Label: Universal Music (Japan), UICY-20425
Style: Classic Rock, Rock, Pop Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 70:59
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 510 Mb
It’s staggering, in retrospect, that The Who – punks before punk was invented – should have run scared from Rotten and company. Yet by 1978 there’s no doubt they had lost their way: Quadrophenia and The Who By Numbers had scarcely added to their stage set list and they were unashamedly trading on past glories, while Roger Daltrey had more than one eye on his parallel solo career. A reset was desperately needed, and Who Are You was it.
But as the accompanying book to this set explains (8CD Boxset), civil war was breaking out on several levels in the band’s Ramport Studios. Daltrey headbutted co-producer Glyn Johns, leaving Pete Townshend’s brother-in-law Jon Astley to pick up the musical, if not physical, pieces. Drummer Keith Moon was read the riot act for his impaired performance – he shaped up remarkably, only to accidentally/fatally overdose weeks after release. Bassist John Entwistle rejected the initial mix, claiming it didn’t have enough bottom end. And guitarist/songwriter Townshend routinely downed tools at five to be with his family.
All in all, it’s amazing that a coherent album resulted. The title track, reflecting Townshend’s fear that the new wave would make his band seem irrelevant, has since gone on to be acclaimed a classic. Music Must Change is still an endearing oddity: its 6/8 time signature flummoxed Keith Moon, as writer Townshend had predicted, so doesn’t feature him at all. Curiously, it was one of only four songs from the album ever played live, alongside Who Are You, Sister Disco and Trick Of The Light. The latter was one of three John Entwistle contributions among the nine tracks, a high proportion indeed.
This was the last Who album with Keith Moon.
(recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/the-who-who-are-you-reviews)
01. New Song (04:13)
02. Had Enough (04:30)
03. 905 (04:02)
04. Sister Disco (04:22)
05. Music Must Change (04:38)
06. Trick of the Light (04:47)
07. Guitar and Pen (05:58)
08. Love is Coming Down (04:06)
09. Who Are You (06:21)
10. No Road Romance (Previously unreleased) (05:05)
11. Empty Glass (Previously unreleased) (06:23)
12. Guitar and Pen (Olympic '78 mix - previously unreleased) (06:02)
13. Love is Coming Down (Work-in-progress mix - previously unreleased) (04:05)
14. Who Are You (Lost verse mix - previously unreleased) (06:22)
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