The Who - Who's Next (50th Anniversary) 2CD/LP/DLX LP

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Remastered 50th anniversary edition. "Who's Next" is the fifth studio album by The Who, released on 14 August 1971. Its origins lie in an abortive multi-media rock opera written by chief songwriter Pete Townshend called "Lifehouse". The album was commercially and critically successful, and became the only one by the group to top the UK charts.

Baba O'Riley makes a spectacular opener, with a hypnotic drone disrupted by power chords that are parachuted in off the backs of meteorites. Dave Arbus' subtle then frantic viola solo raises it another gear. There has rarely been a more durably evocative refrain than "teenage wasteland". As ever, Daltrey's ragged voice brings humanity to Townshend's over-thinking. Moon is typically hyperactive: any drummer playing like this today would be ordered to rein it in.

Bargain floats on the tension between acoustic guitar and the brave new synth. Like most of the album, it's melodramatic without - as with later Who - fattening into pomposity. The Song is Over oozes poignancy and Getting in Tune and Going Mobile are simply great songs. Behind Blue Eyes is a soul-searching ballad which bursts into belligerence, reflective then urgent. The climactic Won't Get Fooled Again stretches itself and chews its restraints until it becomes much more than a riff and a scream. It's on fire. In "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" it nailed the bleeding heart of protest-pop.

Tracklist:

- WHO'S NEXT -

1. Baba O'Riley
2. Bargain
3. Love Ain't for Keeping
4. My Wife
5. Song is Over
6. Getting in Tune
7. Going Mobile
8. Behind Blue Eyes
9. Won't Get Fooled Again

- SESSIONS, DEMOS, SINGLES & LIVE [2CD ONLY] -

1. Behind Blue Eyes (Record Plant NY)
2. Getting in Tune (Pete Townshend Demo)
3. Mary (Pete Townshend Demo)
4. Love Ain't for Keeping (Record Plant NY)
5. Pure and Easy (Pete Townshend Demo)
6. I Don't Know Myself (Olympic Sound Studios, London)
7. Too Much of Anything (Olympic Sound Studios, London)
8. Time is Passing (Live at the Young Vic)
9. Bargain (Live at the Young Vic)
10. My Wife (Live at San Francisco)
11. Baba O'Riley (Live at San Francisco)
12. Won't Get Fooled Again (Live at San Francisco)

About this product: this release is available on 2CD, LP and DLX LP formats.

The LP is pressed on half-speed mastered black vinyl.

The DLX LP is the Indie Stores Exclusive pressing on 'Coke Bottle Clear' vinyl.