Album Review #21 - The Who - "Who Are You" (1978)

 Album Review #21

 

Artist:  The Who

Album:  Who Are You

Year of Release:  1978

Grade:  4.5 / 5

 

Band Members

Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, percussion

Peter Townshend – guitars, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Sister Disco” (bridge)

John Entwistle – bass, synthesizer, backing vocals, lead vocals on “905”, brass

Keith Moon – drums, percussion, backing vocals

 

Background

One of the great live bands of all time, The Who mixed hard rock, rock opera, pop, and punk music (before it became a thing).  It had one of the ultimate lead singers in Roger Daltrey, power chord master Pete Townshend, quiet but thundering bassist John Entwistle, and maniac drummer Keith Moon to form the quartet of rock’s loudest bands.  They created an original masterpiece as the rock opera “Tommy” and the classic album “Who’s Next”.  They followed that up with another (but less successful) rock opera “Quadrophenia” and the mediocre “The Who By Numbers”.  They were aching for a comeback album and “Who Are You” was it.  It had a melodic and radio friendly group of songs.

 

Unfortunately, this album was the last one with drummer Keith Moon, who overdosed on a prescription drug for overcoming alcohol addiction mixed with alcohol after attending a party at Paul McCartney’s.  His fiancé found him the next morning.  He died three weeks after the release of “Who Are You”.  Moon’s health had been deteriorating over the past several years after years of drug and alcohol abuse.  Add in his manic personality and his destructive personality, no hotel room or prank was out of bounds.  The Who received a lifetime ban from Holiday Inn.  The cover featured all four band members with Moon sitting in a chair that had an ominous sign “Not To Be Taken Away”.

 

This is one of my favorite Who albums because of the quality of the songs.

 

 

Track Listing

1.      “New Song” (Pete Townshend)

2.      “Had Enough” (John Entwistle)

3.      “905” (Entwistle)

4.      “Sister Disco” (Townshend)

5.      “Music Must Change” (Townshend)

6.      “Trick Of The Light” (Entwistle)

7.      “Guitar And Pen” (Townshend)

8.      “Love Is Coming Down” (Townshend)

9.      “Who Are You” (Townshend)

 

 

Review

 

“New Song” opens the album.  The song itself is about the industry’s desire to repeat previous successes of other songs.  It has a much more polished feel than most Who songs.  The keyboards add a much more layered feel to the typical song.  Daltrey’s vocals shine and they interplay with the instruments.

 

 

“Had Enough” is a rare Entwistle track that wasn’t sung by Entwistle as Daltrey takes the lead vocals.  Daltrey’s vocals have a snarling quality without being obnoxious.  It was originally designed as part of a rock opera the Entwistle was working on but never materialized.  The producer and Daltrey got into a brawl over the producer’s use of a full string orchestra.  The song was featured in the show “WKRP in Cincinnati”.  This is one of my favorite cuts on the album.

 

“905” is a song about a test tube baby as it explores the role of individuality.  The song is sung by Entwistle.  The song does have an edgier feel to it.  It is perhaps the weakest song on the album.  Mainly because if feels out of place with the feel of the rest of the album.

 

“Sister Disco” is The Who’s anti-disco song.  Disco was at its height of popularity and rock fans generally hated disco music but it is also about being too old to hang out partying at the bars (discos).  Townshend (the author) has issued contradictory messages about it’s meaning.  I used to really like this song but now I feel less inclined to listen to it.

 

 

“Music Must Change” is about the need to music to be innovative and exploration.  Music shouldn’t be stagnant.  In some ways, it is a sequel to “New Song”.  Daltrey’s vocals are pleading.  The song has somewhat of a blues feel to it.

 

“Trick Of The Light” is a song about an encounter with a prostitute written by Entwistle.  The guitars and drums are featured in the forefront.  The singer feels emasculated.  The song has a great melody and, despite it’s subject matter, is radio friendly.

 

“Guitar And Pen” is a song about having something to say but the inability to say it.  Daltrey’s vocals are the harshest on the album.  It is not one of the strongest songs as a whole but it does have moments that are pure Who magic.

 

“Love Is Coming Down” is the ballad of the album.  It is about the difficulties of relationships but comes to the conclusion that as difficult as things can get that the journey is worth it in the end.  It is another example where Daltrey can sing a ballad with emotion with the best of them.

 

“Who Are You” is the last song and the biggest song on the album.  This song is in someways a typical successful Who song.  Daltrey’s vocals are top notch.  The keyboards and guitars by Townshend are spot on.  Entwistle’s wall of sound bass is typically excellent.  Moon’s drums show how big of a sound that he can project.  The song was inspired by a meeting with two members of the band the Sex Pistols after a difficult meeting with former Beatles/Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein that frustrated Townshend.  It is one of the Who’s biggest selling singles.