THE WHO SELL OUT

SELL OUT is the Who's strongest album from the 1960s. Not only does it feature the band at their (short-lived) psychedelic best (with "I can see for miles"), it also contains some of their most delicate love songs ("Our love was" and "Sunrise") and some of their most charming 'character' songs ("Mary-Anne with the shaky hand", "Tattoo" and "Silas Stingy").

Although you could write an extensive study of the way the Who incorporated commercials and radio jingles into this album, it's probably the final track of the original LP ("Rael pt. 1") which is the most closely related to classic prog. Its march-like, organ- driven sound foreshadows a lot of symphonic prog, most notably "Harold Land" by Yes and "Watcher of the Skies" by Genesis. "Rael" is also noteworthy because it includes the first appearance of the 'Sparks'-theme from Tommy, and because a certain Mr. PG decided, around 1974, to base an entire concept album on the adventures of a character with the same name...

The edition of SELL OUT under review contains a large number of bonus tracks, mostly of superb quality. However, it's worth pointing out that virtually all of these (plus most of the original album) are included in the superb 4-disc set THE WHO: THIRTY YEARS OF MAXIMUM R&B, which forms the best possible introduction to this seminal band.

Verdict: Excellent addition to any record collection, but not exactly essential to prog fans.