Box Set Review: The Who, ‘Who Are You (Super Deluxe)’ – My Who Cup Runneth Over

“I remember throwin’ punches around
And preachin’ from my chair” – The Who, “Who Are You”

Venerable rock n roll band the Who have released Who Are You (Super Deluxe Edition), a sizable – 7 CDs, 1 BluRay disc – box set and I must say, they could have named this thing “All You Ever Wanted To Know About Who Are You But Were Afraid To Ask.” The sheer size of this thing and the amount of music reminds me of the Police’s box commemorating Synchronicity (Super Deluxe Edition). This thing is a real treasure trove. I have only streamed this so far and so have nothing to say about the BluRay.

Who Are You was the first big Who album that came out after I’d started collecting albums in late summer of 1978. I was slated to see them on this tour but fate intervened. This album got mixed reviews, mostly positive but people forget it was a tough time for the Who. They hadn’t released an album of new material since 1975‘s Who By Numbers, which has occasionally been described as their “singer/songwriter” album for reasons unclear to me. Three years between studio albums was a lifetime in the 70s, so I suppose this was sort of a comeback. Townshend had done a solo project with his pal & former Faces member Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix in 1977. Daltrey had dropped a solo album, also in 1977, One Of The Boys. I know Moon and Entwistle had both done solo albums back in 1975 as well. I’m not deep on Moon or Entwistle’s solo career and have no idea what those albums were like.

When they reconvened to record this album, they were a band with some problems. Pete Townshend (songwriter/singer/guitar/keyboards) and Keith Moon (drums) were both struggling with the demons of drugs and alcohol. Moon in particular was struggling to, as Keith Richards puts it when the Stones are going to tour, “put himself back together again.” While Moon boasted he was still the best “Keith Moon style drummer around,” he struggled mightily to play the drums. They didn’t even use his drumming on “The Music Must Change,” Townshend just tapped his foot.

The greatest evidence that Townshend was struggling to me is that they recorded three of bassist John Entwistle’s songs, which was a full third of the album. Luckily they were strong tunes. Singer Roger Daltrey was still in good shape, that guy is a rock. They started the album working with legendary producer Glyn Johns but ended up finishing the album with Jon Astley. When they first gathered to record the album Johns has said they were more interested in sitting around drinking and reminiscing than actually working. It was a slow process to mold this album into shape.

I remember the guys who were a little older than me in high school loving this record. We were too young for Who’s Next so this was “our” Who album. Although if I’m being honest Face Dances (1981) and It’s Hard (1982) are the Who albums that were most prominent when I was in high school. And yes, I realize that I’m the only one who likes the Kenny Jones on drums era of the Who. Regardless, Who Are You was a big record for us, in my high school.

Of course, this album marks the end of an era for the Who. Keith Moon, who is pictured on the cover of the album in a chair that says “Not To Be Taken Away,” was well, taken away three weeks after the album came out. He died of an overdose of drugs he was taking to prevent alcohol cravings. He was asked to sit backwards on the photo shoot because his beer gut was so distended it was unsightly. So this album marks the end of the Keith Moon era of the Who. There are many who suggest that this was the last “great” (if not very good) Who album. I really liked WHO from 2019 but I sort of started B&V for the purpose of extolling late career records from my rock n roll heroes. 

Disc one of this box is the original album. The title track is one of the Who’s greatest songs… certainly the guys in charge of the CSI TV franchise thought so. The line I quoted above, “I remember throwing punches around and preaching from my chair…” yeah, we’ve all been there. It was a reaction to punk rock and Pete’s “f” you and I love it. Pete was actually really struggling at this point with how the Who were relevant in light of punk and yes, disco. Rather than join the ranks of rock bands who incorporated disco on a rock song, Pete wrote “Sister Disco.” I don’t know if it was criticism or acknowledgement but I always liked the song. Pete’s insecurity about the Who’s place in rock are highlighted by two tracks specifically about his creativity, “Guitar And Pen” and “The Music Must Change.” I love the latter of those. “Love Is Coming Down” is a classic Who ballad. 

As I mentioned, John Entwistle contributed three songs to this record which might be a record for a Who album. “Had Enough” is a great rock song. The Who brought back the swirling strings and synthesizers for this album – it feels more like a direct successor to Who Are You than Who By Numbers. His other track, a rather awkward song about a prostitute (?) or maybe just hateful lyrics about a woman, I don’t know, but I’ve always liked “Trick Of The Light.” What a riff! It may be the heaviest track on the album. “905” a science fiction track about a clone is the only song that leaves me cold. 

Over all this is a great Who album that frankly every rock fan should have in their collection. 

Disc 2, we get the original Glyn Johns’ mix of the album. This mix earned him a punch in the face from Daltrey that knocked Glyn unconscious. I’m still not sure why something like that would happen, but then I’m a lover not a fighter. I thought it was a good mix and it’s interesting to have it here. We get a trove of rarities on disc 2. We get Pete’s lead vocal on “New Song.” We also get a version of “Had Enough” without the orchestra and it actually makes the tune better… a real highlight here. Every outtake you can imagine is here. 

Disc 3 should be called the Entwistle demo disc. There are a host of his demos that he presented to the band and they are all strong. I’ve never followed him but I hope he developed some of these tracks, not used by the Who, for his own solo career. It’s all good stuff. We also get a bunch of alternate versions of tracks from the album like the band’s take on “Empty Glass” which ended up the title track of Townshend’s next solo album. Good stuff! 

Disc 4 starts with a bootleg of the band playing “Who Are You” live with Keith still on the kit in Toronto. It sounds like it’d be a wonderful rare find but it’s almost unlistenable. The rest of this disc is rehearsals from Shepperton Studios for a small show in front of only 300 people that was filmed to be a part of the 1979 rockumentary The Kids Are Alright. It’s fun to hear the band, well, fucking around, on cuts like the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” or doing a reggae or blues on “Spoonful/Smokestack Lightning.” Although the audio quality is closer to side two of the Faces latest archival release,Early Steps. It’s interesting but it doesn’t sound perfect if you’re an audiophile. 

Disc 5 gives us the actual performance at Shepperton for the movie. It sounds like a bootleg but there are some spirited performances. The Daltrey banshee wail on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is worth the price of admission. They do mix in a few more rehearsals as well. They completely capture the time period with everything they could get their hands on from studio stuff to these rehearsals to live stuff. It’s a deep set. 

Disc 6 and 7 is a live performance from 1979 – mostly from the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit but a few songs hail from the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The concerts were from December 7th and 10th of ’79 and I have to say this makes me even madder that I missed this show on this tour. The band, now augmented with drummer Kenny Jones is on top of it. They play a host of their biggest songs from the early stuff like “Substitute” or “I Can’t Explain” to songs from Quadrophenia to the new material. This live stuff is the gold in this box for me. Any live Who is going to be fantastic from Live At The Opal 1971 to Live At Shea Stadium 1982 the Who bring it live no matter what condition they’re in. And here so shortly after losing founding member and comrade in arms, Keith Moon. It was a fitting tribute to him that they carried on with such amazing gusto. Granted, Jones was nowhere near the style of drumming Keith Moon played.  

This is one you’re going to want to add to your collection, whether you’re a Who nut like me or just a fan of great music. This live stuff on the last two discs is absolute gold, but like I said, the Who were always killer live and this one proves it. You’ll want to crank this one up loud! 

While Pete sang that the music must change… lets hope it changes back…

“The music must change, It’s gets higher and higher, Smoldering like leaves in the sun, Then it bursts into fire, Its rhythm grows strong, It’s so new and so strange, Like bells in the clouds, then again, The music must change…” 

Cheers!