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The Who - Who's Next

It's not often a classic pops up in the dollar bin. The last surprise this big was Tattoo You by the Stones, and that album was in amazing shape, including the insert. Part of me wasn't too concerned so long as the big songs were playable. Besides, I have the 2003 deluxe edition, and that is almost two and a half hours of material - much of which I've maybe heard once while it played in the background.

Yeah, sad.

Anyway, here was the 1980 MCA reissue. At first this confused me because I thought it was an old record - I mean, it is old, but older than the date suggested. Someone must have been having a bad day and dragged the needle across the first side. I could feel it with my fingernail, so I figured the best-case scenario was a repeating pop for a few songs.

Thankfully, "Baba O'Riley" was fairly clean, and frankly, on the first side that's all that mattered to me. The songs still sound fresh while also being very much of their time. When I think of songs like "Going Mobile," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Won't Get Fooled Again" - all eight and a half minutes of it - and of course "Baba O'Riley," they just don't sound like 1971 to me. I love that song. The Lowrey organ combined with Dave Arbus's violin was genius. It really was.

I think the first time I actually sat down and listened to this album was back in 1984 when I borrowed my then-girlfriend's copy. She was a huge Roger Daltrey fan and loved The Who. It doesn't hurt that the album was really well produced and never sounded thin or anemic. It had punch, and John Entwistle's bass drove everything forward.

Pete Townshend wrote all the songs on the album except "My Wife," which was written by John Entwistle. It cracks me up, and I love the horn arrangement. Heck, even rock stars were pussy-whipped. Poor John goes out on a drinking bender and has to hide from his wife because she thinks he's been running around with other women.

I also found it interesting that John actually had a decent voice - a weaker version of Roger with bits of Pete mixed in. I'd always assumed he sang "Boris the Spider" and that was it. Look what I learned today by actually paying attention.

I have to say I really did enjoy this. Too bad the condition of the record wasn't better, but dang it, for a buck I got my dollar's worth.

The cover was a wink and a nod to Stanley Kubrick and the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Whoever said The Who didn't have a sense of humour wasn't paying attention. Then again, maybe they did - or at least Pete didn't. I read a deliciously long quote about his opinion of the cover that can't really be boiled down to anything other than, "It's another piece of shit."

There's great article The Story Behind the Cover if you want to read more.

The Who may not reside near the top of my favourite bands, but I have an appreciation for great rock, and this... this is great rock.

Postscript (August 2023): I stumbled across a half-speed master for a couple of bucks that was in fabulous shape. That was a great score. Back in the day I never shelled out for the half-speed masters that were supposed to appease audiophiles looking for the best sound ever, but this was too good to pass up. And yes, it does sound great.

But then again, what do I know?

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