| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Al Kooper, Leslie West, Nicky Hopkins | | Distributor: | MSI Music Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | DDD |
Album Notes
The Who: Pete Townshend (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, ARP synthesizer); John Entwistle (vocals, brass, piano, bass); Keith Moon (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Leslie West (guitar); Dave Arbus (violin); Nicky Hopkins (piano); Al Kooper (organ).
Producers: The Who, Kit Lambert, Keith Moon.
Reissue producer: Jon Astley.
Includes liner notes by Pete Townshend and John Atkins.
While both THE WHO SELL OUT and TOMMY have their passionate devotees, WHO'S NEXT is the Who's masterpiece. Originally, Pete Townshend intended these songs for an even larger-scale project than TOMMY, a massive multimedia extravaganza, called LIFEHOUSE, that the songwriter eventually abandoned. Townshend was initially keen to keep at least the basic structure of the story for the Who's next record, but associate producer Glyn Johns convinced him that a straightforward single disc of the project's best songs would make a stronger album. Wise counsel indeed, because WHO'S NEXT is by far the group's most focused and powerful effort.
Bracketed by "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again," two classic rock epics that did more to advance the cause of synthesizers in mainstream rock than Kraftwerk's entire career, this album is basically flawless, ranging in mood from the heartbreaking "The Song Is Over" to John Entwistle's bitterly funny "My Wife." Although nearly every song on the record, barring only the bluesy acoustic interlude "Love Ain't for Keeping," is a saturation-level FM-rock-radio mainstay, WHO'S NEXT is that rarity--an intimately familiar album that never gets tiresome.
Editorial Reviews
Included in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums Ever
Q (01/01/2003)
4 stars out of 5 - WHO'S NEXT is The Who's most polished album, its hook-ridden songs pioneering the use of rock synthesizers without diluting the power-quartet attack that had defined the group since the mid-60s...
Mojo (05/01/2003)
4 Stars - Excellent - Considered by many to be the band's best, 1971's WHO'S NEXT was their only Number 1 album...
Q (01/01/1996)
...what they have given up in rawness and razzle-dazzle they have gained in depth of vision and musical maturity. Every cut on the album has something to offer...
Rolling Stone (09/30/1971)
...intelligently-conceived, superbly-performed, brilliantly produced, and sometimes even exciting rock'n'roll...
Rolling Stone (09/02/1971)
Ranked #99 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
NME (10/02/1993)
Ranked #21 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of The '70s.'
NME (09/18/1993)
Ranked #28 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time - ...An extraordinary cache of songs...
Rolling Stone (12/11/2003)
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