The essence of Who excitement. Essential!
I've been a fan of theirs since the mid 60's and always felt their earlier recordings to be the most exuberant, spontaneous and whimsically creative. After their peak with Who's Next (1971), they took themselves way too seriously with Quadrophenia and then after that they sounded angry and lost their youthful innocence, which was so charmingly foppish to begin with. To me, the first CD is the best, it features early quirky gems like: The Kids Are Allright, Happy Jack, Boris The Spider, I'm a Boy, Pictures of Lilly, I Can See For Miles, Substitute, I Can't Explain and others through the Tommy opera and parts of Who's next. CD 2 picks up with some of Who's Next then finishes through Quadrophenia, By Numbers, and Who Are You. I hardly listen to CD 2. For me, early Who is the best. Keith Moon was a very original drummer. I could never understand however, why they would destroy their instruments. If someone put a smudge on my guitar, I couldn't sleep at night. Yet, Townsend would smash his Les Paul or Strat to bits for effect. Maybe back then, it was for rebellious shock value, but today it looks stupid, senseless, violent and wasteful. The music is still very cool however. In my opinion, the three Who CDs to own are this one, The Who Sell Out (1968) and Who's Next (1971). Live at Leeds (1970) is also highly recommened if you'd like to catch their live jamming at their peak too. This collection however is ESSENTIAL for any rock fan or historian.
|