THE WHO

Ambitious and breaking new ground, but not a masterpiece.

Tommy finds The Who exploring longer, more connected and more ambitious themes in a double album concept that never really takes off and soars. It often aims for the grandeur and bombast of classic progressive rock, but end up feeling slightly powerless, flaccid (and in my view a bit silly) in the process.

And it is charming and pompous pseudo-classical motifs, horns and epic organ that together with the regular rock instrumentation confidently set the album in motion (this will be back now and then, like some other themes ' it's a concept after all). Restless, kinetic and energetic drumming from Moon as per usual, as he dances around the kit. The atmosphere is mostly warm, bright and kind of frisky, with a steady confidence and a perpetual drive forwards - an air of childlike and optimistic expectancy, if you will. And even in the decidedly darker songs, the tone doesn't really change all that much. Despite some valiant tries, a little more bite and a little more menace wouldn't hurt. Even if this makes the album very cohesive, it dynamically cripples Tommy. Part of this problem can also be found in the instrumentation and vocal arrangements. There is a lot of acoustic guitar on the album, and even if it's mostly playing riffs or being strummed it brings with itself a certain airiness. The electric guitar is often rather polite and unobtrusive, rather than gritty and rocking the way I expect it to be in the hands of Townshend. And then there's the orderly, pleasant background melodiousness of the keys. And the beautiful, tidy and harmonic vocal arrangements. All in all, it is a pleasant psych-infused 60s rock sound, that doesn't really rise to the occasion. This is especially clear since it is a proper rock opera, where songs are composed rather theatrically. Music tend to follow text on Tommy; in sudden exclamations, choruses, different characters, moods and so on. And for some reason, I think the style of the music is overstretched in such a compositional framework. It's just too light, pretty, stilted and square. It limits the available space for expression. And since Tommy goes on for a while, you have time to notice this disparity on several occasions. It's just a bit unwieldy and rarely as intriguing as it is made out to be.

But...and this is a big one, there are enough of great songs here to make most fans of classic rock very happy indeed. Especially the more naked and emotional pieces that doesn't feel as meticulously constructed are highlights. When Daltrey is allowed to live out the emotions properly and with a bit of zing and bite from Townshend and Entwistle, the magic seeps back in, both in rock form and atmosphere. And some of the tighter, more prog-and-psych-infused songs really do work in a feisty, non-apologetic and joyfully adventurous classic rock way. They sound as fresh, unique and vibrant today as they must have sounded in 1969.

3 stars.

//LinusW

The Who - Quadrophenia (1973)

I really wanted to like this one, a double vinyl concept album with an extra photobooklet and one of the highest rated albums on the archives. Yet, even The Who, who did an excellent job on the 2lp 'Tommy' (1969) in my opinion, couldn't help but loose themselves in their second 2lp.

Now the songwriting of this album is pretty strong and on par with other strong records. The band chose to continue the art-rock/heavy-rock style of 'Who's next' (1971) stylisticly, whilst rejuvinating the conceptual songstyle of their first rockopera 'Tommy'. A golden marriage, or so it seems. The catchiness of some parts is beyond what most progressive rock groups can achieve and the riffs and rhythm-sections are all well written. Still I can't help getting the feeling the band just doesn't reach the momentum of earlier effort Tommy, which sometimes makes Quadrophenia sound like a poor rendition.

The production. When the music starts, after some sea noises and musical promises of what's to come, one can't help but getting the impression the producer of the album wanted to create rocked fuel; such loudness, fullness and directionless intervening sound- spectrums. Like every musician is giving a solo at the same time. This I can accept for a short album, but I just can't listen to this kind of production for long. The opening-track turns into halve song and halve bass-solo by John Entwistle, the meaning of it all is a riddle to me. The album continues to have extremely overenhanced sounding arrangements, though the synths sound pretty good indeed. During many moments The Who actually sounds like a symphonic prog group. During supposed to be quieter moments the production still attacks the listener its eardrums with ugly loud piano passages (recorded way out of pace by the way). Other pace and rhythm-anomolies continue to down-grade the band's perfect reputation and what for? Just clumsiness in a studio. A band not having its mind on the matter, which is of course the great risk of the ambitious progressive undertaking. The concept of the album gave rise to the idea to have each member sing vocals on different tracks, which again results in amateurism that could have easily been avoided with such a talanted lead-singer (and his brothers who joined in on Tommy). After the second side I'm so tired of the sound of this album, I just can't get myself to put on side three most of the time. Now I don't want to get all negative here, but I can understand that albums like this one have contributed to the downfall of prog.

Conclusion. Though I'm in minority here, I must admit I think this is yet another one of progressive rock's misguided double lp concept albums. A pitty, because the album has a big 'what could have been' feel to it. It might have been quite good had it been given a more delicate and subtle recording by a producer who can stand up against a band that is most certainly on fire here. Two and a halve stars.

Though I do not consider myself a fan of The Who, their music has definitely enriched my life. Reviewing 2012's Death Defying Unicorn by MOTORPSYCHO I was reminded frequently of Quadrophenia--which has prompted this review. I actually became a fan of this album after the film came out. This and the irrepressible pull of my favorite Who/Roger Daltry song, the heavily-played "Love, Reign O'er Me," led me to finally buy a copy of the original album from a cut-out bin in the early 80s. I have to admit, I fell in love. A brand new, never before-felt appreciation for the song-writing, story-telling and guitar playing of Pete Townsend was born. (Pete was never much of a soloist; I had never tuned into him because I was all about guitar soli, speed and technique--Howe, Akkerman, McLaughlin, DiMeola--it took me a while--some jazz training--to appreciate the skill of strumming, chord construction, and the art of accompaniment.) This was an album in which the overbearing frenetic drumming of Keith Moon did not distract or deter me from enjoying the highly skilled musicianship of the other band members. But the songs, the story, also felt 'different' to me. There was coherence and follow through, masterful melodies and amazing performances. And then there was something about Side 3--"5:15," "Sea and Sand," "Drowned," and "Bell Boy"-- that sucked me in for weeks of repeated play. My memories of discovery of Quadrophenia remain very positive--more than any other Who or "classic rock" album (except for perhaps Boston's debut album). To me this is the pinnacle of The Who's discography--and certainly the closest they came to what we now call "progressive rock."

5 stars for a classic masterpiece.

Proto-Prog; as the category definition observes; is like a "thin-ice" division of who could turn in the long run prog or go the other way; in an also quiet competitive league known as ROCK or rock n roll (Chuck Berry as proto-"WHO"?) to far out. There has to be a line drawn somewhere. So of course "QUADROPHENIA" established most of the well known PROG "protocols": Concept albums, Art-covers as "packages of the concept". Rock-Operas (yes; that was the name for those kind of projects;the same as "TOMMY"), the use of non-musical elements ("Radio show"-like) and of course; and close to home "ELECTRONICS" and also the use of the recording Studio as an "instrument" (Beatle-like; to name 1 )etc, etc. BUT Prog-wise this "WHO S NEXT" album; MUSICALLY speaking; goes far way beyond its elder sister(s). Closer to Prog as the "WHO" ever came ; and as time has proved it until now. (Peter Townshends´s solo projects not included; but those are very close to this particular WHO project). Fom the extraordinary (proto-punk) Art-cover; we notice that something is going the right / wrong "Who" way; AND as soon as the music starts; it is evident that this is the real-deal. The amazing "sequencer-like sound" (it was done by hand) and you know you are on the right path. The Who at this time; was a more than perfected 4-piece-unit; which "units" were outstanding in their respective fields; locomotive skilled drummer (long gone): Keith Moon; the thunderous loud bass-master (long gone): John Entwistle, the controlled "sweet to rage" voice of Roger Daltrey and of course the head composer/visionary; super talented guitar player; Peter Townshend who is also the electronic unamed wiz-kid of all kinds of electronic gadgets. The world has seen few "units" like this. And yes they did not turn to Prog. They "basically speaking" in the long run turned to the "other side of the moon". A record where EVERY song is as good as it gets in their own respective and diverse; yet focused goals. A Flawless Masterpiece from A to Z. in its own field *****5 Excellent work of one of the Fathers we are indebted to; and more important in their own respective "Big-League" Stars!! PD. And yes; this project also "trend-sets" the work of future All-time Proggers; and of course; I will never think of it as "Top-Ten Progarchive list"; band. It is that in its own field of action - Do not overlook!

The peak of their songwriting. This is a band I always found to be a little overrated, but only because they are usually referred to alongside the greats of the period - so I can't blame them for existing in the most musically competitive time in rock history! Daltrey's vocals are sharp as a razor, exactly what you'd want for these songs. The album is opened with a bang on "Baba O'Riley" and then comes the epic "Won't Get Fooled Again." Epic is an overused word these days, but it definitely applies here. Before the album ends, we hear another rock classic, "Behind Blue Eyes". When those guitars crash a few minutes into the song and those "When my fist clenches..." lyrics are growled, I am in classic rock heaven, and I'll happily stay there.

The Who's Live At Leeds is rightly regarded as one of the greatest live albums of all time. Not only capturing a band at the peak of their powers with versions of many classic Who songs that leave their studio counterpart's lying in the dust, but also for its ability to put the listener right into the front row of the show, really capturing the whole live experience to perfection, a failure of most live albums. Live At Hull was recorded on the same tour and were it not for technical issues we would have had Live At Hull instead of Leeds over forty years ago, it being regarded as the superior performance. Apparently John Entwhistle's bass had failed to record on the first few tracks so the idea was shelved. Now though, due to modern technology, Entwhistle's bass parts on the missing tracks have been replaced by substituting them from the Leeds show.

Live At Hull is indeed another welcome and great Who live album sharing most of the characteristics of the Leeds show, the set list is virtually the same, though we get no Magic Bus which was a Leeds highlight. However I beg to differ on which was the best show as to my ears Leeds is still superior in a number of respects. Apart from the omission of Magic Bus the centrepiece of the original album (which has been expanded a couple of times over the years) was the stunning fifteen minute version of My Generation. It's very similar here including all the extended jamming but in comparison to Leeds lacks that killer punch. If I hadn't heard Leeds I'd have been blown away by this but of course that's not the case. Young Man Blues along with Summertime Blues and Shakin' All Over are also inferior though still very good. However, much of the rest of the album including the full disc of Tommy is on par with Leeds, though rarely better.

Perhaps my rose tinted spectacles are playing a part here as the tracks I've singled out as inferior all featured on the original single LP of the Live At Leeds album before it got expanded in the Cd era, a record that played a big part in my youth and one I knew every last note of. Perhaps, but whatever the case, whilst Hull is a fantastic live Who document if you're only going to get one Who live album go with Leeds. If you're a fan though then you'll want this one too for sure.

This single came into being in the hiatus between the two massive albums Who's Next and Quadrophenia in late 1971.

Let's See Action (9.5/15P.) is a decent Pete Townshend number - a bit poppy in the beginning in a 'protest song' kind of way, but in the middle Townshend brings in some interesting turns from time to time, eventually ending the piece in a quasi-hypnotic way singing nothing is everything, everything is nothing.

More exciting is the fairly unknown John Entwhistle song When I Was A Boy (12/15P.), an energetic glam-rock-like song with some absolutely great singing by a snarling John Entwhistle and a motivated Keith Moon playing a tight groove underneath. From time to time Entwhistle plays a self-penned three or four part brass part into the song with some fairly baroque phrases which remind a bit of some horn or trumpet parts of Bach's Brandenburgische Konzerte. This whole mixture, including what feels like at least seven different ideas packed together in about three minutes, makes an excellent art rock song and one of the finest Entwhistle ever wrote (together with Heaven And Hell and Whiskey Man).

I don't mind the rating of singles a lot, so I'm gonna give the standard single rating (3 stars) to that one - nonetheless pointing out that there's some good stuff hidden on that record!

12.5/15P. Pete Townshend's ultimate cathartic record of perfectly crafted art rock - less bombastic than the huge Quadrophenia, but moodier and more personal - and not a bit less rewarding. And I love the sound of the drums and Townshend's unusually smoky lead guitar tone!

Admittedly, I've never been a great fan of Quadrophenia. The Dirty Jobs and The Real Me are excellent, but parts of the second LP (Sea And Sand or Drowned) somehow sound as if Townshend had been unable to cope with these lots of lyrics, ending up accompanying some of them with cliché rock power chords. Listening to the complete double LP at a stretch is a damn tough task for me, and this assessment comes from a big fan of Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans!

The Who By Numbers abandons the quasi-operatic recurrence of vocal motives and the dominating synthesizer arpeggios, but rather focusses on the radically honest expression of a rebel's grief, anger, fears and - most importantly - change in attitude towards life. The rebel is, needless to say, Pete Townshend. At that time he perceives himself as a drunkard ('and however much I booze, there ain't no way out'), unsure to which degree to believe in his social surroundings ('how many friends have I really got?', 'goodbye all you punks (...) hand me my checkbook and I'll crawl off to die'), still on spiral ways searching for freedom and self-fulfillment (in the cynical Slip Kid) and stuck in an early midlife crisis ('I'm too old to give up, but too young to rest') - and this rebel wears his heart on his sleeve.

I know that the term 'emotional authenticity' is often used in reviews to embellish a lack of substance, but this album drives all the way through chords and melodies which are so inspired that I actually forget to analyse it to pieces while listening to it. Slip Kid is motored by a rattling and shuffling rock groove (including cowbell, clapping and shakers) and stomps along to Roger Daltrey's ferocious shouting, concise four-part backing vocals by Townshend in the chorus and Nicky Hopkins' rolling piano playing. The whole atmosphere seems to me like a slowed-down answer to Deep Purple's Chasing Shadows until the brief and unexpectedly artsy middle part creeps in with classicistic piano patterns and quietly fading guitar chords, always staying on that hypnotic drum groove.

Imagine A Man defines another angle of Townshend's interests, namely balladesque folk music, which previously had been hinted at in songs like the droning The Good's Gone and the intricately picked Sunrise. Indeed, Daltrey's heavenly rising vocal lines and the shimmering acoustic guitar arpeggios seem to echo III-era Led Zeppelin or even early Pentangle, but Townshend manages to make the number completely his own without turning it over to genuine British folk territories. Keith Moon, who pauses during the first three quarters of the song, enhances the ending of the song a lot with some powerful but unobstrusive drum fills. Furthermore Nicky Hopkins' piano and John Entwhistle's playful bass lines entangle Townshend's acoustic guitar, which results in a beautiful carpet of sound. And the choice of words in the verses imagine a girl (...) [with a] body of chalky perfection and truth has fascinated me since I first took notice of that.

How Many Friends is another immaculate rock song. It feels as if the massive sustain of the continuously soaring lead guitar is just a few degrees away from total amp feedback while John Entwhistle drives through incredibly busy bass lines much like a lead (bass) guitarist. And not only guitars are quite fuller and rounder than on Quadrophenia, but also the drum sound. The snare is sweetly balanced in the mid-range frequencies, the metal snares are audible as a relatively low rattling and the decay time is increased compared with the previous album. The thunderous punch of the toms and the crash cymbal ably compensates the delicacy of the snare mix and, well, simply get this album if you want to listen to the playing of a tamed and refined Keith Moon who was in top form at that time, arguably even more concise than ever before.

Squeeze Box, a playful rock'n'roller which doesn't get a bit of its famous sexual innuendo until the middle 8, could have become a less essential tune on By Numbers. But this time it's Pete Townshend who saves the song with some sublime twangy country licks and proficient multi-instrumentalist work on banjo and accordeon. The slightly droning 'in and out', including fine vocal interplay between Daltrey and Townshend, is also kind of an unorthodox choice for a song like this. An absolutely good little ditty it has become, similar in its humour to earlier pieces like I'm A Boy or Tattoo, and I like it a lot. (At this point I may mention that Townshend demoed most of the The Who songs at home before the sessions, playing drums/keyboards/guitars/vocals/FX himself. How good these demos already sound is further proof that this man is one of the great creative minds of rock music!)

Blue Red And Grey is kind of an oddity as the only completely unplugged piece in the The Who discography. As an untypically positive piece of singer/songwriter-style chanson, however, it is a most welcome addition to the album. First of all it's a Townshend-Entwhistle duo piece; Keith Moon and Roger Daltrey didn't participate in the session whilst Townshend plays the ukulele and sings and John Entwhistle - having received classical training on trumpet and horns - provides a calm multi-tracked brass band backing which arguably is the most quintessentially British thing this band ever tracked. Pete Townshend, equipped with a nasal but tender and reliable voice, wonders why people tend to find a fly in the ointment instead of simply enjoying themselves. Townshend already raised the question of contentment and inner peace during the Lifehouse Project, searching for music which sums up the essence of certain persons, but never before you could listen to a Pete Townshend of such an even temper.

However Much I Booze, the second Townshend-sung song on By Numbers, begins similarly positive, but leads into a slower and reflective stanza part after its upbeat intro riff. Actually, the riff doesn't make you feel good anymore after the 5 minutes because it's so fast-paced and restless. But that's what the song is actually about: a pretty chastening analysis of Townshend's constitution at that time, and that's what also made Roger Daltrey make Townshend sing this one on the record. He describes himself as a faker, a liar, an alcoholic, a person who is locked in destructive habits and distracting behaviors. Unlike many other rock songs this piece gets by aptly over the five minutes with just a handful of chords, thanks to the effortlessly fitting melody, a set of well-coordinated guitar tracks and a spine-tingling middle 8 at around 2:44 which in its slow tempo appears like a period of exhaustion after the manic verses.

They're All In Love is on the first sight a pretty casual ballad in 6/8 time, and it's the stable and empathic band interplay which lifts this song to a higher level. For example, listen to how Roger Daltrey sings the first verse: his voice is deliberately frail and he stretches the syllables, at least until the second stanza in which the voice becomes angrier and more biting. Keith Moon is in top form again, too, he sports an inventive fill at any suitable place and provides extra brilliance with the high-frequent chiming of the ride cymbal. Nicky Hopkins' piano is perfectly embedded in the mix and comes up with a lovely instrumental part around 1:31-2:10 which, after some soft vocal sheets by a multi-tracked Townshend voices, initiates the anthemic last part of the song which I have already quoted from in the second paragraph of the review. The denunciation of the punk rebellion as a possible source of commercial input is still a 'problem' in the current scene, as recent debates about the punk pop of Green Day prove.

John Entwhistle's Success Story is a bassy and droning rock'n'roll thing, basically describing the show business in a cynical way and with lots of quirky musical twists and turns such as an inevitable Boris The Spider-like growled verse, a glam rock middle-8 and Pete Townshend's interesting vocal cascades before the stanzas. And these few sung words seem to be the only thing Pete Townshend contributes to this piece because the piece is Entwhistle's showcase of the rarely used 8-string bass guitar, which is actually the bass pendant to the 12-string guitar with its doubled, octave-tuned strings. I wouldn't mind the whole thing being called psychedelic judging by the mantraic riff which Entwhistle performs on that instrument. A pretty cool affair which totally suits the Townshend-penned rest of the album like My Wife also did on Who's Next.

Dreaming from The Waist is the most hard-rocking song on the album, driven by more high-speed bass lines, masterful guitar riffs, maniac drum bashing and Roger Daltrey roaring his soul out into the microphone. But of course the band won't rock off for four minutes without bringing in a dynamically restrained part, and this 'dreaming' part enters first at 1:25 and is revisited once or twice during the course of the song. Not a lot more to say about this song, except for that it is as damn good as any other one on the album.

The rousing In A Hand or A Face is a further revisitation of the band's sound of the late 1960s and an incredibly intelligent way to finish this record. It took me lots of listens to take note of how the song transforms the slightly atonal Tommyesque 'round and round' chorus to a more hymnal affair simply by changing the chords a little bit. In the end, the chords modulate back to the grittier version of the chorus - I don't know why - but it's that catchy hymnal part which sticks to your mind. The result of that little twist? The album temporarily ends on a positive note. But it doesn't open out in some kind of cognition or resolution, but in an ecstatic feel of vertigo - but a vertigo which, propelled by an energetic and recognisable guitar riff, seemingly doesn't only feel endurable, but even enjoyable.

All in all there's not much I can criticise about this album, but rather so many things which functioned absolutely well. And this also includes the rewarding booklet of the reissue with new liner notes to each song, lots of photos and a running text about the complete album - plus a set of three live bonus tracks in perfect sound quality. Among them you find a mighty version of the classic track Behind Blue Eyes with thunderous bass lines both in the ballad and in the rock part and Townshend, Daltrey and Entwhistle singing some gruff, but beautiful harmonies together. The two By Numbers tracks stay true to the original, but have some of the slender sophistication of arrangement replaced by some more vigour and strength much like we know it from Live At Leeds. The big advantage of the original album is that everything on this pretty hard-rocking mélange is thoroughly stripped of all pretentiousness and pop appeal, and not many of the mid-1970s hard rock bands managed to replaced the shallow toughness and masculinity of the hard rock genre that consequently with honesty, introspection and admissions of faultiness. The lyrics are a treat, each piece has at least one delicately arranged part which is totally different to the rest of the piece, and every music listener who enjoys rock music which rewards concentrated listens with new insights should enjoy this album at least half as much as I do. I'm sure that this album isn't the reason why this band was added to this website, but I wholeheartedly give it a good 4-star rating - and I dump the few rating percents not because it's not enough prog or because I don't like a song or two, but (irrationally) because it feels more equitable. Buy it anyway!

Tommy is the credited as the first Rock Opera, and is the beginning of the Who's departure from simple rock and roll into a more Art-rock style. Much of the early mod-rock leanings of the early Who is left behind, and the band find themselves pondering with more complex arrangements, instrumentation, and even a full blown concept.

Tommy is as much as Townshend's baby as The Final Cut or The Lamb is to Rogers and Gabriel. Except for a few songs from Entwistle, Townsend wrote all of the material. But needless to say the other band members largely contributed to the sound of the album. Moon's energetic and chaotic drum style is noticeably evident, along with Daltrey's dynamic and theatric vocals, and Entwistle's smooth and solid bass work.

I won't go into detail about the story or each individual song as there are many. But suffice it to say the songs should be viewed in the context of the album as a whole, rather than individual tracks, as they quite often share musical and lyrical passages with each other.

Perhaps what I appreciate most about this album is that it isn't stagnant; it doesn't hold on to an idea too long, especially in the form of the shorter, 2-minute songs. Yet, the constant recurrence of themes makes this a cohesive unit.

I believe this is a very important album in the turning point of the Who, but more so it shows the result of a band that pushes the limit of what Rock music can be.

8/10

The Music Must Change! Most music had changed by 1978. And fittingly the songs on "Who Are You" are linked together thematically, all about the changing nature of music. I can't say there are really any bad songs on here. The highest quality songs are mostly on the first half. The catchy "New Song" is quite good although "Had Enough", "905", the rocking "Sister Disco" and the title track are the best. On this album Keith Moon indeed seemed to have lost a step shortly before we lost him forever, but on that final track he comes back to life with a vengenace, going out in a blaze of glory. As legend would have it was inspired by a situation where a drunken Pete Townshend got into a fight with some punks and they uttered the line who the f*** are you to him. The song was an instant classic with first rate performances by all. Have to agree with a fellow reviewer that Daltrey's vocals were better than ever on this heartwarming album. As a whole, I don't think it's as good as "Who's Next", "Quadrophenia" or even "Who By Numbers" but The Who enthusiasts should find enough moments on it to enjoy. Three and half stars.