The Who

Generally considered one of the band's more underwhelming releases. Features some of the most self-loathing lyrics Pete Townshend ever wrote, which provided an early glimpse of the navel-gazing direction his solo wanderings would eventually take. Also includes the extremely weird semi-hit, "Squeeze Box," which is almost as depressing as Chuck Berry's "My Ding A Ling."

By now, a nonopera by the Who is its own kind of concept album. While The Who by
Numbers pretends to be a series of ten unconnected songs, it's really only a pose; there's
not a story line here, but there are more important unities -- lyrical themes, musical and
production style, a sense of time and place. Quadrophenia and Tommy helped Peter
Townshend sharpen a writing style that was already one of the most personal an... More >

This record is more depressing than my dispassionate grade would indicate, not just because from the Who we expect better--do we, really?--but because its runaway fatalism invites dispassion. Peter Townshend has more to say about star-doubt than David Crosby or even John Lennon--he's not only honest but exceptionally inquisitive, and he's got a knack for condensing complex ideas. But despite their aperçus songs like "However Much I Booze" and "Dreaming From the Waist" circle around so obsessively that they end up going nowhere; I don't expect answers from the seeker, but I do expect him to enjoy the questions. No surprise that the two songs that break out of the bind are "Blue Red and Gray" (which means satori) and "Slip Kid" (about one more imagined teenager). (Grade - B+)