VH1 Classic has been showing documentaries and other little shows about The Who all day and last night. It made me really want to drag out a couple of albums to listen to.
First up
I am glad I picked this up. Really an amazing collection of songs. The album starts out with I Can't Explain. Everyone probably knows this song a great poppy hit. Hidden behind the catchy rememberable vocals are some really great guitar tracks. Next up is The Kids Are Allright. Another catchier pop tune, pretty straight forward song, you can hear the aggressiveness in Keith Moon's drumming. Third is Happy Jack. I never was much of a fan of this song since it was a little too playful and silly for me. Though I really don't like the song too incredibly much it's worth listening to just for the drums. The drums are going crazy through what is otherwise a rather mild song, very rough very loud, brought up above everything else. Next is I Can See For Miles another big hit. Again growing up with this song it's easy to focus on the vocals I'm so familiar with missing the other components of a song. Listening to this song is a completely different feeling on vinyl than on the radio. You can here the intensity of the drums in the background with the high droning noise of the guitar, the guitar solo isn't much of a solo, it's more of a disintigration of the music into chaos and feedback, something Townshend was amazing at. He could play so little yet make it sound so big. Yet this song ends with a fade out.... something I cannot stand. After a slight silence Pictures of Lily starts in. This song is weak up until it starts getting to Townshend and Moon start in with a harder heavier part unfitting to the vocals. After this is My Generation, probably one of the Who's biggest hits. Everyone shines in this song, especially Entwistle's bass playing. Everyone should know this song. I wonder if I'm the only one who is waiting for Daltry to say "Why don't you all f-f-f-fuck off". Side A ends with The Seeker. Again another slow starter. The song stops with the lyrics "I'm a seeker i'm a very desperate man" and then after a brief silence goes into a very bluesy solo. I think a poor choice to end the A side with.
God the B side. What an amazing start. First up is Anyway Anyhow Anwhere. An amazingly ripping song. So much distortion, the middle break just sounds like destruction, the drums are going crazy and the guitar is making ungodly noises while the bass keeps the pace. Then with two hits of the snare it's right back into the song, snapping straight back to the order of things. Towards the end it starts building up towards what sounds like more chaos but ends with the guitar fading off into the distance and clicking. After that comes in Pinball Wizard, starting out with the lone guitar and then busting out into the heavy riff we all know. When ever I hear this song I wait for the little drum roll at the "Sure plays a mean pinball" part. I don't know why but that is the part I always think of. This song definately shows the Who's talent for composition since so much seems to be going on throughout the whole song. Again a fade out.... lame. A Legal Matter is the next track. Townshend apparently is the lead vocalist on this track. I hadn't heard this song till I got this album. It is very different from most Who tracks. I can't exactly put my finger on it. Anyways next is Boris the Spider. Unlike Happy Jack i do like how childish and fun this track is because it has a weird ominous darkness about it. Consisting mostly of bass it has a very low sound to it. Entwistle wrote this song which is why it focuses mainly on the Bass. The creepy crawly part makes me laugh every time. Next is Magic Bus... one of my lesser favorite Who songs. Substitute is next. a lighter pop song that still keeps at a pretty upbeat tempo. Nothing too amazing or special about this song to me. The album ends with I'm A Boy. A good closer. The song goes through a couple periods of droning on kind of seeming to wait for something to happen. The vocals don't entirely do it for me. They seem too happy. The song discusses a family wanting a girl yet getting a boy, so they treat the boy as a girl. I feel the lyrics are a little too high and poppy for the song and for the subject matter.
Aside from a couple songs that are snoozers this is a great album. It's one of my favorites to listen to since it collects a lot of my favorite Who songs.
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