Album #6:
Who's Next
After the Mod album, the experimental album, the themed concept album, the narrative concept album and the live album, '
Who's Next' is the bands progressive rock album
'Who's Next, which was their only release to reached the top of the UK album charts, is considered by many to be not only the best album the band ever released, but also one of the finest rock albums of all time, and there is some merit to this. It's certainly the most consistent thing they recorded in terms of quality songs - there isn't a bad one amongst them - and it introduced an important new element into the groups overall sound: the synthesizer. More importantly, The Who were now at their creative peak, both as individual musicians and as a band. On stage they regularly performed with breathtaking panache, their confidence was at an all-time high, and their status as one of the world's great rock acts was secured for eternity
'Who's Next' started life as another one of Pete's concepts, this time a science fiction movie / musical / multimedia production called 'Lifehouse', which contained enough songs for a double album. However, the project became bogged down in its futuristic, philosophical complexities, and was eventually reduced to a single LP and no film
The concept of 'Lifehouse' is long and bewildering, and the random nature of the songs on 'Who's Next' gives little clue to the storyline. In view of what the album eventually became, there is little point in trying to explain it here, but among the many ideals was Pete's design for the band to become one with the audience, and to break down the barrier that exists between concertgoers and artists. U2 have been grappling with a similar idea throughout their career!
There are two main things that make 'Who's Next' different to any of the bands previous albums. The first is the clarity of sound that was achieved by producer Glyn Johns who was much more technically adept than Kit Lambert was. The second, as already mentioned, was the introduction of synthesizers into the bands sound, most notably on 'Baba O'Riley' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again' which top and tail the (original) release. Unlike so many of his unimaginative peers, Pete didn't use his synth simply as a solo keyboard that would make funny noises, but as a rotating musical loop which underpinned the melody and added a sharp bite to the rhythm track. The style on offer here, in fact, is the first appearance on a rock record of the repetitive electronic sequencing that was so common on the pop and dance music of the 90's
There were other leaps forward as well. Pete's songwriting showed a sustained level of brilliance that he would never achieve again (although he would come close on the 'Quadrophenia' album). John's bass lines were more melodic, but as fluid as ever, and Keith managed to reign in his wilder antics while maintaining his usual key expressive role. But the biggest triumph belonged to Roger. The experience of 'Tommy' has boosted him confidence as a vocalist immeasurably, and it shows here
The front cover of the album is a photo that was taken at Easington Colliery in County Durham, featuring the band standing next to a large concrete monolith, apparently just having had a wee-wee against it! apparently, only Pete's was genuine - the rest 'couldn't perform' and had to make do with some water poured from a bottle
The rear cover featured the band backstage at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, amongst a debris of furniture
Other suggestions for the cover included the group urinating against a Marshall Stack; an overweight nude woman with the bands faces in place of her genitalia; and Keith dressed in lingerie and a wig, holding a whip
Thirty seconds of spiraling solo synthesizer, excessively long for any intro, opens the album and one of the most memorable tracks ever recorded.
'Baba O'Riley', originally titled 'Teenage Wasteland', is a tribute to both Meher Baba, Pete's spiritual guide, and Terry O'Riley, the electronic composer whose work '
A Rainbow In Curved Air' inspired the use of looping synth riffs. After forty seconds, a piano joins the mix, followed by vocals, drums, bass and eventually guitar join in, but it's the cut-and-thrust between Roger's leonine roar and Pete's tuneful pleading that gives the song it's tension and best moments, although the free-form ending, featuring Dave Arbus (from the band East Of Eden) on violin and Keith, playing as fast as he's ever played, is quite mesmerizing
The song, the starting point for Pete's imaginary generation in their search to find Nirvana, is a timeless Who entity in Roger's hands, and the downright disgust at the way things have turned out (post Woodstock) was never best expressed in rock and roll
The explanation of how the synth loop came about is fascinating:
Pete:
"This was a number I wrote while I was doing these experiments with tapes on the synthesizer. Among my plans was to take a member of the audience and feed information - height, weight, autobiographical details - about this person into the synthesizer. The synth would then select notes from the pattern of that person. It would be like translating a person into music. On this particular track, I programmed details about the life of Meher Baba and that provided the backing for the number"
"Out here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living
I don't need to fight
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven
Don't cry
Don't raise your eye
It's only teenage wasteland
Sally ,take my hand
Travel south crossland
Put out the fire
Don't look past my shoulder
The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
Let's get together
Before we get much older
Teenage wasteland
It's only teenage wasteland
Teenage wasteland
Oh, oh
Teenage wasteland
They're all wasted!"
'
Bargain', which stands alongside any of the best songs on the album, is about the search for personal identity amid a sea of conformity, although lyrics like "
I know I'm worth nothing without you" suggest that once again, this is about Baba - especially when the verse is sang by Pete and not Roger
Although there is a low-key synth in the background, 'Bargain' shows off The Who's ensemble playing at its very best. Block chords abound, there's a terrific guitar solo, bass lines pop and crackle and Keith's drumming gives the song a rhythmic foundation that lifts the song right out of your speakers
The main guitar that Pete used for the song was a vintage Gretsch which he had been given by Joe Walsh from The Eagles
"I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I had
To find you I'd suffer anything and be glad
I'd pay any price just to get you
I'd work all my life and I will
To win you I'd stand naked, stoned and stabbed
I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had
I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I got
To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop
I'd pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man
I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had
I sit looking 'round
I look at my face inm 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
I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I got
To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop
I'd pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man
I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had"