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Amazing
Desert Chase (film version)
Epic
Quadrophenia. Wow. Yet again The Who blew me away. Not sure if I prefer it over Who's Next or Tommy, but it's quite possibly the most technically impressive album they put out. They really accomplished something special with this one. Side 4 was my favorite; Doctor Jimmy, The Rock, and Love Reign o'er Me was just nonstop brilliance. What an insane three-run stretch of albums. I'm definitely going to go through all the rest of the albums as well, but I'll be setting my expectations lower.
My favorite song from The Who By Numbers, another really good album from the band. Side One was particularly great! It's not quite as amazing as the last three albums, but it's still a great effort and probably my fourth favorite among the albums. Mostly great songs here!
Who Are You and Sister Disco would rank among my favorite songs by the band, but collectively this is probably the weakest album of the original lineup. Definitely a big step down from the previous 4 albums. The good part is that that's no insult; a weaker The Who record is still a cut above most other music today! I tempered my expectations, and was still reasonably pleased with this one. Very sad to be finished with the classic era; it was such a fun ride. Just 3 more studio albums to go (4 counting the one dropping this year).
I did notice that :( I read up a lot on Keith and his life in between listening to the music. He was quite the character - a real mad genius. So sad how he passed away, and so young. Whatever happened next, there’s no way the band could be the same again without his soul and talent.
That was one of the better songs off that album. Already listened to the follow-up, It's Hard. Though it's not quite up to the level of the classic lineup albums, I thought it was noticeably more enjoyable than Face Dances. I liked many of the songs, particularly One Life's Enough, It's Hard, Cooks County, Eminence Front, and Cry If You Want. My favorite though was I've Known No War:
Finished up the studio album marathon of The Who with Endless Wire. While not all bad, I feel like there was wasted potential with this album. Many of the best-sounding songs were just way too short; the extended editions of We Got a Hit and Endless Wire were much better than the original short ones. There was some good stuff here and there, but overall I was a bit disappointed with this one. Hoping the new album, Who, will be their best in a while. Anyway, as I love to rank stuff, this is the ranking I came up with for The Who albums after much thinking:
1. Quadrophenia (10/10) - Pure musical brilliance from start to finish. I think it's the band's most powerful, epic, and entrancing record. I also think every band member was at the top of their game here. Songs like 5:15, I'm One, Doctor Jimmy, and Love Reign o'er Me provided some of the most impactful moments I've had with music - and those are just a few great tracks out of many. This album has no weak songs. I'm so glad to have experienced it.
2. Who's Next (10/10) - I had this at #1 for a while, and it's more or less interchangeable with Quadrophenia to be honest with how enjoyable it is. It's simply an awesome collection of rock songs and an essential album for anyone who enjoys rock at all. Won't Get Fooled Again, The Song Is Over, Baba O'Riley, Bargain, and Behind Blue Eyes are all Top 15 songs by the band.
3. Tommy (10/10) - I was enjoying the band a lot before Tommy, but Tommy is where they soared to new heights and really wowed me. I love the story told through the music, and the music itself is super catchy and well-done. As far as concept records/rock operas go, both Tommy and Quadrophenia are both cream of the crop. Tommy falls just under the Top 2 due to Roger Daltrey not reaching his peak yet at singing. Some of my personal highlights include Underture, Pinball Wizard, We're Not Gonna Take It, Sally Simpson, I'm Free, Amazing Journey, and Cousin Kevin.
4. The Who By Numbers (9/10) - While not quite as amazing as the previous 3 albums, The Who By Numbers is still really solid and more or less in the band's peak era - that or right after it. I like a bunch of songs off this one - Imagine a Man, Squeeze Box, Slip Kid, They Are All in Love, However Much I Booze, Dreaming from the Waist to name some. Just a couple tracks I wasn't crazy about, but collectively a really strong rock album.
5. My Generation (8.5/10) - When I heard the first side of My Generation, up until the title track, I wasn't too blown away. Decent stuff, but when the second half came I was REALLY into it! Some favorites of mine here are the title track, The Kids Are Alright, It's Not True, The Ox, A Legal Matter, and Please, Please, Please. Some really good rockers are packed in this one. A really good debut album by any standard!
6. The Who Sell Out (8/10) - Pretty good album here! I Can See For Miles is one of the band's best songs, and I'm also fond of I Can't Reach You, Our Love Was, Armenia in the Sky, and Tattoo to name a few. The concept of the album is pretty amusing; the commercial gags were mostly enjoyable, but I did feel like the album had just a bit too much filler. That might be affected by the fact I think I listened to most if not all the bonus tracks though. In any case, it's not my favorite album, but it's still good stuff.
7. A Quick One (7/10) - Of the early stuff, the sophomore album stuck out to me as the weakest of the bunch, but it's still got some enjoyable material. A Quick One While He's Away, Whiskey Man, Boris the Spider, Run Run Run, and So Sad About Us made for some good content for example. The trippy vibe was also pretty neat. Other tracks I wasn't as crazy about, but I had a good time with this album overall.
8. Who Are You (7/10) - The last album with Keith Moon was probably the weakest (I do go a bit back and forth between this and A Quick One for that), but there are some noteworthy highlights that boost the album a lot like the title track and Sister Disco. The middling tracks weren't so bad either. Overall though one can definitely notice that the band was coming down from their high point, and the collective sound is not as impressive as the previous albums. I still definitely recommend it though; every album by the band with the original lineup is well worth listening to.
9. It's Hard (6.5/10) - Of the post-Moon albums, It's Hard was my favorite. It's not essential The Who, but there's enjoyment to get out of it; I personally like I've Known No War, One Life's Enough, and the title track most. Not a horrible record like many suggest - just not up to the speed of the classics.
10. Face Dances (6/10) - Face Dances was a noticeable step down for me following the era of the original lineup. While not bad, the sound isn't quite as appealing as it once was. The Quiet One, You Better You Bet, How Can You Do It Alone, and Don't Let Go the Coat are some decent tracks that came off this one. I kind of liked Daily Records. I can leave the rest.
11. Endless Wire (6/10) - I can't give Endless Wire a failing grade because it's still got an appealing-enough sound and some decent songs (A Man in Purple, Two Thousand Years, Tea & Theatre, It's Not Enough stood out to me), but it is overall the weakest album of the lot for me. As I mentioned above, it felt like wasted potential with how short many of the tracks were, and Daltrey's vocals definitely began to regress (this is not a knock to be mean; it's normal to happen with age).
1. The Who Sell Out
2. Quadrophenia
3. Who's Next
4. My Generation (I could just as easily rank it alongside Who's Next; it's purely down to my mood when listening)
5. Tommy
6. A Quick One
7. The Who By Numbers
8. Who Are You
9. It's Hard
10. Face Dances
11. Endless Wire
If you haven't listened to it yet, I recommend giving Magic Bus: The Who on Tour a try, as well. It contains the studio version of one of my favourite Who songs - Magic Bus.
Nice list! I’ll definitely check that out. It’s been a true delight getting into this band.
The compilation albums are great additions to the studio albums. The Who had some really nice songs that were just single releases, etc. Call Me Lightning and Dogs are two of them.
It wasn't easy ranking the albums, that's for sure!
I'll be sure to get to those. My friend and I are going to be starting up a Genesis listening marathon next starting tonight, so I'll fit in the other The Who content whenever I can. Some exciting news for fellow Iron Maiden fans:
https://www.loudersound.com/news/iron-maiden-reveal-the-final-part-of-their-studio-collection-remastered-series
I've been collecting this latest line of CDs (with the exceptions of The X Factor and Virtual XI; don't care for those) and am very happy with them. Iron Maiden is easily one of my favorite bands and one of the very best metal bands; almost every one of their albums is worth getting IMO.
My friend and I actually have only ever heard a few Genesis songs here and there, but we explore a lot of rock music together (he really has more knowledge than I do, and is largely responsible for my appreciation of rock + metal music), and so we decided to tackle Genesis next. We marathon discographies together, or sometimes I do it by myself - like for The Who.
Heavy metal isn't for everyone, but I do recommend you give Maiden a chance sometime. If you ever want to try an album, my highest recommendation is Powerslave - one of my all-time favorite albums of any kind. Bruce Dickinson is probably also my favorite heavy metal singer.
First Genesis album, From Genesis to Revelation. For all the flak this album gets, I actually had a pretty good time with it! A pretty enjoyable first half, though admittedly so-so second half. Definitely intrigued and excited to keep going.
Had the opportunity to watch Maiden live back in 2010. It was a fantastic live show. Some years later, when I was a student, Bruce Dickinson stopped by the school I went too. Unfortunately I didn't have anything for him to sign, but it was cool seeing him up close.
That’s awesome. I’d love to go to a Maiden concert someday. As far as I’m concerned, they’re one of the most consistently great bands (only two albums I don’t like, and Bruce didn’t sing on them). I wonder if they’ll put out any more studio material.
You won't regret going to a Maiden concert, that's for sure!
Just checked the tour dates, and it was 2008, not 2010 I went to see them. It was the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, where they played mainly 80's material from Powerslave, Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (three of my favourite Maiden albums). One of the support acts were Avenged Sevenfold, who have become a really popular band too.
I like most of the Maiden albums; I'm not a fan of The X Factor and Virtual XI (I think most people aren't), and I rarely listen to Iron Maiden and Killers. Other than that, I like all what they've made.
I too hope they'll make another album at some point. They're still touring, so we can hope they're working on something between tours.