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Omar 382
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Who's Next: 4.5/5 stars. Rank on RS Top 500 Albums List: 28
I was torn between giving this album 4/5 stars and giving it 4.5/5 stars... really close call, but I ended up bumping it up. It's just a great album.
The 5th studio album by English rock band The Who, Who's Next developed from the abandoned Lifehouse project- which was intended to be a multi-media science fiction rock opera whose abortion makes it one of the most legendary unreleased studio albums of all time (perhaps second only to The Beach Boys' abandonment of Smile). After Lifehouse caused extreme friction within the group (lead singer Roger Daltrey said The Who "were never nearer to breaking up"), and a near-nervous breakdown from lead guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend, the group cancelled their Lifehouse project and Townshend persuaded the group to record the songs as a straightforward rock album. Owing to its straightforward nature, or perhaps in spite of it; many consider Who's Next the greatest Who album and one of the greatest albums of all time.
This is the first Who album I've ever listened to. I've listened to it probably 20 times over the last 4 months. Though the album is divided into Side 1 (the first 5 songs) and Side 2 (the last 4 songs), I personally break this album down into three parts: Its first part is the first 2 songs ("Baba O'Riley" and "Bargain"), both long at at or over 5 minutes and considered masterpieces. The next part would be the next 5 songs- none of them considered Who classics; and then the last part is the last 2 songs ("Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again") both extremely long (over 8 minutes) and both also considered Who classics. Believe it or not, using this classification system, my favorite part of the album would be the second part, with the relatively unknown songs, then the first part with the two opening classics, and then the last two songs (which are not my personal favorites).
I think the middle 5 songs are awesome. "My Wife," written and sung by bass guitarist John Entwistle is a great song, as is "Going Mobile." The first two songs of the album are obviously classics; I personally prefer "Bargain" to "Baba O'Riley." I'm not as big on the last two songs as many are, but I still like them both overall (this is the very rare album where there isn't a single bad song. Probably the worst, in my opinion, is "Getting In Tune," but that's still a more than serviceable song.)
Though I don't consider any songs on the album a top 250 song of all time/masterpiece, my favorite song on the album just misses that cut: "Bargain." I previously stated that my favorite love song is "God Only Knows" with the Talking Heads' "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" and "Here, There, and Everywhere" right behind it. Well, we have to add "Bargain" to that list. Perhaps only Pete Townshend could write lyrics this beautiful, all surrounded by Entwistle's bass guitar:
I sit looking 'round
I look at my face in the mirror
I know I'm worth nothing without you
And like one and one don't make two
One and one make one
And I'm looking for that free ride to me
I'm looking for you
Like I said, great album. I particularly love the interplay between the hard, electric, reverberated sound and the gentler acoustic guitar that weaves in and out of the album. They juxtaposed the two sounds masterfully. I can't wait to listen to more Who shit.
I was torn between giving this album 4/5 stars and giving it 4.5/5 stars... really close call, but I ended up bumping it up. It's just a great album.
The 5th studio album by English rock band The Who, Who's Next developed from the abandoned Lifehouse project- which was intended to be a multi-media science fiction rock opera whose abortion makes it one of the most legendary unreleased studio albums of all time (perhaps second only to The Beach Boys' abandonment of Smile). After Lifehouse caused extreme friction within the group (lead singer Roger Daltrey said The Who "were never nearer to breaking up"), and a near-nervous breakdown from lead guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend, the group cancelled their Lifehouse project and Townshend persuaded the group to record the songs as a straightforward rock album. Owing to its straightforward nature, or perhaps in spite of it; many consider Who's Next the greatest Who album and one of the greatest albums of all time.
This is the first Who album I've ever listened to. I've listened to it probably 20 times over the last 4 months. Though the album is divided into Side 1 (the first 5 songs) and Side 2 (the last 4 songs), I personally break this album down into three parts: Its first part is the first 2 songs ("Baba O'Riley" and "Bargain"), both long at at or over 5 minutes and considered masterpieces. The next part would be the next 5 songs- none of them considered Who classics; and then the last part is the last 2 songs ("Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again") both extremely long (over 8 minutes) and both also considered Who classics. Believe it or not, using this classification system, my favorite part of the album would be the second part, with the relatively unknown songs, then the first part with the two opening classics, and then the last two songs (which are not my personal favorites).
I think the middle 5 songs are awesome. "My Wife," written and sung by bass guitarist John Entwistle is a great song, as is "Going Mobile." The first two songs of the album are obviously classics; I personally prefer "Bargain" to "Baba O'Riley." I'm not as big on the last two songs as many are, but I still like them both overall (this is the very rare album where there isn't a single bad song. Probably the worst, in my opinion, is "Getting In Tune," but that's still a more than serviceable song.)
Though I don't consider any songs on the album a top 250 song of all time/masterpiece, my favorite song on the album just misses that cut: "Bargain." I previously stated that my favorite love song is "God Only Knows" with the Talking Heads' "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" and "Here, There, and Everywhere" right behind it. Well, we have to add "Bargain" to that list. Perhaps only Pete Townshend could write lyrics this beautiful, all surrounded by Entwistle's bass guitar:
I sit looking 'round
I look at my face in the mirror
I know I'm worth nothing without you
And like one and one don't make two
One and one make one
And I'm looking for that free ride to me
I'm looking for you
Like I said, great album. I particularly love the interplay between the hard, electric, reverberated sound and the gentler acoustic guitar that weaves in and out of the album. They juxtaposed the two sounds masterfully. I can't wait to listen to more Who shit.