Written By Braddon S. Williams
THE WHO: WHO’S NEXT
Who’s Next by The Who (1971) was an extremely important album for the British hard rockers, as it had to follow the gigantic success of Tommy, the rock opera.
Originally planned as a much more complicated multimedia event under the title Lifehouse, Pete Townshend ultimately chose to just record the primary songs from that project, resulting in one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
Who’s Next featured a band that had outgrown their beginnings and conquered the world in the process. Most of the songs on this album have remained staples of classic rock radio since their original release…Won’t Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes, Baba O’ Riley, Getting In Tune, Bargain, Going Mobile…
Townshend was writing literate, grown up material and breaking boundaries with his use of synthesizers and loops.
Roger Daltrey had mastered the primal scream and proved to be the embodiment of Townshend’s complex themes. John Entwhistle and Keith Moon were one of the most explosive rhythm sections ever, and nobody played a power chord with more gusto than Pete…or played it louder!
The final 61 seconds of Won’t Get Fooled again is one of the most thrilling endings in any song I have ever heard. If an alien life form requested knowledge of what rock music is, I would play them that final passage…no further explanation needed.
