2019 was an amazing year for fans of “the big four” from the 1960s. With several 50th anniversaries for classic 1969 albums, we got lavish box sets for The Kinks’ Arthur album and The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed album. For The Beatles’ Abbey Road, we saw a whole reissue bonanza with several formats and boxes.
Out of “the big four” this leaves The Who, who also celebrated a 50th anniversary for their seminal album “Tommy” (1969). That album has however already been previously reissued in many formats. They opted for the unthinkable instead: releasing a brand NEW album. And a new GREAT album at that!
Simply titled Who, Pete Townshend has given every indication that this will be the final album from them. He has said that several times before, and he probably meant it each and every time, but THIS time there is a finality about it due to their age and a stated desire to finish other remaining ambitions as well. They are running out of feasible time to get back to this after so long. So this is likely it, and it is a great album to go out on.
This is easily my favourite album by The Who since Keith Moon was in the band, and maybe even then some. There is a new attitude, a snarl in the delivery, a spark in the riffs, and a punch in the songwriting that makes it feel like the old mindset is back. In spades. At the same time, they go a few new ways while staying true to their own ethos.
As a fan, I must admit that I feel a lot of relief that Endless Wire (2006) is no longer going to stand as the final Who album. That one felt unfocused and contrary – like its main songwriter had made it because he felt he had to, not because he actually wanted to.
Somewhere along the way something clearly changed.
When the band released their 50th Anniversary best-of collection Who Hits 50! (2014) it included the new song Be Lucky. That song was not just an unexpected highlight, but of such immediate and obvious quality that you could not help but wonder why the previous album hadn’t been more like this. Clearly there was more gunpowder in their arsenal still, they just hadn’t managed to channel it in 2006. At least in 2014 the fire seemed to be back, and in 2019 we finally got more of that fire in the shape of a full album.
The first single was Ball And Chain which is a re-recording of a Townshend solo song called Guantanamo (yes, about ‘that’ detention camp in Cuba) first released on his 2015 compilation album Truancy: the Very Best of Pete Townshend. The song has been marvellously dressed up as a Who track, with its rolling piano intro containing shades of the intro to classic track Baba O’Riley. Once the song gets going it takes the shape of a solid, thumping blues-y rock track led by acoustic guitar and a solid Daltrey vocal.
At this point in the game, the band takes nothing for granted. They are used to being slagged by critics, and judging by the opening track All This Music Must Fade they don’t seem to expect much this time either. Daltrey’s opening lines are:
I don’t care
I know you’re gonna hate this song
And that’s fair
We never really got along
I didn’t need to get further into the album than that to know that I loved it. When Daltrey first saw those words, however, he was concerned.
Townshend told Mojo magazine that “Daltrey was worried that I was putting words in his mouth, that I was saying, “You’re gonna hate this song Roger.” I told him “No, this is for you to sing; this is your view.” Daltrey said, “I don’t know that I feel that, ’cause I’m not a songwriter.” I just told him to imagine that he was one.”
The song also addresses the topic of subconscious plagiarism. In 1976, George Harrison was found guilty of that when a judge ruled that My Sweet Lord sounded too much like the Chiffons hit He’s So Fine. Since then, many artists have fallen foul of the legally sensitive topic of originality/copyright. Songwriters are becoming increasingly nervous about being sued, as any tune they write is bound to use musical elements that have already been explored.
In this song, Townshend takes a tongue-in-cheek look at music originality. He nullifies artists’ complaints about their music being pilfered because:
This sound that we share
Has already been played
And it hangs in the air
Townshend said, “Our musical palette is limited enough in the 21st century without some dork claiming to have invented a common chord scheme.”
Every song on the album has a Townshend writing credit, but one of them is actually written by Pete’s brother Simon! Having become a full touring band member as early as 2002 (rhythm guitar/backing vocals), Break the News is Simon’s first song to be used by The Who.
The song seems a bit untypical for The Who at first, but as it builds it fits quite well and adds a lot to the album. The finger-picking, melodic pop song is quite sensitive in its expression, and Daltrey is still more than capable to tap into that softer side of his expression. This song is not too far removed from something that Paul McCartney would do, with a catchy melodic flair similar to his style.
Simon said, “I came up with the song idea when I was going to see the doctor about something, and I wondered what it would be like if you had to come home and break really bad news. So this song is very upbeat and happy, but basically saying ‘I’ll always be the one to break the news. But only if it’s good news. If it’s bad, I’ll just keep quiet!’.”
The song is one of several that contributes to Who being a very varied album, which dares to try a few things not often associated with this band.
Other things sound very much like The Who though. Hero Ground Zero starts with a classic Townshend power chord at the beginning and is very much a classic Who track – albeit with an orchestral arrangement. Just when things starts getting too familiar, they change it up.
This song is sung from the perspective of a man who sings in a band called Hero Ground Zero. Pete Townshend originally wrote it as the opening orchestral track for an opera titled Age of Anxiety. He had sent the tune to Roger Daltrey back in 2016, and The Who vocalist loved it, so Townshend decided to include the tune on the album. He explained to Mojo magazine: “I wanted that on the album to create a link between what I’m doing with Roger and The Who and what I plan to do next.”
Another very intense song with catchy multi-layered vocals is Street Song which gets harder to listen to when you know what it is about. Pete Townshend wrote it about the Grenfell Tower block fire in London that killed 72 people in 2017. The disaster hit Townshend hard as he grew up in that neighbourhood and knew people that lived in the building next door to Grenfell. Also, his housekeeper Susanna knew five families who lived in the tower block.
Townshend and Roger Daltrey were able to help people directly affected by the disaster and they both contributed towards the Artists for Grenfell charity single. However, Townshend thought the song felt a bit gratuitous, so he set out to write something for Daltrey to sing. He told Mojo magazine: “Street Song‘s not specifically about Grenfell, but it’s certainly inspired by it. I read that a man managed to get a phone call through to his wife; “I’m just calling to say, so long.” He died in the fire. So I used that line.”
Daltrey did not want to sing the song at first. Said Townshend: “When he first heard Street Song, he said ‘I don’t want to get involved in in politics, I don’t want to go there, it’s still going to court.'” So Townshend set it aside. Then one day he got a message from Daltrey saying he had done a vocal on it. The Who songwriter listened and thought, “He’s nailed it.”
Street Song is one of four tracks on the album featuring Zak Starkey on drums. He has been their live drummer for a while and I consider him their ideal drummer at this point. I wish they had used him on every track, not just for his skill and suitability but also for improved continuity.
The album cover was designed by pop artist Peter Blake, whose work includes The Who’s Face Dances and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album covers. The sleeve of Who is a patchwork of 25 squares: 22 squares showing different coloured images placed around three squares forming the word “WHO” in the centre of the album cover.
The 22 squares depict some of the band’s influences and symbols of their career and culture, including the Union Jack, a pinball machine, baked beans, a scooter, a red Routemaster ‘Magic’ bus, the Kids Are Alright release poster, etc. It is a throwback to when artwork mattered. You can study it, look for the references and ponder why something is there. Love it!
This album is such a delight after years of… well, less delight, and downright stubborn inactivity from this band. This album is an instant classic of the kind that in time will prove itself. I know. I have no doubt.
I am so glad that bands of a certain vintage can still make classic albums like this. This album should be celebrated like the triumph that it is.
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