WHO'S NEXT - CLASSIC ALBUMS

One of the finer titles in the Classic Albums series of documentary DVDs is this one on The Who. More on what makes this one special to follow, but let's start with the nuts and bolts. Like others in the series this one starts with a short history of the band leading up to the "Who's Next" album. It is brief but gives a general overview of the early years, through Tommy, before settling in on the Lifehouse/Who's Next project. The format for those unfamiliar with this series is a combination of old priceless footage, interviews with the band members and close confidants, a dissection of key tracks at the sound board with musician commentary, and finally live performance of a few tracks current day (in this case the late 1990s.) There are some especially poignant moments as the band reflect on Keith Moon and what he brought to the table, they keep their comments based on his talents rather than going into sensationalistic nonsense about the partying. Also, as this was filmed just a couple years before the death of John Entwistle, it was nice to see him at the board talking about his bass playing. The extra guests are kept to a minimum this time, their manager and publicist from the period being notable, so more time was available for the three band members to speak. This is so much more interesting than the "critical analysis" DVDs around these days filled with the musings of rock critics. We also get to see Pete explaining the synthesizer effects in great detail, proud of the fact that every note was played even though many people believe he used loops.

But what makes this DVD special and worth owning is the time dedicated to the first hand explanation of the Lifehouse project by Townshend. Lifehouse was a hugely ambitious multi-media project involving music, audience participation, film, and spiritual utopia, just for starters. Townshend had all of these ideas in his head but even his closest friends and bandmates had little idea what he was trying to do, eventually leading to a personal meltdown and abandonment of the project. Townshend really gives some thoughtful and heartfelt explanations about what he was trying to accomplish and some of the philosophy behind the story. This was the coolest part to me, leaving all the nonsense aside and hearing Townshend himself trying to explain what Lifehouse meant to him philosophically at the time. Of course, as the history goes the band shifted gears and recorded "Who's Next" instead which turned out to be a classic on its own. But it is clear that Pete feels regret to this day that he wasn't able to pull off what he really intended to do at the time. Further discussion about anger (both his and Daltrey's) and the apathy/failures of his own generation and fans was fascinating and enlightening. Of course it would have been so much better to have more time than the one hour format but still this documentary is rich with the content that really matters-direct explanation from the songwriter himself. Because Townshend goes beyond the music into the philosophical realm of arguably his most important work, this DVD gets the fourth star. Beyond being of interest to only hard core Who fans this program offers a revealing insight into one of their most important projects, making it of interest to nearly any rock fan. Near the end Pete performs an acoustic version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" that will leave a lump in the throat of anyone who ever wanted to push back. Highly recommended.

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