WHO´S LAST

In early 1982, I bought the "Concerts for the People of Kampuchea" album (not re-released yet on C.D., I think). It has a full record side recorded by The Who (Side One). The songs included in that album are : "Baba O`Riley", "Sister Disco", "Behind Blue Eyes" and "See Me,Feel Me". Those Concerts for Kampuchea were done in late December 1979, organized by Paul McCartney and the UNICEF to help the people of Kampuchea who were leaving their country due to internal political problems. The Who played then a concert of three hours of duration. It was the only band who did that, so maybe that was the reason to give them a full side of the 2 L.P. set. Other bands in those concerts were The Pretenders, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Rockpile, Queen, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Clash, The Specials, Paul McCartney and Wings, and an "All Stars Band" called Rockestra, led by Paul McCartney, which included three members of Led Zeppelin (Bonham, Jones and Plant), and other members of other bands, like Wings, The Who, The Pretenders, etc. The album is very good, and I particularly liked the songs which were played by The Who, which sound very well played, with energy and feeling. Maybe it was the first time that I listened to The Who with Kenney Jones on drums (and also with John Bundrick on keyboards, plus a horns section in "See Me, Feel Me"). Years later I listened to this "Who`s Last" album on the Radio (in 1986), and I didn`t like it very much. But in mid 1998 I listened again to the "Kampuchea" album and I decided to buy this "Who`s Last" album. I didn`t find it in the record shops, but I bought a C.D. called "The Who Live - The Star Collection", which, as I discovered in the Internet later, was another edition (in one C.D.) of "Who`s Last".

In comparison to the recording quality of the "Kampuchea" album, the recording quality of "Who`s Last" is not as good, and also the performances of some of the songs are not as good. If Jones sounds energetic in the "Kampuchea" album, in "Who`s Last" his drums are not as good, and in some cases lack energy. "Who`s Last" was compiled to finish the recording contract of The Who after they split in late 1983, and it was recorded in their North American "Farewell Tour" in late 1982. Jones is not the only one musician who doesn`t sound very well. The other members of the band also sound with lack of energy, making mistakes in some parts, and without very much interest in the tour. As I read in other reviews, it seems that the compilation of this album was also done without very much interest, only to release a "Greatest Hits Live album", deleting the posibility of inclusion of songs from their "Face Dances" and "It`s Hard" studio albums (like "You Better You Bet", "Dangerous" and "Emminence Front") which were the most recent then. Despite all these things, there are some good performances of songs, like "Substitute", "Love Reign Over Me", "Won`t Get Fooled Again" (with very good drums by Jones), "Dr. Jimmy" (in an abridged version) and "Summertime Blues". But as a whole, the album is disappointing in quality, and maybe it was one of the reasons why it was out of print for several years.

This album was released with different covers in the U.K. and in the U.S. Also the "Live-The Star Collection" was released with a different cover which has a photo of a younger Roger Daltrey.

For their "Farewell Tour", keyboards player John "Rabbit" Bundrick was substituted by Tim Gorman.