Right, well, where to start. Pete set to work on a follow-up to 'Tommy' to be titled 'Lifehouse'. I'm not even going to begin to get into 'Lifehouse' here, suffice to say the concept fell apart when Pete actually tried explaining it to people. Nobody knew what the hell was going on, but The Who survived. 'Who's Next' isn't any kind of 'cop-out' release - something you would usually expect in the wake of the failure of a major project by a high profile group. For reasons of comparison, witness The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson failing to complete 'Smile'. The Beach Boys took a good few years to recover from that failure artistically, and never did recover commercially. The Who went about putting together nine songs, and released a 'normal' album. It's not an ambitious album, and it bears little resemblance to The Who of the sixties, but then..... there's some damn fine stuff here! Roger Daltery had developed a wildly different singing voice which upon first listenings may make you wonder if The Who hadn't replaced him altogether! Roger had spent the previous two years singing 'Tommy' to appreciative audiences the world over. Roger found himself creatively, so to speak. 'Tommy' gave him a huge boost in confidence, he learned to shout and roar and generally make himself heard a little better over the top of The Who's usual immense sonic assault.
'Baba O'Riley opens things with some of Pete Townshends synthesizer experimentation. He could as well have played some guitar instead as an intro, but this is more distinctive. The buzzing and weirdness is unnerving but brilliantly links into the opening of the bass and drums and Roger who sounds 10 years older than did on 'Tommy'. This is a vocal of some power. Pete comes in with some crashing guitar chords, the synth continues underneath all of this. "Don't cry, don't raise your eye, it's only teenage wasteland....." - a smattering of drums, more and more listening pleasure creeps in. Well, not even creeps in! This is fucking brilliant, joyous musical perfection of the highest order. Real shiver down the spine stuff. "They're ALL WASTED!" sings Roger, and you know. What can you say? 'Bargain' is fantastic. 'Bargain' has quickly become one of my favourite songs. Roger continues with his new found voice, Pete does a guitar special, the sound is fantastic, the song is real ROCK type stuff and just exhilarating. "THE BEST I EVER HAAAAAAAAD!!!!" - and there you have it, sports fans. 'Love Aint For Keeping' makes it three winners in a row, a more subdued song than either of the first two, but thank god for that. I was about to faint. This is slightly folky, vaguely. Features lovely harmonies in the background, and it's a lovely song. 'My Wife' is a Entwistle tune, sung by him too. I would have preferred it to be sung by Roger, but Mr Entwistle does well enough. The song is a basic rock number but with much groove and ultimately it's a song that works and works well. The trumpet is entertaining, by the way. 'This Song Is Over' slows things right down, but, but, but..... the realisation dawns. This is AN ALBUM! Nine songs, that's your lot. Some faster numbers, some experimentation, no little level of achievement. 'This Song Is Over' is beautiful, the vocals are genuinely affecting. 'Getting In Tune' is another ballad, two ballads running? Well, yeah - but as 'Getting In Tune' develops, and the harmonies come in, Keith plays a few modest rolls - piano is added - it becomes another gorgeous piece of writing and performance. Following two ballads, you want something a little different, if not a sudden switch to a monstrous noise. The Who gives us 'Going Mobile', a nice little nifty driving song. 'Behind Blue Eyes' has depth, lovely vocals, harmonies - turns into a more 'regular' Who song halfway through. It slightly loses its beauty at this point, but not enough to lose it's enjoyability. Besides, Pete turns in some fine guitar, Keith does 'his thing' and then it switches back to delicate guitar picking to close.
You know, I SWORE to myself I'd NEVER give a Who album a perfect ten. I didn't even like The Who when I first started this review site! But, all of what's gone before - the beauty, the craft and the exhilarating opening numbers is topped off brilliantly by 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. "YEARRRRGHHHH!" indeed. Makes me want to leap five feet in the air with my arm raised, ready to slam down on some imaginary guitar upon my landing on the ground once again. I love this song so much, it's just, well, emotional. The 'me' of 12 months ago wouldn't have expected to get so excitable about a Who album bar possibly 'Who Sell Out', but there you go. I won't get fooled again. Ha! Ah, what the fuck.
Baba O'Riley / Bargain / Love Aint For Keeping / My Wife / The Song Is Over / Getting In Tune / Going Mobile / Behind Blue Eyes / Won't Get Fooled Again
'Baba O'Riley opens things with some of Pete Townshends synthesizer experimentation. He could as well have played some guitar instead as an intro, but this is more distinctive. The buzzing and weirdness is unnerving but brilliantly links into the opening of the bass and drums and Roger who sounds 10 years older than did on 'Tommy'. This is a vocal of some power. Pete comes in with some crashing guitar chords, the synth continues underneath all of this. "Don't cry, don't raise your eye, it's only teenage wasteland....." - a smattering of drums, more and more listening pleasure creeps in. Well, not even creeps in! This is fucking brilliant, joyous musical perfection of the highest order. Real shiver down the spine stuff. "They're ALL WASTED!" sings Roger, and you know. What can you say? 'Bargain' is fantastic. 'Bargain' has quickly become one of my favourite songs. Roger continues with his new found voice, Pete does a guitar special, the sound is fantastic, the song is real ROCK type stuff and just exhilarating. "THE BEST I EVER HAAAAAAAAD!!!!" - and there you have it, sports fans. 'Love Aint For Keeping' makes it three winners in a row, a more subdued song than either of the first two, but thank god for that. I was about to faint. This is slightly folky, vaguely. Features lovely harmonies in the background, and it's a lovely song. 'My Wife' is a Entwistle tune, sung by him too. I would have preferred it to be sung by Roger, but Mr Entwistle does well enough. The song is a basic rock number but with much groove and ultimately it's a song that works and works well. The trumpet is entertaining, by the way. 'This Song Is Over' slows things right down, but, but, but..... the realisation dawns. This is AN ALBUM! Nine songs, that's your lot. Some faster numbers, some experimentation, no little level of achievement. 'This Song Is Over' is beautiful, the vocals are genuinely affecting. 'Getting In Tune' is another ballad, two ballads running? Well, yeah - but as 'Getting In Tune' develops, and the harmonies come in, Keith plays a few modest rolls - piano is added - it becomes another gorgeous piece of writing and performance. Following two ballads, you want something a little different, if not a sudden switch to a monstrous noise. The Who gives us 'Going Mobile', a nice little nifty driving song. 'Behind Blue Eyes' has depth, lovely vocals, harmonies - turns into a more 'regular' Who song halfway through. It slightly loses its beauty at this point, but not enough to lose it's enjoyability. Besides, Pete turns in some fine guitar, Keith does 'his thing' and then it switches back to delicate guitar picking to close.
You know, I SWORE to myself I'd NEVER give a Who album a perfect ten. I didn't even like The Who when I first started this review site! But, all of what's gone before - the beauty, the craft and the exhilarating opening numbers is topped off brilliantly by 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. "YEARRRRGHHHH!" indeed. Makes me want to leap five feet in the air with my arm raised, ready to slam down on some imaginary guitar upon my landing on the ground once again. I love this song so much, it's just, well, emotional. The 'me' of 12 months ago wouldn't have expected to get so excitable about a Who album bar possibly 'Who Sell Out', but there you go. I won't get fooled again. Ha! Ah, what the fuck.
Baba O'Riley / Bargain / Love Aint For Keeping / My Wife / The Song Is Over / Getting In Tune / Going Mobile / Behind Blue Eyes / Won't Get Fooled Again
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