Can't explain (The Who) (LP 4621 - 4624)

The Who  Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (CD, MCA Records, 1971) *****  

The Who  Then and Now (CD, MCA Records, 2004) ***** 

The Who  My Generation - The Very Best of The Who (CD, Polydor Records, 1996) ***** 

The Who  The Kids are Alright (CD, Polydor Records, 1979) ****  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Kings Recording (Abu Dhabi),

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Pictures of Lily

Gear costume: Magic Bus

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Compiled by Pete, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a peerless collection of smash hits. Most were released as singles, so this is a genuinely interesting alternative view of the band outside of the, at times, grandiose concepts that Pete was working on for albums. BTW the title refers to the four band members, but I prefer to consider how it describes the songs on the album. A five-star classic!

Then and Now's title refers to a couple of new (post Entwistle) tracks added to the 18 older songs - value for money at 20 tracks. The only problem is that the 18 'Then' songs are ones already included on plenty of other compilations.

My Generation - The Very Best of The Who is the pick of the comprehensive compilations. It also has 20 tracks but these are chosen to represent the best they would release from 1964 to 1981. Not a duff track to be found amongst the 20 - this is the best place to start if you are new to the joys of Pete, Roger, Keith and John.

And finally, the soundtrack to the film The Kids Are Alright. This also makes for an awesome alternative Who as all the songs are live versions of their big moments. Plus, it has the hilarious introduction of the band on The Smothers Brothers Show. 

All up, the DVD version of the film captures all the songs amid their contexts, but the album provides another view which is also valuable.

Where do they all belong? That's it for The Who. They do crop up on various Woodstock compilations but I don't think they've released their entire performance there on album yet - something I need to investigate.

(The Who) (LP 4617 - 4620)

The Who  Live at Leeds (CD, Polydor Records, 1970) *****  

The Who  Live at Hull 1970 (CD, Polydor Records, 2012) ****  

The Who  Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (CD/ DVD, Salvo Records, 1996) ****  

The Who  BBC Sessions (CD, BBC Records, 1999) ****  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Young Man Blues (Live at Leeds)

Gear costume: Substitute (Live at Leeds); Shakin' All Over (BBC Sessions)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Live is where The Who are best experienced outside of The Who Sell Out and Who's Next. It's certainly where Keith Moon sounds most manic and a vital force for The Who. His ADHD approach to drumming is perfect for this band.

Live at Leeds is a great example, their first and probably their finest live album. This is one case where the extended CD version with 14 songs has it all over the truncated original vinyl version which only had six songs.

The band is all attack on these 14 songs. Pete's energy and angst is channeled into an explosion of guitar riffs and John's bass is imperious. That plus Roger on top form and Keith drumming up a storm of rhythmic noise makes this an essential Who album.

Incredibly, The Who performed and were recorded live in Hull the next day! The result was shelved until 2012 because of some technical sound issues. Predictably, Live at Hull has a similar set list, although it does have a pretty full run through of Tommy. It's good, the crowd is a little more subdued and the sound isn't as good as Live at Leeds.

The third live album from 1970 is from their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival. The setlist is similar but there are a few new songs like Don't Know Myself, Naked Eye and Water included. I'm not sure I need yet another run through of Tommy though. 

All up - Live at Leeds is the place to go. The others are nice to have, of course, but Leeds is all you really need.

The BBC Sessions album serves as a great introduction to the band being a compilation of their BBC radio appearances. The time period is early doors (1965 to 1973) so there are loads of surprising covers, all given The Who treatment along the way.

Where do they all belong? Next time - The Who compilations.

Highway bright (Blake Mills) (LP 4616)

Blake Mills  Jelly Road (Vinyl, Pagan Records, 1993) ****  

Genre: Americana, folk rock, indie rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Skeleton Walking

Gear costume: There Is No Now

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors:  The JB Hi Fi $10 bins continue to produce some exceptionally good albums on my visits. This time it is an album by Blake Mills that captured my eye. Blake is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer. 

Jelly Road is his sixth album as a solo artist - he's also worked with Jenny Lewis among others. Mojo magazine called the album "experimental yet accessible" in its glowing review and that phrase certainly sums up Blake's approach to the acoustic guitar.

The smooth sound and leisurely movement through these songs is a rewarding listening experience. Each time I listen I get new sounds.

Where do they all belong? More ten-dollar bargains to come.

Sound round (The Who) (LP 4606 - 4615)

The Who  My Generation (Vinyl, Brunswick Records, 1965) ***  

The Who  A Quick One (Vinyl, Reaction Records, 1966) ****  

The Who  The Who Sell Out (Vinyl, Track Records, 1967) ***** 

The Who  Tommy (CD, Track Records, 1969) *** 

The Who  Who's Next (Vinyl and CD, Polydor Records, 1971) ***** 

The Who  Quadrophenia (Vinyl, Track Records, 1973) **** 

The Who  The Who by Numbers (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1975) *** 

The Who  Who Are You (Vinyl and CD, MCA Records, 1978) **

The Who  Face Dances (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1981) ***

The Who  Wire & Glass (CD, Polydor Records, 2006) ***

Genre: Pop, rock 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Real Groovy Records, Marbecks Records, Chaldon Books and Records (The Who by Numbers).

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: We Don't Get Fooled Again (Who's Next)

Gear costume: Bargain (Who's Next), 5:15 (Quadrophenia)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Who!! Full of great characters and one of the best and biggest bands of all time. The names are all iconic - Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, John Entwistle, and Pete Townshend. I'll split my collection of The Who into three posts. First up - the studio albums, many of which are a crucial part of rock's history, starting with My Generation in 1965. 

The thing is, in hindsight, it's a really weird album. Apart from My Generation, The Kids Are Alright and Legal Matter, Roger/Keith/John and Pete don't really sound like what The Who would become. Instead, they sound like a feral punk band. This pure youthful energy approach is similar to The Kinks debut.

The Who seemed to have a parallel career at this point - as a singles band and as an album band. While other acts like The Beatles also had singles that didn't appear on albums, the parallel careers weren't as schizophrenic as The Who's was (is - they are still going as far as I'm aware).

A Quick One is a strange album, as all band members contribute songs (Keith's instrumental is suitably quirky). Entwistle's Boris the Spider is a classic, of course, and The Who sound like The Who on this second album. Pete's A Quick One While He's Away is a great suite of songs joined together, which works a treat!

Third album, The Who Sell Out, continued in an experimental psychedelic vein, which was all very 1967 (a.k.a. the year of Sgt. Pepper). The album's songs are interspersed with fake commercials and public service announcements which gives it a fun aspect. I Can See For Miles was the powerful hit that is also included on The Who Sell Out.

The rest of the album is glorious Who music as well, with a noticeably heavier rock sound. That plus the lovely vocal harmonies and Roger Daltrey's voice are what makes the album stand out from the rest of the 1967 albums. For some critics, this is the best studio album by The Who. It's definitely in my top 2.

Tommy was next and it's been acknowledged as a landmark album for The Who for many years now. I'm not a huge fan. Some of the songs almost sound like demos and there is a really dark side to the rock opera (Fiddle About is very disturbing). I've also always struggled to listen to the whole thing at one sitting.

That said, there is no denying the power of songs like I'm Free, Pinball Wizard and the ten-minute instrumental called Underture. 

Who's Next is a five-star classic from my nominated year for the best in music ever - 1971. Every song is brilliant and it all sounds so fresh every time I hear it. The versions of the songs are the best too. My CD copy has some bonus songs from a New York session, and it pales in comparison to the finished product (although Baby Don't You Do It is a standout from those sessions).

The package also has a live concert from The Young Vic which is dynamite from start to finish. I particularly like the way they all tear into these songs. All four are in top form!

The brilliant streak continued with 1973's next Pete Townshend rock opera - Quadrophenia. Only the band's sixth studio album. It's one I love a lot more than Tommy, even though I have no direct experience of English '60's gang culture that is the album's subject matter.

Although the story line gets a bit muddled at times (i.e. the quadrophenia idea re the personalities of the four members of The Who), there are plenty of great songs throughout the album and the atmospheric use of sound effects works well. 

Highlights are plenty - The Real Me, The Punk Meets the Godfather, I'm One, Bell Boy, Love, Reign o'er Me and the utterly brilliant 5:15.

The Who by Numbers is a bit unloved, by everyone! Perversely, I quite like it. It doesn't have too many pretensions - instead it's a bunch of songs, mainly about Pete Townshend's various hang ups and problems, but when the Who perform them they become vaguely angry Who songs!

The hit song from the album was the weirdly crude joke song - Squeeze Box, which, again, I really like! BTW the original UK press had a unique number on the cover (like The Beatles album of 1968) - my copy is # 91002.

Who Are You (no question mark, so, I guess it's making a statement along the lines of: we, as in - the audience, are The Who) is the last album to include the self-destructive Keith Moon. Sadly, it's not his finest hour as a drummer with a muted performance, outside of the title track.

That song was the big hit which propelled the album to commercial success (it's still a song that turns up on classic rock playlists in 2026). Overall, the extensive use of synths make it an album I struggle with - hence the 2 stars.

Face Dances was the first album after Moon, with former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones filling the vacant drum stool having been awarded the poisoned chalice- how can you ever replace Moon?

The songs and instrumentation were much better than the Who Are You album and they sound like they mean it again.

I skipped their last album with The Ox and Jones (It's Hard from 1982) as it got poor reviews and I'm not a completist for the band. I also didn't grab a copy of Pete and Roger's Endless Wire from 2006 or Who (2019).

The final studio effort on my list is Wire & Glass - a six song EP released from Endless Wire. It's okay, but it didn't prompt me to shell out for the album.

Where do they all belong? It's a curious body of work - some outstanding albums along the way but also some albums that are tough to listen to in 2026. I have Pete and Roger's autobiographies and a few live DVDs, but I have no plans to add to my vinyl/CD collection at this point.

Next up: the live albums.

The air near my fingers (The White Stripes) (LP 4605)

The White Stripes  Elephant  (Vinyl, XL Records, 2003) ****  

Genre: Alt rock, blues rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records (gift from Roger)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Seven Nation Army

Gear costume: The Hardest Button to Button, Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Elephant is the fourth album by Meg and Jack White - The White Stripes. It's also my only album by them.

I'm not sure where it stands in their catalogue in terms of quality, but it sure has a big, impressive sound! Meg's drumming is probably not technically perfect, but she's perfect for The White Stripes and Jack is all over the album on vocals, guitars (and even does some piano).  

I haven't listened much to it, but relistening to it just now made me realise how much they were the Led Zeppelin of their time. They'd do a pretty cool version of In My Time of Dying for instance.

Where do they all belong? It's best listened to loud! More Jack White coming in the W's.

Let it happen (The Waterboys) (LP 4599 - 4604)

The Waterboys  A Pagan Place (Vinyl, Island Records, 1984) **  

The Waterboys  This is the Sea (Vinyl, Island Records, 1985) **** 

The Waterboys  Fisherman's Blues (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1988) **** 

The Waterboys  Room to Roam (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1990) ****

The Waterboys  A Rock in the Weary Land (CD, BMG International Records, 2000) ****

The Waterboys  Modern Blues (CD, Harlequin and Clown Records, 2015) *****

Genre: Rock, folk rock

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records, JB Hi Fi, Hope family collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Long Strange Golden Road (Modern Blues)

Gear costume: The Whole of the Moon (This is the Sea) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Waterboys is a band I've come to appreciate thanks to my mate GK introducing me to their Modern Blues album (more of that later). Suffice to say, I have now found Mike Scott's unique approach a glorious one, and I've backtracked in a haphazard fashion since then.

Back in 1984, when their second album came out (A Pagan Place), The Waterboys wasn't the sole vision of Mike Scott. It was a band, and it was a band that included Karl Wallinger on keyboards (who would go on to pop glory with World Party).

It's a weird album, with a strong start (Church Not Made With Hands) and a strong finish with the title song. In between are some strident attempts at loud and big music - one song is even called The Big Music. It was an album of its time for sure.

Same goes for This is the Sea. It's dominated by the epic Whole of the Moon but the rest of the album sees the band at a peak moment for big music. Karl Wallinger must have thought so too because he left after it to pursue his own path with World Party (more on them coming eventually).

Fourth album, Fisherman's Blues introduced a change in approach from big music to traditional folk music of Ireland and Scotland. There was even some country in the mix. The title track was again my favourite song on the album.

For the most part it's a successful about turn (doe see doe) for the band (which was quickly becoming another word for Mike Scott) and the album has grown on me over time. I don't think it's perfect. That would come next.

Room to Roam continues the thrust to luxuriate in Celtic flavours first explored in Fisherman's Blues, but sounds more confident, more playful, looser, more effective. Mike Scott would soon abandon the folk rock stylings and again, he did so at a peak moment.

I don't have the next album (Dream Harder, which got poor reviews) and so we jump ahead ten years and welcome a newly reinvented sonic palette for Mike Scott and his travelling companions (a revolving door thing). 

By the time of A Rock in the Weary Land, Mike's voice had developed a husky richness in the ten years since the folk-rock albums. The music had also developed into a denser, more psychedelic approach.

Modern Blues is where I started generally and Long Strange Golden Road specifically. It has been a constant grower since GK suggested it for our Album of the Week.

It's a real peak album. Mike's guitar sound is superb on the songs bookending Modern Blues, his voice is in top form, the songs are all memorable with inspired lyrics and it ends with my favourite song of his - the twisting, turning, evolving, Long Strange Golden Road.

Neil McCormick of The Telegraph newspaper: "Modern Blues is a rich, aromatic stew of classic rock and beat poetics, with Scott on a quasi-mystical quest to comprehend his own muse and every band member playing out of their skins". Yeah baby, yeah!!

Where do they all belong? Here's to the peculiar genius of Mike Scott! I'll be sorely tempted to keep purchasing Waterboy albums post A Rock in the Weary Land.

You shook me (Lucky Peterson) (LP 4597 - 4598)

Artemis  In Real Time (Vinyl, Blue Note Records, 2023) ****  

Lucky Peterson  I'm Ready (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1992/2023 reissue) **** 

Genre: Jazz, blues

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Tribute to the King (Lucky Peterson)

Gear costume: Don't Cloud Up On Me (great blues/jazz fusion by Lucky); Bow and Arrow (Artemis) (and a live version on YouTube).

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Another couple of albums that I've recently picked up from JB Hi Fi's $10 bins. With new albums hovering around the $90 mark, I'll be browsing the sale racks for a while yet. Luckily, there are still some superb albums lurking there.

Artemis is a jazz group that features an all-female lineup - making them fairly unique I would have thought.  Their leader is pianist Renee Rosnes; she is joined by trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover and multi-reedist Alexa Tarantino.

This is their second album, and I'll certainly be on the lookout for their debut. All the musicians are amazingly in sync on the album which has mainly original compositions from various band members. Two covers bookend the album - one by Lyle Mays and it ends with Wayne Shorter's Penelope.

The Blue Note site has plenty of info on the album and I really enjoyed this clip from YouTube if you are seeking more on Artemis.

Lucky Peterson was a talented blues musician who passed away in 2020 tragically at a young age - 55, after falling ill at home. He played guitar, keyboards, and sang on this album from 1992. His range of abilities are clearly evident throughout I'm Ready. Again, I'd certainly buy more of his early nineties albums on Alligator if I came across them.

Where do they all belong? Two great additions and for under $20!! I call that a bargain.