Kink Floyd
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- Jul 1, 2010
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If the Kink's never existed, The Who would be my favorite band. With the combustible and powerful personalities of the four members, The Who was the best live rock outfit of all time. In the studio, Pete Townshend's storytelling and gift for song-writing has lent them a reputation as well, but The Who have surprisingly never made a perfect rock studio album. For me anyways. Up Until I heard Who's Next.
While Their debut album, A Quick One, The Who Sell Out, and Tommy contain many great classics, they are also riddled with quite a few baggage; for every Mary Anne with The Shaky hand, you get a throw away like Relax. On the other hand, Who's next is just really enjoyable from beginning to end, even with all the extra tracks thrown in for re-release. Ironically this is the one who album that in most circumstances should of been a "filler" album, considering that the songs were just bits and pieces which were produced for the ill-fated (and pompous on paper) Lifehouse project.
Baba O' Reilly and We Won't Get Fooled again are the classics here - just a pair of really well known and arranged anthems. If you are not familiar with these songs, then you probably haven't heard a lick of classic radio, and that's bad. Or maybe you just haven't seen an episode of CSI, and that's good because I hate that show
. My Wife, Entwistle's contribution, saves the album from becoming too Messianic - it's got a great hook and acts as the humor piece to anchor the album together. Getting In Tune and Going Mobile are rollicking pieces, and Behind Blue Eyes is another Townshend classic. I am not particularly drawn to these songs, but they still rock! Love Ain't for keeping I think is a highly underrated song and is a favorite of mine. Listen to Entwistle's bass, damn it's loud! And it's got a really steady country rhythm - all the instruments are highly evident of course.
The Song is Over is a tune which divides Who fans. Some think it's a bloated piece of the arena rock age, while others believe it's an underrated anthem. I agree more with the latter, actually I think it's very powerful. I know old Georgy Starostin doesn't like it, because the melodious beginning is ruined by the Macho explosion of The Who. Well if he likes the calmer acoustic stuff, there's always The Who By The Numbers...or John Denver
. All of this is closed classically by the 9 minute epic We Won't get fooled again, a sort of working class anthem which gives The Jersey's boy Bruce a run for his moolah. Apart from that, the reissued release has about 5 additional songs, and they all range from Very great to adequate. Pure and Easy, I Don't Even Know Myself and Too Much of Anything I thought were actually good enough to be included as album material, they are classics in their own right! It's no surprise that many of them found their way in Who Concerts in the early 70's (check the Isle at Wight concert). I especially like that little piece in I Don't Even Know Myself:
"I don't mind if I cry once in a while,
The doors aren't shut as tight as they might seem,
I'm just trying to fight my way out of this dream"
Pete Townshend man...I love a guy who can rock like a beast, but also find time to read Albert Camus or some other Existentialist. His words are truly resonant and absolutely beautiful, and the Three other "power" members carry that vision like no other. Pete Townshend cannot work with the Members of Led Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones. The Who - Daltrey, Moon, and Entwistle are the perfect outlet for his visions, whether they are pompous or tasteful. This album is tasteful, but it's also really interesting from beginning to end and I think it's their most perfect studio album to date.
It goes to show you how great the Who were, when the excavated pieces of their ill-fated project are thrown together to make one of the best rock albums ever.
. And I agree with Magic, you gotta show us that signed cover, that's real cool. 
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