The Who, Face Dances

Kenney Jones never deserved half the crap he got. Unlike Keith Moon, he could hold a beat and his liquor, and he was already on the band's recorded output anyway from the refits of Tommy and Quadrophenia to no one's complaint. The problem was really Pete Townshend, who reserved most of his best output for his contemporaneous Empty Glass — but yet this album still manages to pull it off despite that. The lyrics are typically inscrutable and the song titles don't make sense, but Roger Daltrey sings them straight anyway to their benefit ("Cache Cache" the particular exemplar), and rockers like "You Better You Bet," "Another Tricky Day" and "Daily Records" (and John Entwistle's contribution with "The Quiet One") are as good as any of their older singles. Entwistle doesn't hit pay dirt with "You," though, which is a bit too tart for the other tracks, and "Did You Steal My Money" and "How Can You Do It Alone" are kind of dorky, but Moon's most lasting contribution to the band was attitude rather than drumming and a true pro like Jones easily proves it. The 1997 remaster adds three unreleased tracks, all pretty good but especially an early take of "Somebody Saved Me" — obvious tape warble intact — which is far superior to Townshend's reworking on Chinese Eyes (the two live tracks are best not mentioned). The 2021 remaster has four different live cuts to waste your time, but adds those three gems plus a fourth "Dance It Away" and an alternate take of "Don't Let Go The Coat" with different vocals. Either is worth it. (Content: adult themes, mild language.)

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The Who, Who's next

This was the new bang, the big one. No tarted-up noodling around with R&B, no residual mod trappings (though see Quadrophenia): a fresh, penetrating sound for a tumultuous new decade. My colleague Michael remembers how his mind was blown the first time he threw it on the turntable. Was this the same band that did "Tommy" and "Magic Bus"? Where did this come from? Where could he get more? There is no bad song on this album, none. The order and the lineup could use a little work, evidence of the internal turmoil from the aborted Lifehouse that yielded this glorious vinyl salvage yard, and "Behind Blue Eyes"' harsh arrangement doesn't really correct its unfocused thematic vacuousness, but balance that against the exuberant "Baba O'Riley" with its sparkling, almost mathematically precise synthesizer line, the deeply emotive "The Song Is Over" and "Getting In Tune," Entwistle's cartoonish kneeslapper "My Wife" and, last but hardly least, the cynical and irrepressibly energetic "Won't Get Fooled Again," devastating as a critique of demagoguery, incomparable as an artifact of rock. Even the lesser-known tracks sparkle, including my particular favourite, the simple yet irresistable "Going Mobile," its unerring musical capture of the freedom of the road something everyone should play on any roadtrip anywhere. This was Townshend's high point, his musical peak, unmatched at any other point in his writing career ironically by preventing him from bloating it further into what he thought prog should be. Art thrives on limit and this album proves it. You can blame this album, in fact, for why the band's later works never eclipsed it, not least because it's so good, but more importantly because its success ensured he would be given more artistic freedom than he could be trusted with and for that their later 1970s output suffers greatly by comparison. The CD reissues add various unreleased tracks, most notably the intriguing works-in-progress "Pure and Easy," "Too Much of Anything" and "I Don't Even Know Myself," but also several tedious live tracks which the 2003 release turns into an entire second disc. I like a Who concert as much as anyone but I'll buy a ticket, thanks. (Content: no concerns, though some reissues have sexually provocative inside artwork.)

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The Who Sell Out

Although many fans of the Who say their first great album was A Quick One, I disagree; I think their first outstanding album was this one, suffused with humour, commercial snark and a solid collection of great tracks. Pete Townshend has always had trouble with concept albums with a plot as shown by Quadrophenia and Tommy, which musically trapped him within their inflexible libretti and strict narratives which were only coherent in, uh, concept. Not so here where delightful commercials for real products (standout: "Odorono") share airplay with real Radio London jingles and some of Townshend's best output lyrically until Who's next (standouts: "Our Love Was," "Tattoo"). If the concept was just to capture 1960s AM radio on vinyl, then the concept obviously worked, and the relatively light topical constraint allowed the band freedom to explore the musical complexity they had only hinted at in earlier efforts. Plus, something novel: the bonus tracks on the CD reissues don't suck! Without a bad track to be found anywhere, this gem nevertheless misses the five-star mark for two apparently insubstantial but nevertheless significant faults: the tracking, which breaks up songs and jingles mid-verse and really stinks without gapless playback, and the album's cheerful banality which is obviously its salvation but simultaneously its major stylistic blemish. (Content: no concerns.)

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