BY NUMBERS

After producing a string of influential hit albums, nobody could begrudge The Who the opportunity to kick back a bit and just play some straightforward rock numbers - especially considering that lead songwriter Pete Townshend was mired in alcoholism and, if songs like How Many Friends are anything to go by, mired in depression with it. A few more upbeat numbers like Squeeze Box mix up the pace a bit but there's no changing the fact that The Who By Numbers is exactly what it says on the cover: the band going through the motions for the sake of getting new product out there. Sadly, it would seem that the high points of Who's Next and Quadrophenia represented a peak the band would never be able to reclaim, and Who By Numbers is the album which made that obvious.