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“The best non-concept album based on a concept that The Who ever made” - Pete Townshend
To me there is few bands in the history of Rock whom could compete with The Who’s 4 album run of “…Sell Out”, “Tommy”, “Who’s Next” and “Quadrophenia”. While each of these records is different, they all have one thing in common. Each lead to the next in terms of approach and idea. Really, it first started with the mini suite of songs on The Who’s “A Quick One”, Which led to the A side long concept of “The Who Sell Out” where the band simulated a pirate radio station, commercials and all to their listeners. This led primary songwriter, Pete Townshend to take the “leap off the cliff” for the full blown double album concept that became the masterpiece “Tommy”. The success of which took the Who to a whole new level of and saw the band performing in arenas worldwide and headlining the 1970 Isle of Weight festival to over 600,000 people. Townshend’s next move had to top this and he set out to write their most ambitious project to date, this project would be called “LifeHouse”.
Some back story is needed here for reference. However, In order to properly explain the ins and outs of the “LifeHouse” concept I would need about 400 paragraphs and 3 weeks of your time so, instead I will present it this way. It’s ideal foundation is similar to a discussion we have often today… people who are so attached to devices and what is fed to them from a screen that they miss out on the world around them. Townshend had envisioned “LifeHouse” to encompass a variety of mediums including a double album, a film and even a way for audience members to participate in the production. Spending days and weeks in his home studio, tinkering with guitars, drums, piano and synths, Townshend wrote and professionally demoed dozens of songs. When he took this fully developed concept to the rest of The Who he was met with blank stares and confusion. No one got it. Pete persisted but due to a variety of issues and variables, the “Lifehouse” project never got off the ground. I encourage you to read the full story sometime, it’s really insane. Convinced that a chunk of the songs he had written could stand on their own, The Who reconvened and recorded what most people would say is their greatest album… “Who’s Next”. Let’s talk about this classic!
Side Bar…. Just prior to recording “Who’s Next”, Townshend developed another deep concept where each member of the band would be given one side of a double LP to help assist in a story of split personalities, but that would have to wait until the next go around…
Beginning with the iconic synths of “Baba O’Riley” (Originally titled and demoed as “Teenage Wasteland”), one of The Who’s most well known tracks, it is evident this is not the same band that brought the deaf, dumb and blind “Tommy” to us less than 2 years prior. They have reached a new level of versatile power! This feeling is enforced on the next track “Bargain”, a rock and roll barn burner showcasing Keith Moon’s spastic and unique style of drumming that only he could provide. The in your face vocal stylings of Daltrey and the more subdued Townshend make for a great dynamic in Who songs and this one is one of my favorite examples. Next up, “Love Ain’t For Keeping”, this one is the sleeper track of the album in my opinion and like on ANY track from their catalog, John Entwistle is without a doubt the secret weapon. The bass playing in general on any Who recording is sure to make most players through their instrument away but to me what makes it even more special is the interaction between the spastic energy of Moon and the jaw punching power chords of Townshend how Entwistle manages to weave in and out with ease, playing counter melodies that could be songs of their own. “Love Ain’t for Keeping” is a great example of this. Speaking of John Entwistle, he happens to sing lead vocals on the next track “My Wife”. Another banging rocker in more ways than one…Read the lyrics. I’ll say no more. Side 1 closes with the beautiful “The Song is Over” featuring some incredible piano work from the legendary Nicky Hopkins. Another shout out to Keith Moon’s drumming here.
Side Two… begins with the more subdued vibe from “The Song is Over” with “Getting In Tune”. This song has a very majestic quality to it. Incredible bridge as well with some Leon Russell style piano. The next track, “Going Mobile” is my favorite on the record (Except for the obvious choice which I will get to in just a moment). Love the rhythm of the riff being played on the acoustic guitar as it sounds and feels like you’re traveling! Some incredible Townshend lyrics here, my favorite of all being “I don’t care about pollution, I’m an air conditioned gypsy, that’s my solution, watch the police and the tax man miss me, I’m mobile” HELL YES! Love it. We move to yet another well known Who classic, “Behind Blue Eyes”. Long before Limp Bizkit ruined it, this was often used as a primary example of why Roger Daltrey is such a celebrated singer. A beautiful performance from Roger on this, take note of the harmonies by both Daltrey and Townshend behind the second verse. This song also predates the “power ballad” formula used so often in 80s by at least 15 years, not sure if we should thank or begrudge The Who for that. Regardless, An incredible track.
Finally, the album ends with a song so monstrous, so powerful and so great that it needed its own paragraph. To me there is no better Who track, there is no better “Rock Anthem” then “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Charlie Starr from Blackberry Smoke once said “When I hear ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ I feel like I need to stand up!” BINGO! From the guitar tone, to the lyrics, to the sheer intensity, this song stands at the top of the mountain of rock n’ roll. In fact, I am not sure there is any moment greater in rock history than when we come out of the synth break to Daltrey’s ear drum splitting scream while Townshend plays the power chords from hell at top volume, Entwistle noodles down the neck at break neck speed and Moon crashing what sounds like 18 cymbals at once before the hit everyone’s favorite lyric “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. Come on! What’s more rock and roll than that? Without a doubt in my top 10 songs of all time! I could go on about just this track for days. The fact that it closes out this masterpiece of a record is really just the cherry on top! A brilliant album filled with brilliant tracks.
Why am I ranting and raving about “Who’s Next”? An Album released over 50 years ago? Because like so many game changing records it’s getting the Super Deluxe treatment and it’s hitting the bins tomorrow! There is numerous configurations all the way from a single LP of the original album remastered to a 10 disc super deluxe box set with more “Odds & Sods” than you can imagine! We will have a variety of the configurations on hand… As you might have guessed I went with the big mammoth 10 Disc Set (not for the faint of heart)! This is a desert island album for me. I go back to it time and time again and it’s still as great as the first time I heard it. If you haven’t heard it in a long time OR haven’t heard it at all, I recommend grabbing the single disc LP reissue at least, they have done a phenomenal job at presenting “Who’s Next” at it’s most bombastic! It’s a must own and as I always say… if you don’t own it, you don’t have a record collection
-Nick
