BY NUMBERS

Four and a half stars to be sure!! 1975 yielded yet again another fantastic album and this time from The Who. The fine balance that By Numbers delivers in terms of sheer quality, plentiful tunes, melancholic ballads and just pure Brit culture all muddled together in a stew of numeric bliss baffles me as to why it gets such mediocre ratings so far, albeit four previous reviews. Opinions respected of course.The album opens with the addictive ' Slip Kid'. Roger Daltry at his normal 101% self in terms of passion and effort. Entwistle as usual emphatic with the bass lines.' Squeeze Box ' is another great track. ' Imagine a man' kind of enforces why The Who have been rightly included on the Prog Archive forum. A dreamy melancholic prog ballad, beautiful in it's vulnerability.' Success Story' is another fine track with Townsend as usual tops in the lead guiar department.' Blue, Red and Grey' another ditty of a song but beautiful again in it's simplicity and naivity. Only the 70's epic bands could get away with it. By Numbers for me is The Who at the absolute best and perhaps their peak at 1975.I would recommend earlier Who work first to new enthusiasts to then later truly appreciate the vintage release that By Numbers is.