I listened to it in the car today, and I am still enjoying this album tremendously. I agree with the post upthread that the album is front-loaded. "Endless Wire" was the album I desperately wanted to like, since it was a new album after so many years, but "Who" is the album that I really like.
I'm still playing material from the album pretty regularly. Pete and Rog knocked it out of the park here.
"Detour" "Beads on One String" "Hero Ground Zero" "I'll Be Back" (favorite on the album) "Break The News" and "This Gun Will Misfire" and "Got Nothin To Prove" and "Sand" Those are just the real big highlights for me... I think everything on the album is a winner.
Wow almost all the songs. This album is really fantastic. I can play the whole album and loving every song. Roger Daltrey vocals are unbelievable!
As folks in the album-by-album thread know (perhaps all too well at this point), I’ve devoted a lot of time over the past 3 years to Indian culture and philosophy. Not surprisingly, the two songs that resonate with that have proven to be my favorites - “I’ll Be Back” and “Beads on One String”. And “All This Music Must Fade” is perfectly reminiscent of peak era Who without being overly derivative. It’s like a brand new song that you feel you’ve known all your life!
“Got Nothing to Prove” is my favorite. I wish it would have been completed by the band for the My Generation album.
Because of the orchestration and playing with orchestras, I thought they might play it live. Maybe next year
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. I bought it and let it sit for a while because I assumed it would be just okay.
Like all of us who are perusing this particular thread, I am a long time Who fan. Long time fans always have expectations which inevitably get in the way of anything new. I listened to Who again for the first time since I bought it 6 months ago. It really is a most enjoyable album. I got the CD in the mail for going to their show last year. I bought the vinyl version and so glad I did. This album is meticulously made and the vinyl version helps open up the soundstage much more than the CD. This really is an impressive adult rock & roll album. (Full disclosure: Could not disagree more with the politics surrounding Ball and Chain, but can still appreciate the general overall sentiment and of course the killer groove!)
The triple LP set on The Who store suddenly showed up as a July 24th release marked at $25 so I finally ordered it.
I swear I said this EXACT same thing about "All This Music Must Fade" to my wife and daughter two days ago! Love that song. - I love the whole album still.
I am still playing this great album very regularly.Would even rank it above By Numbers which was my favourite Who album after the big 3.
I was pessimistic about this album when it was announced. I listened to Ball and Chain when it was released on YouTube and it did nothing for me. Then sometime in June, Amazon had the CD for $ 3.00 so I gave it a whirl. At first, the mastering of the CD just made it increadably hard to listen to. I kept the volume low and listened to the songs, the music, the playing, the songwriting. It all came into focus. These songs far exceeded my expectations. This is a classic Who album without a doubt, but the CD sounds like ****. So...I ordered the 2 LP & 10" coloured vinyl version. It arrived last week and although LP #1 is very warped,it just barely tracks. All I can say is if you even remotely like this album, buy the 3 disc LP. The mastering of the vinyl compared to the CD is the most drastic difference I can think of for modern releases. The vinyl is so much more open, everything that is squashed to hell on the CD, is improved immensely on the vinyl. It took me a while to catch up to this one, but I'm so glad I did. This is the album I wish they would have released after Who Are You. Who gives a ****, just so happy this exists!
I think this is their best since the WHO ARE YOU album. It really has it's own strong identity. Musically it actually seems to follow on from the themes on the WHO ARE YOU album too. All This Music Must Fade = Music Must Change, etc I also think this could be the start of a new period for the Who as a band, I really hope they keep putting out albums now. It's so well put together, but does get a little soggy in the middle. For a sequel Roger and Pete should stick with the same group of people, even allow Simon to contribute a song again as Break the News is just great.
I have the deluxe CD (a treasured Pete-signed version), but I think I'll buy it on vinyl too, some day. Can anyone who's heard the single-LP and the the triple-LP set give me an audio-quality comparison of the two LP versions, please?
I was talking to my friend in PA yesterday, and I told him how good this album was. He hadn't heard the whole album, but he said he thought the tracks he heard sounded really good. He probably only has the Who's greatest hits, or something like that, but he seems really into Sirius/XM, and has been for years. so maybe he doesn't even buy music anymore.
by all accounts, the tripple set is the way to go. Haven’t read any rave reviews, but the consensus seems to be it’s the best. my European pressing of the single lp left a lot to be desired. Imo, and to my ears, the lossless download sounds as good and better
I don't event think of the mastering anymore when I listen to it, but it is too loud, although not crushing. But to think Roger wasn't sure these were Who songs when Pete first brought them over, and Pete says he said, "Roger, just sing the ****ing songs and you'll be happy you did." Although it wouldn't surprise me if they're each telling conflicting stories of who said what songs were good, and when.
