WHO'S NEXT

No matter how much I love "Who's Next" I'm not sure why am I rating it in a Prog site, I agree it's the quintessential Rock album, a complete masterpiece and one of my favorite albums of all times, but has absolutely no relation with Prog, but, it's here and it's great so I will review it for it's merits, leaving their Prog characteristics behind..

"Baba O'Riley" is the song that introduced me to THE WHO, the intro with synth and piano is simply breathtaking and prepares us for a Roger Daltrey in his peak, always supported by this force of nature called Keith Moon and the silent always perfect work of John Entwistle and his delicate but full of force style.

The song flows flawless from start to end to the point that nothing can be added or subtracted, everything fits just in it's place, as a machine well oiled and to end the violin solo that gives a Folksy touch, a masterpiece.

"Bargain" begins soft but Keith introduce the change to a vibrant Hard Rock track, around the middle the mood of the song slows down with a section sung by Pete and then a soft instrumental break just to return to the start, another strong song.

"Love Ain't for Keeping" is a bluesy song with a Country edge, most people see it as a weak track but IMHO fulfills it's purpose of changing the mood and making of "Who's Next" a very versatile album.

On the other hand most people love "My Wife" but I find nothing special, monotonous and very predictable, but to be fair we're not judging a Prog track so we shouldn't expect radical changes, that's why it's sometimes so hard for a usually Prog reviewer to talk about a Classic Rock album.

"The Song is Over" is a sentimental nostalgic track, where Pete makes a beautiful vocal work that blends perfectly with Roger's harder voice making the backing and Nicky Hopkins outstanding piano.

"Getting in Tune" follows the path of the previous, again with Hopkins in the piano, starts soft and nostalgic but it's evident that we should expect something more and nobody can fill deception because the inner strength is evident. Could this be one of the earliest forms of power Ballad? I believe so, another great track.

"Going Mobile" is a great track even for THE WHO are used to make wonderful songs, nice acoustic guitar and electric guitar with some weird effects, perfect drumming (unusually accurate in the timing) by Keith and a southern Rock aroma.

"Behind Blue Eyes" is a another masterpiece, starts soft an vocally amazing, but suddenly a radical change and welcome back to the world of Rock & Roll, again outstanding.

I was watching an interview to Pete Townshend about the supposedly complex synth intro and he laughed while explaining how simple it was, but the beauty is also in the simplicity, something we Progheads used to complexity sometimes don't understand, the vocal performance of Roger must be one oaf his peaks, but words are not able to describe everything, because all the band is perfect, great closer for a great album, probably a top 10 in Rock history.

I will stop here, because as always I will review the album in the way it was originally released by the author, the bonus tracks are outstanding, but you can't make better what is already near perfection, nobody will dare to touch Donatello's David, why should a musical masterpiece be modified?

Now with great pain I have to rate the album, and I will do it according to the guidelines. No way I should give 5 stars because "Who's Next" is not a masterpiece of Prog, neither an excellent addition for a PROG collection, to be honest you may have the perfect Prog collection and this masterpiece of Rock doesn't need to be there, so I will have to make an injustice and considered it good but not essential album, because in a Prog context this description is the one that fits better.

In a Classic Rock or general music site I will give the maximum rating without hesitation, no matter if it's 5, 10 or 20, maybe even an extra one, but in a Prog site my hands are tied, if it had even the slightest Prog relation I would go with 4 stars but that's not the case, so I should go with 3 stars, not without feeling a traitor to one of my all time favorite bands.

You know something?

The album deserves 5 stars and will go with them.