Who's Next

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.|