"The Who Hits 50" CD set apparently being released (Surprise, surprise!) (Part II)

I think the parallel is people discovering two legendary rock bands after the drummers who made them legendary died. Further heightening the parallel is comparing the live experience post peak, and the going back and checking out the prime material. Parallel seems reasonably strong to me. -E

 

But that is not what we're discussing here, sir. Were discussing The Who 1981 vs Led Zeppelin 1985. Led Zeppelin didn't have a new album and a new hit blaring across the radio waves in 1985. Led Zeppelin also didn't tour in 1985. The who had both of those in 1981, as well as a full-blown tour.

Like it or not, The Who were massively successful after the death of Keith Moon. Ouch, right? But it's the truth. Led Zeppelin may or may not have been successful after 1980, but we'll never know, because they never tried.

 

Throwin' down some Logic, Truth, Perspective, and Understanding, etc., imo. Or maybe it's just that I agree with you in saying so! Well thought and well said. Bravo to you sir.

Pete has used, perhaps in other words, in a video interview, at the time, as feeling very disappointed in either some critical or older guard ( or what he imagines) Who fan reaction to the newer direction he tried to take the band to with Face Dances, which imo was closer to the kind of lighter Pop (albeit with different instrumentation) of the 1960's, and in same interview which I have somewhere! basically gave up at that point in pursuing it any further ( trying to do something new with the band and the brand). Then you get an It's Hard, which to me, is a step or more back, a bit all over the place, but with a few gems. I suppose if Let My Love Open The Door, Keep On Working, and A Little Is Enough were on a Who album, well it would have made for a better, potentially great FD album in my book, but an even Poppier Who, and with more synths no less, and well that would have been another nail in the almighty Rock coffin. At the end of the day, quirky, light, goofy, poppy Who and heavy, noisy, violent, R& R Who are for me, all good, or mostly good. I understand we all have our likes and dislikes of the same band, different genres, and probably more than anything else in the case of the 1980's albums, a different band (players). Though I like it, as I hear it, fwiw,
Face Dances is a couple songs, I like, shy of me thinking it is a really good or nearly great album. As I believe, a few of those songs, are probably on Empty Glass, or not completed, recorded, or included on FD (Dance It Away, You're So Clever).

 

Baba Oh, I agree with you about what you wrote below...

Like it or not, The Who were massively successful after the death of Keith Moon. Ouch, right? But it's the truth.


But, can we keep this to being a Who thread, as it has been, and not a VS. thread with another band which it hasn't been, afaik? Please?

 

Since "Face Dances and It's Hard are the two best Who albums" is clearly not an opinion that anybody could actually hold in the real world, I'm convinced that those posts were just a sophisticated satire of the prevailing view on this forum that The Greatest Music Ever Made just happens to objectively be The Music That Was Released When I Was Thirteen Years Old. Think of it as a thought experiment: if that's the standing criterion, what happens if the album that was released when you were thirteen was sodding Face Dances? Isn't that the reductio ad absurdum of nostalgia-based aesthetics?

 

Well, yes, I agree with that. I do not feel that hordes of stoner rockers said "I will listen to their music now". In fact, I would probably think that any perception in the change of the audience probably has a lot more to do with the change in general image between 1978 & 1982. I mean that 'hippy' long hair look that was still so prevalent in the mid 70's was completely replaced with more new-wave styles, hairspray or at least mullets!

 

I think the progress from long hair to mullets pretty much sums up the artistic value of Face Dances.

 

That comment made me laugh out loud... but you know (even though as I keep saying I love Face Dances), there is something to that that analogy!

 

I always find it a bit mystifying how written-off the last couple original-era albums are when the Who always switched up their sound from album to album - "My Generation" to "Who Sells Out" to "Tommy", and from there to "Live At Leeds", "Who's Next", etc. is a pretty big stylistic leap, so why is "Face Dances" so difficult to accept? I think it's a terrific record. Never warmed up to "It's Hard" in whole (yet anyway), but "Eminance Front" is an undeniable success on all fronts IMO.

 

I love "Eminence Front" but in almost every respect that's a solo Pete song. (Obviously some great Ox bass in the choruses, but otherwise...) Would've fit well on Empty Glass.

I confess I've never really tried to listen to Face Dances start-to-finish. I never liked YBYB and I heard so much negative feedback, it barely seemed worth the investigation. Although, in fairness, the last Who album I really love is Quadrophenia. I'm more a "casual Who fan" than a "diehard."

Any idea what the vinyl tracklisting will be? All PO listings indicate a 2XLP set, and there's no way they're gonna get ALL these songs onto two records.

 

It's because people think it's unthinkable and disrespectful that The Who continued without Keith Moon, and they take it as an affront and insult. That's what I think, anyway. No matter how great those two albums really are - people will never admit it or accept them.

Of course, if Keith Moon had played on those two albums, people would say that they were masterpieces that solidified The Who's place in the 80's if not history itself.

 

Something that you should understand is that hearing about something isn't the same as the experience itself. Hearing about how an ice cream cone tastes is not the same as tasting it. And tasting it isn't the same as eating the entire thing. The only truth there really is, is that which you experience for yourself.

 

Right on! Rolling Stone would have given It's Hard a 10 star review, not the crap they dumped on it!

 

Very true.

 

I think I speak for the entire forum when I say we have tolerated your questionable Who knowledge for years in hopes that you would someday see the light. Nice to see you are finally coming around.

 

Actually the album that was released when I was thirteen was It's Hard. It's not much of an improvement from Face Dances I know...but it is a slight improvement!

 

I have so much abiding affection for The Who that I can't wholly resent Face Dances, even though I think it's the worst album they released before their break-up (yeah, I even prefer It's Hard - marginally), or begrudge people liking it. But claiming it's better than anything from 65-73 is just crazy talk!

Even though Who Are You is a dangerously weak album, at least it sounds like a weak Who album, not a weak album that's trying to sound like the work of some other band.

 

Is he? I thought he completely missed the point of Lukpac's sarcasm!

 

The great thing about trolling is it is often indistinguishable from crazy talk.

 

So...

Can we safely assume that previously announced Blu-Ray Audio of "The Who Hits 50" is not going to happen?

 

What are you talking about? (he asked, knowing full well he shouldn't!)

 

I just love how Baba's schtick is being the Kenney Jones-era Who superfan. Shine on you crazy cubic zirconia.

 

IMHO The film " The Kids Are Alright" and their subsequent US tour did more for bringing new Who fans into the fold around this very time period than the " Face Dances" and " Its Hard LPs ever did.

 

Funny you mention The Kids are Alright. I have the DVD menu playing on the Telly and audio is disc one of The Who Hits 50. This menu video montage looping works through all that music in a weird way. But I digress. I like this collection.

 

Moreover, the TKAA Double LP was a grand introduction to the power of The Who. Both their studio work and unsurpassed live work are showcased providing any new fan with a well rounded intro to this great band.