rtbuck
Senior Member
The Who – ‘Greatest Hits Live’
Released: 2010
Label: Geffen
Review by: Bucky
Disc 1:
I Can’t Explain (1971)
Substitute (1971)
Happy Jack (1970)
I’m a Boy (1970)
Behind Blue Eyes (1971)
Pinball Wizard (1976)
I’m Free (1976)
Squeeze Box (1976)
Naked Eye/Let’s See Action/My Generation (1974)
5:15 (1973)
Won’t Get Fooled Again (1973)
Magic Bus (1970)
My Generation (1965)
Disc 2:
I Can See For Miles (1989)
Join Together (1989)
Love Reign O’er Me (1989)
Baba O’Riley (1989)
Who Are You (1989)
The Real Me (2002)
The Kids Are Alright (2002)
Eminence Front (2009)
A Man in a Purple Dress (2009)
It was sometime in 1978 when I heard the song “Who Are You” by the Who on the radio. I liked the song enough to go out & buy the record. The album was nothing that really blew me away but I enjoyed it especially “Trick of the Light”. I loved the title track even more because on the album version the F-bomb was dropped with Daltrey singing out “Who the F@$K are you?” One day my brother in law (who is 7 years older than me) was thumbing through my record collection & came across the album. He told me that the Who was wild back in their early days & now I was curious & kind of baffled because besides “Who Are You” the only thing I knew by them was “Squeeze Box” which didn’t seem too wild. I had seen the movie Tommy & even owned the soundtrack but at the time all that mattered was Elton John singing “Pinball Wizard”. I had no idea who the Who was & had no idea they had anything to do with the movie. I was at K-Mart one day & picked up ‘Odds & Sods’ from the $1.99 bargain bin & once again I wasn’t really too impressed. The only song that really stood out was “Long Live Rock” which I did play quite frequently. I was at my sister’s apartment & my brother in law was playing his favorite artists records for me such as Steppenwolf, BTO, Uriah Heep, & Deep Purple. He then pulled out The Who ‘Live at Leeds’ & I was blown away by the album & now I was a fan. The following year I had seen a trailer for ‘The Kids are Alright’ movie & I went to see it. From the beginning of the movie with the band tearing the stage apart during “My Generation” on the Smothers Brothers Show to the final scream in “Won’t get Fooled Again I was now adding the Who in my Top 5 favorite bands. Immediately after the movie my friend & I walked into Cavages record store at the Thruway Mall & both bought the soundtrack.
Almost 31 years later I was in a Borders store & I noticed that the Who just released ‘Greatest Hits Live’. I almost skipped over it because they seemed to have released many live albums & greatest hits compilations over the years but I stopped & looked at it. At first I looked at the track listing & seen basically the same tunes but then I noticed “The Man in the Purple Dress” from their 2006 ‘Endless Wire’ album. I started thinking that it was from a recent show so I said “What the hell…why not?” I got home & played it immediately. The first tune which was “Can’t Explain” had kind of a raw edge sound to it so I pulled out the CD booklet & was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t from a recent tour but a compilation from all different years & venues ranging from 1965 – 2009. With the exception of a version of “My Generation” from BBC sessions 1965 the rest of the tunes on disc one are all taken from concerts from the 1970’s while disc two mostly consists of a great show from Los Angeles 1989 & the final four songs are from shows that took place in this past decade. The main highlight from the 2 CD set would be the phenomenal medley of “Naked Eye/Let’s See Action/My Generation” taken from South London, England 1970 which alone is worth the price of the CD. It’s 14:20 & really showcases the band at its best. The version of “My Generation” is actually played blues style similar to the way it was used in a medley of “Join Together/I’m a Roadrunner/My Generation Blues” from the ‘Kids are Alright Soundtrack’. “I’m Free” taken from Swansea , England 1976 has more crunch & totally blows away the original version.& the same can be said for “I’m a Boy”. “Join Together” & “Love Reign O’er Me” from the Los Angeles 1989 show also are standout tracks. “The Kids are Alright” is taken from the show at the Royal Albert Hall in London 2002 & it’s a killer version. It has mellow parts mixed with some explosive guitars which make this version a real treat. Daltrey even drops the F-bomb in a mellow way as he sings “…I know if I don’t I’ll go out of my f@#kin’ mind…”. Daltrey even gets the audience to join in singing at the end. “Eminence Front” is a pleasant surprise & sounds great.
Overall, I really feel this is a great compilation of the Who’s live performances from over their career & I highly recommend this to all fans.
Bucky
