Review Summary: The first offering by the Who goes already far beyond its proto-punk fame, marrying succesfully distortion with pop melodies.
In 1965, the Detours had already kicked vocalist Colin Dawson and drummer Doug Sandom out of the band and toured with newcomer drummer Keith Moon around England. During that time, songwriter Pete Townshend started writing singles that were appreciated largely by the Mod subculture of the epoch and, confident enough of the success, the group released their debut which is considered now as one of the many births of punk rock. This record encapsulates that early, angsty period perfectly and is essential for anyone with even a slight interest for the band.
The amazing thing about this record is that it isn't only a proto-punk release. Instead, the band creates two distinct sides for this album; there's the hard-rock, heavy section and the power-pop, jangly section. The former includes the title track, which has to be one of the most instantly recognizable rock anthems ever; Roger stutters through the
i hope i die before i get old lines with anger, Pete's distorted rhythm is unhinged, John unleashes some
thunderous bass lines and Keith, well, crashes everything that is near him. It is not only a prototype for the later punk genre, but also a taste of things to come in two year's time; the Jimi Hendrix Experience was obviously inspired by this heavy, uncompromising tune and defined guitar playing later in their career.
There is also the opening
Out In The Street, which kicks off the album with a barrage of feedback noise and Roger's
out!out! shouts before it settles into a rousing R&B number led by Keith's crashing drumming approach.
The Ox is simply the craziest cut on the album; a 12-bar blues, structurally, but what a performance it is! Keith brings on the table fantastic rolls and fills that are literally unstoppable, since he doesn't take a rest until the 2 minute mark, Pete distorts his guitar until it sounds like a low-pitched manic roar and John, while not holding down any kind of bass line, definitely helps the mayhem reach its full potential with his loud playing.
The
other side, now, is not any less compelling;
The Good's Gone could have been another heavy rock tune were it not for Pete's jangly, Byrds-like riff which has to be one of the record's best riffs. The picture is completed by Roger's sneery, low-pitched delivery and Pete's terrific harmonies. This is actually the only song which clearly belongs to both sides; it is rock, with the Who's typical instrumentation, but also written more in a 'pop' way. Fantastic song.
The Kids Are Alright comes after
My Generation and is easily the album's finest pop song; the melody is nothing short of brilliant, the harmonies are fascinating, the jangle is beautiful and the bridge changes everything; tough, crude and distorted fully, Pete's power chords tie with Keith's ferocious drumming perfectly.
The power-pop cycle also features
Much Too Much and
La-La-La Lies, the former being another terrific power-pop song with a majestic chorus and the latter being actually one of the lightest cuts on the record; Keith is 'cooler' here, adopting a 'poppier' delivery for the most part, the piano takes Pete's guitar place as the main rhythmic engine even for the breaks and the harmonies are hilarious; as for
A Legal Matter, it is another fantastic 'light' pop tune, with Pete singing this time about relationships with underage girls and lines like
You ain't the first and you ain't the last, I gain and lose my women fast, I never want to make them cry, I just get bored, don't ask me why present the man's nasty humor at its finest.
The main defect of the album is, of course, the covers; ok, not all of them since
I'm A Man is quite a respectable rendition with Roger sounding as 'black' as possible, but the James Brown covers are pointless, truly pointless. They don't tie in thematically, lyrically or musically, the playing is
very conservative[/i] and really,
I Don't Mind and
Please, Please, Please should be left at James Brown and his associates.
It's Not True is actually the weakest of all the pop-oriented songs. Not bad at all, just a bit redundant when compared to the others.
Which brings me to the conclusion; this album perfectly captures the essence of the early Who. It has all of the anger, ferocity, tension and instrumental brilliancy for which the band became famous and boasts a number of must-hear Who songs. As much as they improved later on, no one can dismiss gems like the title track,
The Kids Are Alright,
The Good's Gone,
Much Too Much and so on. Thus, before you make any rush decision by deriding this debut as irrelevant, listen carefully first.
