The Who: Who Are You

Who Are You

Best song: Who Are You

Worst song: Love Is Coming Down

Overall grade: 4

[author’s note: wow, major delays on this one. I didn’t really think about the fact that I was travelling over the past couple of weeks and so wouldn’t really be able to write anything. I’m now doing NaNoWriMo, a ridiculous competition to write a 50,000 word novel in a month that I do every year, so that’s keeping me busy too. I’ll update sporadically (read: 2-3 times/week) this month and then daily in December.]

Music is not the only thing in my life that I’m slightly obsessive over. You wouldn’t think I had the time to be fanatical about anything else, but the truth is, I can name every single episode of the original CSI: Las Vegas, in order, unprompted. It’s a useless talent but a good party trick. Based on the statistic that I’ve seen each episode an average of 2.5 times, that means I’ve seen around 750 viewings of the opening credits, which equals 750 renditions of the theme tune, The Who’s ‘Who Are You’.

Yet when I listen to this album as a whole, I’m always pleasantly surprised by what a great song it actually is. Sure, that 15-second edit is enjoyable, but the full 6-minute version has to stand alongside ‘it’. and ‘Starless’ as one of the best sendoffs to an era of a band, ever. It’s final proof that Pete Townshend keeps getting better and better at lyrics, as he tells the tale of a night out drinking gone wrong: ‘I spit out like a sewer hole/Yet still recieve your kiss/How can I measure up to anyone now/After such a love as this?’. He’s come a long way since ‘your lies, lies, la-la-la-la-la-la-lies’. This song also marks Keith Moon’s only truly inspired drum work on the album, as well as being a delicate masterpiece with a synthesizer stitched seamlessly in and out of the other instruments. Minimalist in places, thick and heavy in others, it captures Townshend’s mindset and proved to everyone that the Who weren’t dinosaurs quite yet.

The album also has some interesting tracks which have not yet become soundtracks for major crime dramas, and these include fan favourite ‘Guitar and Pen’, a very meta song about the whole songwriting process. I like most of it, I especially like Roger on this one, but I can’t deal with the closing section that’s an embarrassing failed attempt at prog. Another is the opener, ‘New Song’, which is, as the title suggests, a new song. It’s powerful and very listenable but lacks the substance of the best material from this album and its predecessor.

So, neatly dividing Pete’s songs into two fantastic, two good and two awful, there’s also ‘Music Must Change’. Jazz influences, blues influences, and a more successful prog influence than that mentioned earlier combine to make a song that displays its message incredibly well even if you ignore the lyrics, and although there are no drums, that may actually be a good thing here – how else could you appreciate all the little twists and turns of the song? It’s all very insightful with highly emotional playing from everyone, and a highly satisfying closer for the first side.

Pete Townshend has referred to ‘Sister Disco’ as being one of his least favourite songs to perform, and I’m pretty much in agreement with him on that. It’s a vapid and obvious criticism of the disco music that was just becoming popular in 1978, and while its message may have resonated with listeners back then, it has little relevance now and there are no strokes of genius in the music to help it age. I also struggle to tolerate ‘Love Is Coming Down’ which seems insincerely soppy, and doesn’t engage me at all, unlike some of the Who’s previous ballads, and could probably be improved by a good pounding on the old drum kit to make it rock a bit, if Moon was still up to it.

With the exception of ‘Quadrophenia’, John Entwhistle has contributed a song to every Who album, but here he gets a massive three. That’s a third of the total number of tracks. Was Pete Townshend beginning to cool off from wanting to be in total control, or did he just lack inspiration? I’m generally a big fan of Entwhistle’s work but ‘Trick of the Light’ is certainly not one of his best efforts; it’s a formulaic song with little energy that’s barely worthy of being a remaster bonus track. On both that song and ‘905’, Entwhistle attempts to return to his ‘Boris the Spider’ past and write about more quirky subject matter – ‘Trick’, with its description of an impotent man’s encounter with a prostitute, leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but the science, futuristic vibe of ‘905’ definitely brings a smile and a flicker of the past. The synthesizer dances along and suddenly making music seems like fun rather than work as Pete messes around with electronics and John twiddles with an organ. It’s filler-ish, but it’s very good fun filler.

His final track, and the first one I’d pick for inclusion on a ‘Best of John Entwhistle’ compilation, is ‘Had Enough’. I love its apathetic, dark lyrics and the way they carry through to the music. Interestingly for a Who song, it features a few guests, including Ted Astley arranging the song, Rod Argent on keyboards and a full string orchestra, making it feel fresh compared to the rest of the album but still with enough trademarks to be recognisably Who.

Listening to this album makes it clear that Pete, Roger and John all still have the talent, but that the group as a complete unit is showing cracks. Keith Moon’s problems with drugs and alcohol were taking their toll on everyone, and none of the members are as involved as they once were, and some of the songs really do suffer for it. That said, at this point the Who had a point to prove: that they weren’t going to give up just because there were new music fashions around now. I think that there are enough good songs on the record to back up that assertion, and although it’s a shame that Keith’s farewell record didn’t feature a better performance from him, I can comfort myself with the knowledge that he never had to listen to ‘It’s Hard’.