WHO'S NEXT

The Who's best known album besides their rock-opera Tommy, Who's Next has always stood as a legendary classic rock album, and deservingly so, since the music contained within the grooves here is absolutely fantastic. Here we have a mix of a slight amount of the band's previous style with the hard rock edge that they'd gained in the recent years. Ah yes, and of course, a pinch of prog. While the album doesn't run together quite as well as some of their other albums (especially the Operas) it still has a kind of charm to it thanks to everything the band tried to do on the album.

The album is really characterized by the syths that keep the music floating along, but of course the other instruments are just as important. However, who could possibly forget the synths that open the legendary Baba O'Riley (better known as Teenage Wasteland for some reason)? What would The Song Is Over be like without the synths to keep it moody?

Of course the guitar is ever necessary, as it will be when Pete Townshed is in your band. Soaring guitar moments include the essential breakdown during Behind Blue Eyes which gives it the pure aggression behind the emotion that makes the song so essential. And what would Won't Get Fooled Again be without those crunching riffs?

There certainly are a lot of questions in this review, I guess I should answer all of them: They would probably still be well written songs.

Yes, that's right, the performances make what were already good songs into stellar renditions. It's Daltry however, that really takes the cake. The delivery in all the songs is amazing, not to mention emotional in the case of Behind Blue Eyes, and then the scream at Won't Get Fooled Again (though butchered by the show, CSI) is absolutely what makes the album go from great to better.

So, I've mentioned about three or four of the songs on the album, what about the other ones? Well, the ones mentioned above are the best by miles and miles, the rest being your typical rock songs. There's nothing wrong with this at all, since a good rock song is still a good rock song, and those are always enjoyable, but these aren't quite as stunning as the peak moments of the album. A couple of the shorter tracks such as My Wife and Love Ain't For Keeping are good but ultimately forgettable while others like Bargain and Getting In Tune are very good but nothing that a prog head will be blown away by.

Really, this is an album that is absolutely essential in the rock and roll world and would get an easy 5 stars. In the prog world, it's still an excellent effort, but some prog heads may just want to pass over it. 4 stars! An excellent addition to your prog rock collection, but not essential if you don't fancy yourself a fan of typical ''classic'' rock. For those who want to get into the Who: this is a great place to start, but go for Quadrophenia next.

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