The Who by Numbers

Started by badhead, May 15, 2014, 02:40:11 PM

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badhead

Anyone eles think this is the best who album.  Very underrated

black

For what ever reason (stupid/on the grass?) it took me a long time to get into the Who. Consequently I still find myself leaning towards their earlier work. When this album hit I thought it was kind of corny and seemed like a lot of it was Tommy rejects. Not to say this isn't a great Who album (or album in general), but it still doesn't really fry my burger.

What about it gets y'all going there, badhead?
Why do you say underrated?
I mean, it had a couple of tunes that went all Top 40 Hits-style on it. That seems fairly top rated in itself.
At Least I Don't Have The Clap.

badhead

Quote from: black on May 15, 2014, 05:22:34 PM
For what ever reason (stupid/on the grass?) it took me a long time to get into the Who. Consequently I still find myself leaning towards their earlier work. When this album hit I thought it was kind of corny and seemed like a lot of it was Tommy rejects. Not to say this isn't a great Who album (or album in general), but it still doesn't really fry my burger.

What about it gets y'all going there, badhead?
Why do you say underrated?
I mean, it had a couple of tunes that went all Top 40 Hits-style on it. That seems fairly top rated in itself.

The lyrics are very honest and really reflect where Townsend was at the time.  Getting older, and getting sick of the who and himself.  "however much I booze"  "dreaming from the waist" and "slip kid" are worth the price alone.

RacerX

I prefer Quadrophrenia.

Re: underrated Who albums, Odds & Sods is much better than its sales might suggest.
Livin' The Life.

MadJohnShaft

I think it works great as a precursor to Empty Glass but not so much as a Who album. Great album though.   Squeeze Box was a huge hit for them.
Some days chickens, some days feathers

Lumpy

Haven't heard the whole album, but from the songs I've heard on the radio, it's veering dangerously close to the boring Adult Rock territory.
Rock & Roll is background music for teenagers to fuck to.

MadJohnShaft

That Pete Townsend invented with Who's Next and stuck with ever after.
Some days chickens, some days feathers

mortlock

I cant stand the who, hate them almost as much as the beatles..

The Shocker

The Who Sell Out is my favorite.

L. Ron

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do and doing it with the people that you love.

tastelikedirt

I think this was going to be a Pete solo record. I like it, but there's several other Who records that are better.

MikeyT

"I cant stand the who, hate them almost as much as the beatles.."


    Alright... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I appreciate your candor.   :D

     Who else is on the hate list?
'Seven doctors couldn't help my head,
They said, "You better quit, son, before you're dead".'

thisissomeguy

When it comes to the Who, most of the time I prefer the original mixes over the remixes that were on their 90's reissues but with By Numbers I prefer the remixed version. I think the vocals and guitar are handled a lot better on the 90's remixed version, it makes most of the songs sound a lot angrier.

I agree with MJS, However Much I Booze, Dreaming From the Waist and How Many Friends were basically previews of what was to come with Pete's 80's solo material. Slip Kid is excellent, I think Keith has a great drum sound on that one. I like Imagine a Man, Success Story, They Are All in Love and In a Hand or a Face a lot as well.

It's worth getting if you can find it cheaply, the 90's remix is easy to spot, it's the one that has a few live bonus tracks.
More intense than playing a game of Battleship with Roger Waters.

mortlock

Quote from: MikeyT on January 10, 2015, 03:17:26 AM
"I cant stand the who, hate them almost as much as the beatles.."


    Alright... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I appreciate your candor.   :D

     Who else is on the hate list?
U2 and Dave Matthews..

MikeyT

Quote from: RacerX on May 15, 2014, 05:49:03 PM
I prefer Quadrophrenia.

Re: underrated Who albums, Odds & Sods is much better than its sales might suggest.


           Agreed, on both counts. :)
'Seven doctors couldn't help my head,
They said, "You better quit, son, before you're dead".'

MadJohnShaft

The remix version is nice (and on Apple Music).

I think this is what The Who would have been like as a three piece, with Townsend's more melancholy vocals and acoustic guitar taking some of the stadium bombast out of the band.



I don't get why Who Are You is so disliked, 'twas one of the first LPs I ever bought so I like it a lot.
Some days chickens, some days feathers

Pissy

I'm going to listen to this tonight and chase it with Who's Next. We'll find out for sure.

For the record i think Tommy is among their most overrated albums. yep.
Vinyls.   deal.

MadJohnShaft

Tommy took on  a life of its own, like another band did it and they are covering it.
Some days chickens, some days feathers

stooge

Quote from: The Shocker on July 03, 2014, 09:33:53 PM
The Who Sell Out is my favorite.
damn right
it´s their peak
next and leeds are awesome
sadly they lost it after quadrophenia
who are is a good song but it is the only good one on the lp
i generally have much more love for 60s who than for their 70s stuff

i didn´t forget - i just couldn´t remember...

The Shocker

The fake ads do it for me.  So awesome.

MadJohnShaft

When Faces Dances came out I cried. Now I have come to terms with it.

Some days chickens, some days feathers

melsroomate

John Entwistle art alone pushes this into classic rock strata. After Quadrophenia and Who's Next there had to be an inevitatable letdown hit wise, but the album when viewed through the lens of an individual effort still stands the test of time. There ain't no way out

JLKOWAL

The WHO was the shit back then in the late 60's, 70's and 80's. Great classic band. ;D