but if you see this sucker on E-bay, GET IT.

I'm not going to go into detail about every song one by one, for two reasons - six of the songs can be found on regular Who albums, and if I go into detail about the eight others, I'll go on forever and never get my back-to-school packing finished (or started, for that matter). I will point out, however, that the version of I'm a Boy found here is different from any other version - it's extended, with sweeter harmonies and humorous horn parts.

I guess that at this point there's no other way to sum up the album except to just name all of the tracks in order, and you can just draw your own conclusions - I Can't Explain, The Kids Are Alright, Happy Jack, I Can See For Miles, Pictures Of Lily, My Generation, The Seeker, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, Pinball Wizard, A Legal Matter, Boris The Spider, The Magic Bus, Substitute, I'm A Boy. Now THAT'S an album.

Send me your thoughts

TheRubberCow@aol.com (1/16/02)

or find it in a used record store. I see the vinyl copies on sale for under $10 all the time.

Jeff Blehar (jeffblehar@hotmail.com) (02/23/05)

Even better, you can go and buy the 2-CD The Ultimate Collection, which includes all the tracks on Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy plus a full disc more. Then program the sequence in yourself if you must. I agree with you though, this was one of the most formidable greatest hits collections in rock for a very long time, and it's because it actually just gives us what we want: all the great singles (plus one great album cut, "Boris The Spider"), and arranged in an appealing running order. No fat. No "skip" tracks. No excuse for not owning all of these songs.

Martin (cdmx@gmx.de) (11/02/05)

The CD is still available for cheap in Canada! one of the best sounding compilations - mastered by Steve Hoffman. Don't forget to order his 80's Who's Next CD from Canada, too - budget price without bonus tracks. Stunning!

daniel penner (dzpenner@hotmail.com) (05/03/07)

on your recommendation i got this on lp for 6$ that i found at a used store, and is along with quad and who's next of course, the only who record that ever gets put on (actually i love sell out as well, but i haven't had the fortune of crossing its path yet). it's just astonishing how well sequenced this is, and i agree, that with past masters, this is the greatest comp. i've ever heard. it's very difficult to even tell that this isn't its own album. I'd sure be fooled!

Trfesok@aol.com (01/19/08)

This introduced a lot of people to the early Who, and it really was a nice little collection. All of these songs are also  available on the boxset, though, and I think that's a better value. However, as you pointed out, the longer version of "I'm A Boy" is here (the boxset has the  UK single version), and it's tons better, with Entwistle's eerie horn lines. I don't know if anyone would want to pick up this just to get that, but based on the rest of these classic songs, you won't get ripped off if you do.

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Live at Leeds - 1970 MCA
9 (15)

Best song: My Generation

Send me your thoughts

Gene Kodadek (g_kodadek@hotmail.com)

This album (the version reviewed here, not the much shorter original), was my introduction to The Who, and a glorious introduction it was. One of my all-time favorites!

No1Yanks23@aol.com

Ok to get the Live at Leeds thing out of the way, yeah it's excellent, "Heaven and Hell" rules and it deserves a perfect score, being the second greatest live album ever. On to my next subject You said, "For while it may be disputed how good their studio work was and how they rank among the greats, there is little or no doubt that The Who are the greatest live rock and roll band ever."

There is a huge doubt. How could you not even consdier the Stones? Have you heard Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out. That's the best live album ever and there are dozens of Stones bootlegs that are better. Let's compare Ya-Ya's with Leeds, and I know people have been arguing about this subject, I've decided to add to it.

The Who's playing is great on here, it's really amazing, but the fact is The Stones made better songs (unless you like the Who's songs better of course :) ). Would you rather take "I Can't Explain", "My Generation", "Summertime Blues", "I'm a Boy" and say, "Substitute" over "Sympathy for the Devil", "Midnight Rambler", "Street Fighting Man", "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Jumping Jack Flash"? I really doubt it. Also if you have Napster you should download "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Midnight Rambler" from the Brussels concert in 1973. Compare the bands at their live peak, I believe the Stones were much better. So yes there is doubt, and millions of people think the Stones are better live. You should check them out.

Sorry to sound like a snob, just trying to prove a point.

kramer (bkramer2000@hotmail.com) (10/11/01)

Check out the new deluxe version of The Who's Live at Leeds.  They add the entire set of Tommy which is absolutely fantastic.  In fact, with that addition, this puts Leeds ahead of Isle of Wight which I liked more (probably because it was longer and more live Who is by definition, great!).  You still get the greats (Young Man Blues (My Favorite Live Who Song Ever!), Heaven and Hell, Summertime Blues, Amazing Journey/Sparks(on the Tommy part ofcourse), And the phenominal My Generation).  The Tommy Part doesn't compare to the original.  Like Isle of Wight, Leeds' version of Tommy is loud, raw, and energetic.

Ken Toops (spootnek@hotmail.com) (10/16/02)

This is a great live album one of the best! I have the 14 track CD! I'm listening to it now & I noticed it had track stops in the wrong places! Track 2 "I Can't Explain" ends with the Intro for "Fortune Teller" Who is the MORON that sequences the CDs? The Inrto for "Fortune Teller" should be at the beginning of Track 3 "Fortune Teller"!

Trfesok@aol.com (01/19/08)

Ignoring the live vs. studio debate (this doesn't beat Who's Next, IMHO), the only debate is whether this one or ..Isle of Wight is better. This performance does sound sharper and more focused than that one to me. Pluses are the extended medley after "My Generation", one of the few instances when jamming doesn't sound self-indulgent (the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers, anyone? -- this has anything they did beat); "A Quick One" -- the only reason that the Rock & Roll Circus/The Kids Are Alright version is better is that they goof around a bit too much here; "Magic Bus" -- a full, complete performance; and "Tattoo", which is one song I wouldn't have thought they would do live.  Of course, the sheer volume of material on ..Wight (Tommy and post-Tommy material) puts this one at a slight disadvantage. As with ..Wight, I'm going to complain about the covers. Unlike the Stones or the Beatles, they never had major success with covers, and I could care less about their "influences" when they still had tons of better originals they could have added to the setlist. Otherwise, you really can't go wrong with either of these live albums.

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*Live at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival - 1996 Columbia*
10 (15)

Best song: We're Not Gonna Take It