The Who – Who's Next : Life House (4xLP, (50th Anniversary, Remastered, Limited Deluxe Edition)
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How many weeks have The Who spent at #1 on the British album charts since their first appearance there in December 1965? The very surprising answer is: one. In the September 18, 1971 chart, Pete, Roger, John and Keith reached the top with the mighty "Who's Next."
The album had debuted in second place the week before, behind Simon & Garfunkel's long-running "Bridge Over Troubled Water." In its second week, "Who's Next" moved into the top spot before being unseated a week later by Deep Purple's "Fireball."
Three more Who studio albums went to No. 2 in the U.K. (Tommy, Quadrophenia and Face Dances), and they also reached No. 2 with the 1976 compilation The Story Of The Who. But they never returned to #1. "Who's Next" was their fifth LP to make it into the British Top Ten, a feat they would repeat another ten times, including with 2006's "Endless Wire." In July 2015, the "Who Hits 50" compilation came very close to extending that streak when it returned to #11 during the band's 50th anniversary tour.
Who's Next, produced by the band with associate producer Glyn Johns, would become their most successful release stateside in terms of RIAA certification. It was certified triple platinum and reached No. 4 in a 41-week chart run, repeating the peak of the Tommy album that preceded it; while Quadrophenia went to No. 2 in 1973, it is certified single platinum only.
Who's Next is considered by many to be the band's finest hour, coming off the great albums Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again. It also includes such familiar Who classics as "Bargain," "Behind Blue Eyes" and the majestic "The Song Is Over."
When "Who's Next" was released on August 14, rock writer Dave Marsh declared in Creem magazine that the band's new album "is to The Who what The White Album must have been to The Beatles." He meant to say that in both cases it was the studio follow-up to brilliant concept LPs, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" for one and Tommy for the other.
Following recent super deluxe editions and multi-format releases of Who classics "The Who Sell Out," "My Generation," "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia," comes "Who's Next," considered by many to be the band's best album. The album was a groundbreaking musical achievement that raised the bar for other artists and continues to inspire today.
At the dawn of a new decade, The Who, and especially their most important songwriter Pete Townshend, faced an unenviable dilemma. How to follow up an international sensation called "Tommy"?
The answer was an ambitious, futuristic, but prescient project called "Life House."
The ideas contained in "Life House" predicted a dystopian world that seems all too familiar to us today. Issues like environmental change, all-too-powerful corporations, and technologies like the Internet that the public knew nothing about at the time.
Discover the remastered "Who's Next" album featuring the acclaimed and remixed San Francisco 1971 show, pressed on black 180g vinyl, in a 12x12" box, with exclusive notes by Andy Neil.
Review
AllMusic rating:AllMusic users:Artist: The WhoLabel: Polydor, Track Record, UMCFormat: LPUnits: 1Country: WorldwideGenre: Pop & RockWho's Next
A1 Baba O'Riley
A2 Bargain
A3 Love Ain'T For Keeping
A4 My Wife
A5 Song Is Over
B1 Getting In Tune
B2 Going Mobile
B3 Behind Blue Eyes
B4 Won'T Get Fooled Again
Live At The Civic Auditorium San Francisco Monday 13th December 1971
C1 Introduction
C2 I Can'T Explain
C3 Substitute
C4 Summertime Blues
C5 My Wife
C6 Baba O'Riley
D1 Behind Blue Eyes
D2 Bargain
D3 Won'T Get Fooled Again
E1 Baby Don'T You Do It
E2 Magic Bus
F1 Introduction To Tommy
F2 Overture
F3 Amazing Journey
F4 Sparks
G1 Pinball Wizard
G2 See Me, Feel Me
G3 My Generation
H1 Naked Eye
H2 Going Down