The Who on CD - Best pressings of their full length albums

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Gary Freed, Sep 22, 2007.

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  1. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    OK,

    The search engine was of little assistance in tracking down info on the Who
    Albums and the best sounding versions.

    I'm already covered with Who's Next- Steve H's
    Tommy - MFSL
    Quadrophenia - WG Poly. 1st release 2 CD

    What about the rest of their catalog. If someone can point me to a thread
    or has any recommendations I'm looking to expand my Who collection.

    Thanks a bunch!

    Gary:wave:
     
  2. Juan Samus

    Juan Samus New Member

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Are you interested in the UK albums or US albums? Some albums (My Generation, A Quick One) simply stink on CD and vinyl is the only option.
     
  3. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hi Juan,

    Good question,but I'm just looking for CD's. My system isn't LP capable yet.
    The CD's with the best sonics. Even if the album has good music, If the sound quality isn't great, I can't listen to it. So narrowing things down to thier most popular albums that I don't already have that offer the best sonics. Mixes don't bother me, I'm not a purist in that sense and frankly I only remember radio friendly songs to some extent and listening to them at friends houses in the 70's.
     
  4. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    To my ears these are the best-sounding CD pressings of:
    A Quick One - Polydor (Japan) P25P 25091
    The Who Sell Out - Polydor (Japan) P28P 25084
    Who's Next - Polydor (Japan) P33P 25009
    Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy - MCA (Canada) MCBBD 37001 (mastered by Steve)
     
  5. jawilshere

    jawilshere Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massapequa, NY
  6. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hi Hans,

    I already have Steve's Meaty Beaty, played it half a dozen times over the last 5 6 years and it sits on the shelf. I was under impressed by the sound quality. But that's a compilation. I'm looking for the "proper" full length albums on CD.
     
  7. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Regarding White Fang's recommendations, bear in mind that he is one of those folks who subscribe to the belief that digitally identical CDs can sound different. So YMMV depending on whether or not you believe that is possible.

    There is no good-sounding CD of the Who's first album, sadly.
    If mixes don't matter to you, the remixed version of The Who By Numbers, mastered by Bob Ludwig, is probably the best.
    Who Are You on MoFi sounds just great to me.
     
  8. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Who Are You and Who By Numbers are the right direction Jason. Bob Ludwig is one of my favorites. Which version of Who By Numbers and Who are You would you consider the best. Those two would keep me happy along with the other
    Albums I already have which are:

    I really enjoy the WG Quadrophenia
    The MFSL Tommy is nice but a little bright in the cimbals on a few songs
    Steve's MCA Who's Next is great too.

    Two more albums Who By Numbers and Who are You would round off the WHo
    collection for a while.
     
  9. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Ouch. You may run into a problem because the sound quality of a lot of their early catalog is not exactly audiophile worthy. The comp that Steve did is uneven due to the different sources for the songs but some of the sources are superb. There are a number of Who comp CDs which contain a lot of great sounding stuff, but you'd have to collect them up, and they aren't the albums of course.

    Frankly, I find nothing that bad about the original plaid back MCA CDs. My Generation is in mono at least - with stereo tracks released as the Deluxe version - panned on this forum by some, but I love it. A comparison of the mono mixes on the DE shows you that the MCA isn't that great but its also honest sounding and thus not that bad.

    Their second album A Quick One (or Happy Jack) is either going to be the US MCA or the poorly remastered UK version with the bonus tracks. You have to live with either or both. The new Classic Records vinyl is so much better than these you would keel over.

    Magic Bus is also a you-have-to-live-with-it thing. Wait - thats a comp isn't it.

    Sell Out - I prefer the original MCA CD. Personally I think it sounds pretty good. There are merits to the re-mixed w/ bonus tracks remaster as you may have read.

    Live At Leeds. If you're a purist get the original MCA. I actually prefer the '95 MCA remaster.

    Odds & Sods - the original MCA is the only way to go. Oops..another comp!

    By Numbers. Original MCA for me. The remaster is remixed and sounds nice though.
     
  10. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks Raunchnroll that's some helpful info.

    How about Who are you?
     
  11. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    I second the W.G. Quadrophenia. It can be found at reasonable prices. I also agree on the 95 Who Live at Leeds. Best Buy has it for $11.99.

    As for Tommy the MFSL is very good but the DVD-Audio is better IMHO.
     
  12. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    tommy-thewho, I already have Quadro and Tommy:agree: . Looking for the best CD pressings of

    Who By Numbers
    Who Are You

    Best regards,:)

    Gary
     
  13. JA Fant

    JA Fant Well-Known Member

    I have the original MCA cds.
     
  14. Derek Gee

    Derek Gee Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit
    IMO, you're not covered with Tommy. Not only is it not the correct master tape, but it doesn't sound the best. The Deluxe Edition (either the SACD or DVD-A are best) is the original master tape, and will sound much better than the MFSL. Hurry if you want the SACD or DVD-A as they seem to be getting scarce.

    Derek
     
  15. pig whisperer

    pig whisperer CD Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Who By Numbers - P33P from Japan. It is digitically identical to the original U.S. disc, but I have never read any posts where a U.S. disc was dumped into a computer or squeeze box and came out sounding great. The Japan P33P sounds great. I have read the W. German sounds pretty bad (EDIT: or was that for the W. German "Who's Next" vs. the Japan P33P...?)

    Who Are You - P33P from Japan or the 831 557-2 W. German.

    The Japan P58P "Tommy" has the correct vocal for "Eyesight" and sounds better than the MoFi IMHO. (LesPaul666 had one of these in the classifieds before).

    Good choice on the early W. German for "Quadrophenia". I don't like any of the MoFi Who discs. YMMV ("Tommy" doesn't sound bad, but the re-recorded vocal on "Eyesight" is terrible).
     
  16. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I agree with you Derek. I've been on the fence on which to get the SACD or Deluxe. Bonus tracks don't matter to me. I just want to hear the Proper Album the best it is sonically on CD.

    Thanlks to Jason for the lead to the "fang" site. He has done quite a job setting up his website.
     
  17. LesPaul666

    LesPaul666 Mr Markie - The Rock And Roll Snarkie

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I like these for the original mixes, except for My Generation:


    My Generation-SACD or Deluxe Edition CD's

    A Quick One-Either the my German Stereo LP needledrop, or the Mono Polydor CD

    Sell Out-Polydor original Polydor Stereo CD

    Tommy-MFSL or Polydor original CD's

    Live At Leeds-Polydor original CD(sounds like a flat transfer, and quite a bit nicer and smoother than the original MCA CD)

    Who's Next-MCA Japan Hoffman CD

    Quadrophenia-MFSL or original WG Polydor CD's

    The Who By Numbers-Both original MCA and Polydor CD issues sound good to me.

    Who Are You-MFSL

    Face Dances-Warner CD

    It's Hard-Warner CD
     
  18. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I think the Mofi Tommy sounds better than the Deluxe Edition version myself.

    Gary, if original mixes truly don't matter to you and you like Bob Ludwig's work, be aware that the currently available standalone (ie, non-Deluxe) CDs of Tommy, Quadrophenia, Who By Numbers and Who are You are all mastered by Ludwig. They all do feature remixes, though.
     
  19. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hi Darcy,

    I've never been completely satisfied with MFSL Tommy.

    Fang semed to have a very strong favorable opinion regarding the sound of Who are You on the German Poly label 1988/89. He though the German was much better than the Japanese. Did you hear either ofthem on Dave's system?

    Thanks for checking in.

    Best regards,

    Gary
     
  20. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    For Tommy: what are the pros and cons on getting the SACD or the DVD-A?
     
  21. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I haven't heard the SACD of My Generation Deluxe... is it just as bright as the redbook, or not as bad in that department?
     
  22. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Pro's of SACD - can be played in the car, clock radio or walkman
    DVD-A - possibly better sound? or 5.1?

    I would be interested only in the SACD or the Deluxe or Japanese that Darcy is referring to depending upon whichever is best sonically.

    Who are You
    and
    Who By Numbers are on my WTB list right now.
     
  23. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks Jason,

    I wouldn't recognize a remix vs the original unless they really botched it up badly. It was too many years ago for me.

    Very even sound quality is paramount.
     
  24. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    Well, I have the redbook remaster for that. Does one of the hi-rez versions have more bonus tracks than the other, or better sound, or videos, or 5.1, or better packaging?
     
  25. pig whisperer

    pig whisperer CD Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Yes. P58P all the way. Some of the songs on the "Tommy" remix are pretty good, but then the album isn't historically correct.
     
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