The Who 20-1

[adammania9]

I can’t explain, to this day, remains one of my favourite songs. It has held up remarkably well for its age. Almost 60 years old

 

[Spearman]

I can’t explain, to this day, remains one of my favourite songs. It has held up remarkably well for its age. Almost 60 years old

A very good early Townsend song. Daltrey still singing R&B

 

[Hoos]

I can’t explain, to this day, remains one of my favourite songs. It has held up remarkably well for its age. Almost 60 years old

A very good early Townsend song. Daltrey still singing R&B

My favourite version is probably the one from Live At Leeds.

 

[Fossie 32]

How does everyone rate I’m Free? It’s in my top few Who faves so I entered it in the song contest. Guess where it came….

 

[Hoos]

How does everyone rate I’m Free? It’s in my top few Who faves so I entered it in the song contest. Guess where it came….

Great song. Let me guess...4 votes and finished last?

 

[Fossie 32]

Great song. Let me guess...4 votes and finished last?

 

[Fossie 32]

Zero votes and last. I did mention I think it's an inspiring song by one of the greatest groups of all time and then said same to my wife hoping for reassurance she said she didn't like it much and we had an argument about it
Do you think it's kinda inspiring? I mean everyone wants to be free and I think it captures that feeling. Then of course the music is brill

 

[worbod]

Damn, I'm too late to guess where the song ranked. I wanted to say "number free".

 

[Fossie 32]

Damn, I'm too late to guess where the song ranked. I wanted to say "number free".

 

[Hoos]

Zero votes and last.

Given who the majority of the contestants are in the SC, I'm surprised if more than 2 or 3 have even heard of The Who, much less have the taste to appreciate their music.

Do you think it's kinda inspiring? I mean everyone wants to be free and I think it captures that feeling. Then of course the music is brill

I've always regarded the song as integral to it's part on the Tommy album overall, but taken in isolation I can see how it could be interpreted the way you have described it.

It's a great song. Simple as that.

 

[Fossie 32]

Given who the majority of the contestants are in the SC, I'm surprised if more than 2 or 3 have even heard of The Who, much less have the taste to appreciate their music.

I've always regarded the song as integral to it's part on the Tommy album overall, but taken in isolation I can see how it could be interpreted the way you have described it.

It's a great song. Simple as that.

Yes, I appreciate it both as integral to Tommy but also as more applicable to life generally which is why I love it even more - I see I put it as #1 in my list on here, good choice!

 

[adammania9]

I pretty much just ranked the singles when I made this list in 2017. I only properly discovered The Who in the last few months and had only just tapped the surface. Don't listen to them as much now, but they were an incredible group. I'd have a different ranking nowadays.

 

[Fossie 32]

 

[Hoos]

That Tanglewood show is magnificent. Widely available on bootleg for years but so far no official release.

Anyone thinking of purchasing the Who's Next/Lifehouse box set that includes the full San Francisco 1971 concert?

 

[adammania9]

Melancholia continues to blow me away to this day. One of their very finest recordings

 

[Hoos]

Melancholia continues to blow me away to this day. One of their very finest recordings

Incredible to think that was never included on an album. I think it was recorded after the Sell Out album and didn't fit with the narrative on Tommy. It's an awesome track. Entwistle's pounding bass in the final verse is prophetising metal.

 

[Cactus_]

8. I Can See For Miles (1967)
from The Who Sell Out



Though not one of the better performing Who singles in the charts, “I Can See For Miles” represents the group’s quintessential song by highlighting all four members with equal recognition and the angst-driven subject that rightfully predicted a bright future for the group.

My #1

 

[Hoos]

My #1

Awesome track. It's failure to go any higher than #10 in the UK charts prompted Townshend to comment: "To me it was the ultimate Who record, yet it didn't sell. I spat on the British record buyer"

Classic Pete.

 

[Fossie 32]

It was groundbreaking energy and ferocity- never been anything like it since either

My #1

Awesome track. It's failure to go any higher than #10 in the UK charts prompted Townshend to comment: "To me it was the ultimate Who record, yet it didn't sell. I spat on the British record buyer"

Classic Pete.

 

[Hoos]

It was groundbreaking energy and ferocity- never been anything like it since either

The hallmark of The Who from 1963 to...probably 1970. The energy and ferocity never disappeared, but they couldn't maintain that unrelenting force of nature group effort for ever: The debut album has it; the early singles; Woodstock; Live At Leeds.

You are spot on about there never been anything like them since. Not even close. The punks had a similar ferocity and energy, but not the same air of menace and they only had a fraction of The Who's actual talent.

 

[DickieKnee]

So has the whole Live at Leeds concert been remastered in both sound and vision? If so can you just buy the bluray and CD or vinyl.

This looks amazing in colour.

 

[Hoos]

So has the whole Live at Leeds concert been remastered in both sound and vision? If so can you just buy the bluray and CD or vinyl.

This looks amazing in colour.

Leeds was not filmed. I think there's a few minutes of Bootleg video - with no sound - floating around, but aside from that, nothing.

The album has been expanded and remastered a few times now. There is a 2CD version of the entire show with the Tommy section on disc 2 and the rest of the show on disc 1. The only thing wrong with that is it's not in sequence, as Tommy was pretty much in the middle of the show.

Around 10 years ago there was a download only version released that had the entire show in sequence. The sound on this release is f**king incredible. It's hard to believe when you're listening to it that it's February 1970. It sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday.

The show recorded the following night at Hull had also been released and is almost identical as far as set list and quality. That one's called...wait for it...Live At Hull.

That clip is from the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival, which was about 6 months after Leeds.

 

[DickieKnee]

There is a 2CD version of the entire show with the Tommy section on disc 2

Yeah I have that on CD, the deluxe edition.



The deluxe edition is a great sounding CD. It was remastered about 20 years ago and brings Entwistles bass to the front more. I've also got the deluxe edition of Who's Next. Again Entwistles bass is a lot more dominant on the remaster and a great sounding CD.

 

[Hoos]

Yeah I have that on CD, the deluxe edition.
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The deluxe edition is a great sounding CD. It was remastered about 20 years ago and brings Entwistles bass to the front more. I've also got the deluxe edition of Who's Next. Again Entwistles bass is a lot more dominant on the remaster and a great sounding CD.
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Having Entwistle's bass upfront in the mix is always a good thing. It's interesting how many Who songs are driven by his bass.

 

[Fossie 32]

It was disturbing reading the negative comments about Tommy on this clip - just the comments hurt my eyes so I didn't bother watching it to read why it is 'flawed'. eg, Underture is 'filler' and I'm Free is one of the 'softer' tracks. And '....the movie soundtrack is better'!! I think I just watched that once and wasn't big on it.
It was interesting to see people saying the live versions of Tommy eg on Live At Leeds are 'better' than the original. I just had a listen to the live version again to see where they would be coming from and it does have more oomph and flourishes on guitar and drums but I still prefer the original for sure. Did like Roger's vocals in the first bit of We're Not Gonna Take It, like his voice was cracking a little with emotion. Some nice guitar on that too. Spookily when I put it on my dog Tommy came to see what I was doing. [Named after Libba ]