The Who

You know what the cool thing was about John Entwistle's recent death? I got to do something that only comes along once or twice in a lifetime. You see, I have lots of friends and family members who are fairly ignorant about classic rock, so when he died, I made sure to tell as many of them as possible. The conversation invariably went like this:

Me: "Did you hear? John Entwistle died."
Them: "Who?"
Me: "Exactly."

Tee hee...well, maybe I'm too easily amused...

"The Who Sell Out"

    Radio London
  1. "Armenia City in the Sky" (3:47)
    Radio London
  2. "Heinz Baked Beans" (1:00)
    More Music
  3. "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" (2:28)
    Premier Drums/Radio London
  4. "Odorono" (2:34)
    Radio London
  5. "Tattoo" (2:51)
    Radio London (Church of Your Choice)
  6. "Our Love Was" (3:23)
    Radio London (Pussycat)/Speakeasy/Rotosound Strings
  7. "I Can See for Miles" (4:44)
  8. "I Can't Reach You" (3:03)
    Charles Atlas
  9. "Medac" (0:57)
  10. "Relax" (2:41)
    Rotosound Strings (Demo)
  11. "Silas Stingy" (3:07)
  12. "Sunrise" (3:06)
  13. "Rael" (5:44)
  14. "Rael 2" (1:28)
    Top Gear
  15. "Glittering Girl" (3:59)
    Coke 2
  16. "Melancholia" (3:22)
    Bag O'Nails
  17. "Someone's Coming" (2:40)
    John Mason's Cars (Rehearsal)
  18. "Jaguar" (3:01)
    John Mason's Cars (Reprise)
  19. "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (3:25)
    Coke 1
  20. "Hall of the Mountain King"--instrumental (4:19)
    Radio One (Boris Mix)
  21. "Girl's Eyes" (3:50)
    Odorono (Final Chorus)
  22. "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand"--alternative version (3:21)
  23. "Glow Girl" (2:45)
    Track Records

This one gets lauded by Who fans as the best remastering job on any album, ever. But even with 10 bonus tracks, I just don't get it. "Armenia" has a wonderful atmosphere to it, and of course "I Can See for Miles" is a classic, but I can take or leave the rest. The tracks are separated by "fake" commercials, supposedly as a mockery/tribute to Radio London; very, very annoying.

"Tommy"

    disc one:
  1. "Overture"
    "It's a Boy" (total=5:58)
  2. "You Didn't Hear It" (2:48)
  3. "Amazing Journey"
    "Sparks"--instrumental (total=7:09)
  4. "Eyesight to the Blind" (2:11)
  5. "Christmas" (4:31)
  6. "Cousin Kevin" (4:03)
  7. "The Acid Queen" (3:33)
  8. "Underture"--instrumental (9:59)
    disc two:
  1. "Do You Think It's Alright"
    "Fiddle About" (total=1:51)
  2. "Pinball Wizard" (3:00)
  3. "There's a Doctor I've Found" (0:23)
  4. "Go to the Mirror Boy" (3:46)
  5. "Tommy, Can You Hear Me?" (1:34)
  6. "Smash the Mirror" (1:32)
  7. "Sensation" (2:24)
  8. "Miracle Cure" (0:11)
  9. "Sally Simpson" (4:08)
  10. "I'm Free" (2:39)
  11. "Welcome" (4:30)
  12. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (1:01)
  13. "We're Not Gonna Take It" (7:02)

The first ever "rock opera", this one is more than classic, this one's downright LEGENDARY. And I'm not saying that just because of "Pinball Wizard"...the story's just so damn cool! Even though it's a tad bit bizarre (what exactly happens at the end, does Tommy turn into David Koresh or something?) Hightlights include "Sparks", a brilliant instrumental theme (carried to its furthest extreme in the holy-mother-of-God instrumental, "Underture"!!); "Fiddle About" ("Down goes the bedsheets, Up goes your nightshirt" -- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!); "Sally Simpson" (though I can never remember how it goes); and "We're Not Gonna Take It", of course, featuring the most heavenly ending chorus in rock history!

Now here's something interesting (to me, at least): some years ago my sister starred in a REGGAE VERSION of this play done by a local theater company, and I had no idea it was the REGGAE VERSION until just before it started, but my parents wouldn't let me leave!! Actually, it turned out to be pretty cool, especially when the drummer tripped and knocked over his entire drum kit at the very end of the show (and no, I *don't* think it was an intentional Keith Moon impersonation...) Unfortunately, my folks refused to let me play the original album for them when we got home. What the HELL?? I never could understand my mother's taste in music. I mean, she was younger than I am now when this album came out, what the hell was she doing?? Oh wait, that's right, she was taking care of some ungrateful 2-year-old brat....hehe...never mind. :)

"Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970"

    disc one:
  1. "Heaven and Hell" (6:11)
  2. "I Can't Explain" (2:45)
  3. "Young Man Blues" (6:06)
  4. "I Don't Even Know Myself" (6:11)
  5. "Water" (9:05)
  6. "Overture" (6:57)
  7. "It's a Boy" (1:33)
  8. "1921" (2:27)
  9. "Amazing Journey" (3:19)
  10. "Sparks"--instrumental (5:10)
  11. "Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)" (1:58)
  12. "Christmas" (3:25)
    disc two:
  1. "The Acid Queen" (3:42)
  2. "Pinball Wizard" (2:51)
  3. "Do You Think It's Alright?" (0:23)
  4. "Fiddle About" (1:16)
  5. "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" (0:59)
  6. "There's a Doctor" (0:22)
  7. "Go to the Mirror!" (3:32)
  8. "Smash the Mirror" (1:16)
  9. "Miracle Cure" (0:13)
  10. "I'm Free" (2:25)
  11. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (1:02)
  12. "We're Not Gonna Take It" (9:37)
  13. "Summertime Blues" (3:24)
  14. "Shakin' All Over/Spoonful/Twist and Shout" (6:27)
  15. "Substitute" (2:11)
  16. "My Generation" (7:16)
  17. "Naked Eye" (6:34)
  18. "Magic Bus" (4:35)

Oh dear God, yet ANOTHER live version of "Tommy"!! HEAVEN HELP US!!!! Okay, really, this is a fantastic live set, extremely raw & sloppy but hey, it's the Who! Also of prime interest are a few songs ("Water", "I Don't Even Know Myself", and "Naked Eye") which are introduced as "from our forthcoming album" -- except the album was never released! The songs do appear on the remastered edition of Who's Next, though. Oh, and everything after "We're Not Gonna Take It" is basically one massive jam session...nice!!

"Who's Next"

  1. "Baba O'Riley" (4:59)
  2. "Bargain" (5:33)
  3. "Love Ain't for Keeping" (2:11)
  4. "My Wife" (3:35)
  5. "The Song is Over" (6:16)
  6. "Gettin' in Tune" (4:49)
  7. "Goin' Mobile" (3:40)
  8. "Behind Blue Eyes" (3:40)
  9. "Won't Get Fooled Again" (8:31)

A landmark album, classic in every respect, right down to the band members pissing on that weird looking obelisk-thing. :-) "Baba O'Reily" ("Teenage wasteland, Teenage wasteland...You're all wasted!!") is a classic, "Won't Get Fooled Again" (often performed live by Anthrax, as well as Van Halen) is a classic, "Behind Blue Eyes" has that GREAT lyric, "If I swallow anything evil, stick your finger down my throat" and therefore a classic, "Song is Over" is dull and boring, but still a classic...hell, let's just call everything a classic and move on....

"Quadrophenia"

    disc one:
  1. "I Am the Sea (The Four Themes)" (2:08)
  2. "The Real Me" (3:20)
  3. "Quadrophenia"--instrumental (6:13)
  4. "Cut My Hair" (3:44)
  5. "The Punk and the Godfather" (5:10)
  6. "I'm One" (2:37)
  7. "The Dirty Jobs" (4:29)
  8. "Helpless Dancer (Roger's Theme)" (2:33)
  9. "Is It in My Head?" (3:43)
  10. "I've Had Enough" (6:14)
    disc two:
  1. "5:15" (4:59)
  2. "Sea and Sand" (5:01)
  3. "Drowned" (5:26)
  4. "Bell Boy (Keith's Theme)" (4:55)
  5. "Doctor Jimmy (including John's Theme "Is it Me")" (8:36)
  6. "The Rock"--instrumental (6:37)
  7. "Love Reign O'er Me (Pete's Theme)" (5:48)

Rock Opera #2 for these guys, this time about a battle between the Mods & the Rockers, or something like that. I never could figure out the story. Great music, though, which is all that matters. "The Real Me" has been covered by W.A.S.P.

"My Generation -- The Very Best of the Who"

  1. "I Can't Explain" (2:04)
  2. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (2:40)
  3. "My Generation" (3:18)
  4. "Substitute" (3:47)
  5. "I'm a Boy" (2:36)
  6. "Boris the Spider" (2:27)
  7. "Happy Jack" (2:11)
  8. "Pictures of Lily" (2:45)
  9. "I Can See for Miles" (4:21)
  10. "Magic Bus" (3:15)
  11. "Pinball Wizard" (3:00)
  12. "The Seeker" (3:22)
  13. "Baba O'Riley" (5:07)
  14. "Won't Get Fooled Again" (8:32)
  15. "Let's See Action" (4:02)
  16. "5:15" (4:49)
  17. "Join Together" (4:22)
  18. "Squeeze Box" (2:40)
  19. "Who Are You"--single edit version (5:02)
  20. "You Better You Bet" (5:37)

Essentially, this compilation replaces my copy of Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy...12 of the 14 tracks from Meaty appear here (the other two, "A Legal Matter" and "The Kids Are Alright", are on their debut album), and all have been remixed/remastered, so they sound MUCH better now. In addition, you get "Join Together", a rare single never released on any album, and "Let's See Action", another rare single which I've never even HEARD of before. Dunno why they had to edit "Who Are You" down...they still say "fuck", so it's not THAT edited...

LOTS of these songs have been covered by other artists: the Scorpions do "I Can't Explain" and Gorky Park does "My Generation", both of which appear on the compilation Stairway to Heaven, Highway to Hell; also, Great White does "Substitute", the Accused does "Boris the Spider", Elton John does "Pinball Wizard", and Fish does "The Seeker". Whew!!

"Join Together" (live 2CD)

    disc one:
  1. "Overture" (5:24)
  2. "1921" (2:52)
  3. "Amazing Journey" (3:07)
  4. "Sparks"--instrumental (4:35)
  5. "Eyesight to the Blind (and the Hawker)" (2:17)
  6. "Christmas" (4:24)
  7. "Cousin Kevin" (3:56)
  8. "The Acid Queen" (3:44)
  9. "Pinball Wizard" (4:20)
  10. "Do You Think It's Alright?" (0:23)
  11. "Fiddle About" (1:38)
  12. "There's a Doctor" (0:21)
  13. "Go to the Mirror!" (3:21)
  14. "Smash the Mirror" (1:09)
  15. "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" (0:57)
  16. "I'm Free" (2:09)
  17. "Miracle Cure" (0:24)
  18. "Sally Simpson" (4:18)
  19. "Sensation" (2:21)
  20. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (0:54)
  21. "We're Not Gonna Take It" (8:42)
    disc two:
  1. "Eminence Front" (5:43)
  2. "Face the Face" (6:03)
  3. "Dig" (3:46)
  4. "I Can See for Miles" (3:42)
  5. "A Little is Enough" (5:05)
  6. "5:15" (5:47)
  7. "Love Reign O'er Me" (5:58)
  8. "Trick of the Light" (4:49)
  9. "Rough Boys" (4:35)
  10. "Join Together" (5:14)
  11. "You Better You Bet" (5:39)
  12. "Behind Blue Eyes" (3:38)
  13. "Won't Get Fooled Again" (9:29)

Just about every review I've read about this 2-disc live set (recorded in 1990, on one of the band's many "farewell" tours), has panned it...I've only got one thing to say, YOU ARE ALL HIGH. For one, it's got a FULL live recording of "Tommy", complete with extra musicians, a horn section, female singers, etc. (Simon Phillips, who's also filled in for Judas Priest and other bands when they're having drummer woes, does the stick-work here.) Okay, they did fuck up "Pinball Wizard" pretty bad, and two songs, "Welcome" and "Underture", were cut; but at least for "Eyesight to the Blind", they did Eric Clapton's jazzed-up "movie version", which I always felt was superior to the original. The second disc is also damn good, with a few of Pete Townsend's solo numbers thrown in for good measure, plus some tracks not commonly played live: "I Can See for Miles", "5:15", "Eminence Front", etc. The only downside is, this set has been out of print for years, and I could only manage to find the two CDs, no booklet or box or anything. Oh well, I can live with it...I think....


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