Keith Moon came into the sessions overweight and fresh from an unsuccesful stint in rehab. Recording the drums for this final Who effort by the original line-up proved somewhat fraught, but they got there in the end. Whilst not the very finest work Keith Moon had ever done, he still holds his own here. He still adds that extra dynamism the songs demanded. Well, on the whole. The music world was a changed place, Disco and Punk had sprung up since 'Who By Numbers' and The Who were increasingly seeing themselves considered as an oldies act. As such, 'Who Are You' needed to reassert the place of The Who in the musical marketplace. Pete had used keyboards before of course, but then, keyboards were hardly punk, were they? Which makes it rather puzzling that they'd choose to do a song titled 'Sister Disco' and marry keyboard flourishes with the Who guitar of old. The song is fine enough, although the marriage of musical styles presented here just comes across as rather awkward. Synths are also prominently featured on the 2nd song, 'Had Enough'. Wither The Who musical whirlwinds of yore? What's even wrong with 'Had Enough'? Well, the synths are overbearing, very nearly drowning out the backing vocals and the lead vocals. Poor mixing, basically. Unwise choices, although having said that, 'Had Enough' does have some worthy creative musical parts here and there. 'New Song' opens with rather bouncy, slightly cringe-inducing keyboard melody. The lyrics are also rather puzzling, if understandable, as Roger sings lines such as I write the same old song you've heard a good few times - The Who were indeed in a difficult place in 1977. It would soon become even worse of course, the death of Keith Moon effectively sealing the bands fate once and for all.
Entwistle writes a few interesting songs here, although 'Had Enough' isn't really one of them. '905' is written from the point of view of a test-tube baby. The vocals don't really cut it, sadly, so when combined with the opening two tracks, it means 'Who Are You' as an album gets off to a rather flat beginning. Things do get better, Entwistles other tune 'Trick Of The Light' is storming and wisely, sung by Roger rather than Entwistle. The Pete penned 'Music Must Change' always intrigues me, plenty of soulful jazzy vocals during the quieter sections, some nice sounding guitar during the quieter sections. Roger raising his voice very well to add good amounts of drama. Still, if The Who really were searching for a new sound or wondering about their place in the grand scheme of things, releasing a lyrically cliched song presenting nothing new at all and calling it 'Music Must Change' was never likely to do the trick. 'Guitar And Pen' and 'Love Is Coming Down' are both rather average. The former a bizarre and difficult to enjoy rock song with an annoying chorus. The latter a decent enough ballad, although venturing into MOR territory. Eight tracks in then and 'Who Are You' is rather disappointing, although still strangely listenable for all its faults. A saviour was at hand, the albums title track based on a 1971 synthesizer instrumental by Pete. A true Who classic in every sense of the word. The synth intro is distinctive, the main part of the song combines synths with very effective drumming and good guitar work. A great backing track then, made even better by the wonderful performance of Roger. Roger really lays into the lyrics, his performance is full of venom and anger. It raises the track to another level. 'Who Are You' is a very well produced and arranged song, making you wonder why the same kind of effort couldn't have been spent on the remainder of the album.
New Song / Had Enough / 905 / Sister Disco / Music Must Change / Trick Of The Light / Guitar And Pen / Love Is Coming Down / Who Are You
Entwistle writes a few interesting songs here, although 'Had Enough' isn't really one of them. '905' is written from the point of view of a test-tube baby. The vocals don't really cut it, sadly, so when combined with the opening two tracks, it means 'Who Are You' as an album gets off to a rather flat beginning. Things do get better, Entwistles other tune 'Trick Of The Light' is storming and wisely, sung by Roger rather than Entwistle. The Pete penned 'Music Must Change' always intrigues me, plenty of soulful jazzy vocals during the quieter sections, some nice sounding guitar during the quieter sections. Roger raising his voice very well to add good amounts of drama. Still, if The Who really were searching for a new sound or wondering about their place in the grand scheme of things, releasing a lyrically cliched song presenting nothing new at all and calling it 'Music Must Change' was never likely to do the trick. 'Guitar And Pen' and 'Love Is Coming Down' are both rather average. The former a bizarre and difficult to enjoy rock song with an annoying chorus. The latter a decent enough ballad, although venturing into MOR territory. Eight tracks in then and 'Who Are You' is rather disappointing, although still strangely listenable for all its faults. A saviour was at hand, the albums title track based on a 1971 synthesizer instrumental by Pete. A true Who classic in every sense of the word. The synth intro is distinctive, the main part of the song combines synths with very effective drumming and good guitar work. A great backing track then, made even better by the wonderful performance of Roger. Roger really lays into the lyrics, his performance is full of venom and anger. It raises the track to another level. 'Who Are You' is a very well produced and arranged song, making you wonder why the same kind of effort couldn't have been spent on the remainder of the album.
New Song / Had Enough / 905 / Sister Disco / Music Must Change / Trick Of The Light / Guitar And Pen / Love Is Coming Down / Who Are You
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