I’ve owned this album for around two years now, and it’s always been and always will be my favourite Who record. Don’t get me wrong, some of the others are great, but the Who never sounded as good in the studio as they did live on stage. Who’s Next is a perfect example of this, the songs are all great, yet the production is a little too clean for my liking, and it never really showed their full power and energy.

In 1969, The Who wanted to release a live album, so they recorded several of their US shows, yet when they returned back home, Mr Townshend could not face listening to all these tapes, and told their sound engineer to burn them all on a big bonfire. I guess that was the end of that. Yet they still wanted a Live album, so they booked a couple of small shows in England. Surprisingly one of the venues was Leeds University, where this monumental album was recorded.

The liner notes that come with the CD are quite extensive, there’s quite a cool quote from Pete Townshend which pretty much sums up the Who’s live act:
“Our act depends a lot on athleticism, it demands high volume. Even if the group ever gets quieter we will always want voices loud, sounding huge and exciting”

Ok, the Who maybe weren’t quite as heavy as Blue Cheer, or maybe Black Sabbath, but then, they really were quite a different band. Easily as loud as either of these two giant greats, The Who really did whip up a storm, especially on this live recording. The Who played good old rock and roll, but played it well with all the energy they could muster. What I have always liked about this band is that on stage there was never any over the top, muso wankery, which infested the likes of Led Zeppelin. I mean, 45 minute drum solos? Ultra extended guitar masturbation a la Jimmy Page (Don’t get me wrong, this guy DID play some great stuff in his career, even with zeppelin)? No-thank-you-very-much! (although each to their own, don’t kill me 🙂 

This is not to say that everything The Who did on stage should be treated as gospel, but between 1968 – 1972, I am lead to believe that they were purely amazing.

On every track, Keith Moon gives it his ALL, furiously smashing at his drum kit, putting in extra beats everywhere which u never heard on the studio versions of these songs (or at least, that’s how it seems). John Entwhistle plucks away at the bass creating a sound that would smack you around the chops if it were a physical entity, and Pete Townshend being…. well, Pete Townshend really. A true “Axe-Man” as they say.

Heaven and Hell opens the show, the band kick into it in full swing, a favourite for them whenever opening up a live act. Now… I could do a track by track run through here, but I don’t think I really need to. Included are some of their early pop singles which truly rock, and thankfully only a couple of tracks off their over rated Tommy album. Amazing Journey/Sparks is damn heavy! 

Overall, this is a live album that anyone should hear if they are at all interested in rock music, it is also cited by many as a proto punk record too! The only quibble that I have is that it’s perhaps a little ‘samey’ sounding throughout… yet there is only 1 guitar, 1 bass and 1 drum kit being played.

A Classic!
🙂