The Who "Who's Next"

Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted Lifehouse project, a multi-media rock opera written by the group's Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album Tommy. The project was cancelled owing to its complexity and to conflicts with Kit Lambert, the band's manager, but the group salvaged some of the songs, without the connecting story elements, to release as their next album. Eight of the nine songs on Who's Next were from Lifehouse, the lone exception being the John Entwistle-penned "My Wife". Ultimately, the remaining Lifehouse tracks would all be released on other albums throughout the next decade.

The Who recorded Who's Next with assistance from recording engineer Glyn Johns. After producing the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they relocated to Olympic Studios to record and mix most of the album's remaining songs. They made prominent use of synthesizer on the album, particularly on "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley", which were both released as singles. The cover photo was shot by Ethan Russell; it made reference to the monolith in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as it featured group members standing by a concrete piling protruding from a slag heap, apparently having urinated against it.

Who's Next was an immediate success when it was released in August 1971. It has since been viewed by many critics as the Who's best record and one of the greatest albums of all time. It was reissued on CD several times, with additional songs originally intended for Lifehouse.

The cover artwork shows a photograph, taken at Easington Colliery, of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling protruding from a slag heap. The decision to shoot the picture came from Entwistle and Moon discussing Stanley Kubrick and the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. According to photographer Ethan Russell, only Townshend actually urinated against the piling, so rainwater was tipped from an empty film canister to achieve the desired effect. The sky in the background was added later to give the image what Russell called "this other worldly quality." The rear cover showed the band backstage at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, amongst a debris of furniture. In 2003, the television channel VH1 named Who's Next's cover one of the greatest album covers of all time.

Other suggestions for the cover included the group urinating against a Marshall Stack and an overweight nude woman with the Who's faces in place of her genitalia. An alternative cover featuring Moon dressed in black lingerie and a brown wig, holding a whip, was later used for the inside art for the 1995 and 2003 CD releases. Some of the photographs taken during these sessions were later used as part of Decca's United States promotion of the album.

Track listing

All tracks written by Pete Townshend, except "My Wife" by John Entwistle.

Side one

1. "Baba O'Riley" Roger Daltrey (verses), Townshend (bridge) 5:08
2. "Bargain" Daltrey (verses), Townshend (bridge) 5:34
3. "Love Ain't for Keeping" Daltrey 2:10
4. "My Wife" Entwistle 3:41
5. "The Song Is Over" Townshend (verses), Daltrey (chorus) 6:14

Total length: 22:47

Side two

1. "Getting in Tune" Daltrey 4:50
2. "Going Mobile" Townshend 3:42
3. "Behind Blue Eyes" Daltrey 3:42
4. "Won't Get Fooled Again" Daltrey 8:32

Total length: 20:46

Note:

Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–9 on CD reissues.

The Who "Tommy"

Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who. It was first released as a double album on 17 May 1969 by Decca Records. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker, a "deaf, dumb and blind" boy, including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family.

Townshend came up with the concept of Tommy after being introduced to the work of Meher Baba, and attempted to translate Baba's teachings into music. Recording on the album began in September 1968, but took six months to complete as material needed to be arranged and re-recorded in the studio. Tommy was acclaimed upon its release by critics, who hailed it as the Who's breakthrough. Its critical standing diminished slightly in later years; nonetheless, several writers view it as an important and influential album in the history of rock music. The Who promoted the album's release with an extensive tour, including a live version of Tommy, which lasted throughout 1969 and 1970. Key gigs from the tour included appearances at Woodstock, the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, the University of Leeds, the Metropolitan Opera House and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The live performances of Tommy drew critical praise and rejuvenated the band's career.

Subsequently, the rock opera developed into other media, including a Seattle Opera production in 1971, an orchestral version by Lou Reizner in 1972, a film in 1975, and a Broadway musical in 1992. The original album has sold 20 million copies and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It has been reissued several times on CD, including a remix by Jon Astley in 1996, a deluxe Super Audio CD in 2003, and a super deluxe box set in 2013, including previously unreleased demos and live material.

Tommy has never had a definitive plot, but the following synopsis was published following the original album's release.

British Army Captain Walker goes missing during an expedition and is believed dead ("Overture"). His widow, Mrs. Walker, gives birth to their son, Tommy ("It's a Boy"). Years later, Captain Walker returns home and discovers that his wife has found a new lover. The Captain murders this man in an altercation. Tommy's mother brainwashes him into believing he didn't see or hear anything, shutting down his senses and making him deaf, dumb and blind to the outside world ("1921"). Tommy now relies on his sense of touch and imagination, developing a fascinating inner psyche ("Amazing Journey/Sparks").

A quack claims his wife can cure Tommy ("The Hawker"), while Tommy's parents are increasingly frustrated that he will never find religion in the midst of his isolation ("Christmas"). They begin to neglect him, leaving him to be tortured by his sadistic "Cousin Kevin" and molested by his uncle Ernie ("Fiddle About"). The Hawker's drug addicted wife, "The Acid Queen", gives Tommy a dose of LSD, causing a hallucinogenic experience that is expressed musically ("Underture").

As Tommy grows older, he discovers that he can feel vibrations sufficiently well to become an expert pinball player ("Pinball Wizard"). His parents take him to a respected doctor ("There's a Doctor"), who determines that the boy's disabilities are psychosomatic rather than physical. Tommy is told by the Doctor to "Go to the Mirror!", and his parents notice he can stare at his reflection. After seeing Tommy spend extended periods staring at a mirror in the house, his mother smashes it out of frustration ("Smash the Mirror"). This removes Tommy's mental block, and he recovers his senses, realising he can become a powerful leader ("Sensation"). He starts a religious movement ("I'm Free"), which generates fervor among its adherents ("Sally Simpson") and expands into a holiday camp ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp"). However, Tommy's followers ultimately reject his teachings and leave the camp ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy retreats inward again ("See Me, Feel Me") with his "continuing statement of wonder at that which encompasses him".

Townshend had been looking at ways of progressing beyond the standard three minute pop single format since 1966. Co-manager Kit Lambert shared Townshend's views and encouraged him to develop musical ideas, coming up with the term "rock opera". The first use of the term was applied to a suite called "Quads", set in a future where parents could choose the sex of their children. A couple want four girls but instead receive three girls and a boy, raising him as a girl anyway. The opera was abandoned after writing a single song, the hit single, "I'm a Boy". When the Who's second album, A Quick One ran short of material during recording, Lambert suggested that Townshend should write a "mini-opera" to fill the gap. Townshend initially objected, but eventually agreed to do so, coming up with "A Quick One, While He's Away", which joined short pieces of music together into a continuous narrative. During 1967, Townshend learned how to play the piano and began writing songs on it, taking his work more seriously. That year's The Who Sell Out included a mini-opera in the last track, "Rael", which like "A Quick One..." was a suite of musical segments joined together.

By 1968, Townshend was unsure about how the Who should progress musically. The group were no longer teenagers, but he wanted their music to remain relevant. His friend, International Times art director Mike McInnerney, told him about the Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba, and Townshend became fascinated with Baba's values of compassion, love and introspection. The Who's commercial success was on the wane after the single "Dogs" failed to make the top 20, and there was a genuine risk of the band breaking up. The group still performed well live and spent most of the spring and summer touring the US and Canada but their stage act relied on Townshend smashing his guitar or Moon demolishing his drums, which kept the group in debt. Townshend and Lambert realised they needed a larger vehicle for their music than hit singles, and a new stage show, and Townshend hoped to incorporate his love of Baba into this concept. He decided that the Who should record a series of songs that stood well in isolation, but formed a cohesive whole on the album. He also wanted the material performed in concert, to counteract the trend of bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys, whose studio output was not designed for live performance.

In August 1968, in an interview to Rolling Stone, Townshend talked about a new rock opera, which had the working title of Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy, and described the entire plot in great detail, which ran to 11 pages. Who biographer Dave Marsh subsequently said the interview described the narrative better than the finished album. Townshend later regretted publishing so much detail, as he felt it forced him to write the album according to that blueprint. The rest of the Who, however, were enthusiastic about the idea, and let him have artistic control over the project.

Tommy was originally released as a two-LP set with artwork designed by McInnerney, which included a booklet including lyrics and images to illustrate parts of the story. The cover is presented as part of a triptych-style fold-out cover, and the booklet contained abstract artwork that outlined the story. Although the album included lyrics to all the songs, indicating individual characters, it did not outline the plot, which led to a concert programme being prepared for shows, that carried a detailed synopsis.

Townshend thought McInnerney, a fellow follower of Baba, would be a suitable choice to do the cover. As recording was near completion, McInnerney received a number of cassettes with completed songs and a brief outline for the story, which he immediately recognised as being based on Baba's teachings. He wanted to try and convey the world of a deaf, dumb and blind boy, and decided to "depict a kind of breaking out of a certain restricted plane into freedom." The finished cover contained a blue and white web of clouds, a fist punching into the black void to the left of it. The inner triptych, meanwhile, showed a hand reaching out to light and a light shining in a dark void. Townshend was too busy finishing the recording to properly approve the artwork, but Lambert strongly approved of it, and said it would work. The final step was for record company approval, who decided the cover was more sensible than The Who Sell Out, though making one concession that pictures of the band should appear on the cover. These were added to the web on the front.

Track listing

Track names and timings vary across editions; some editions have two tracks merged into one and vice versa. "See Me, Feel Me", for example, is the second half of "We're not Gonna Take It", but is its own track as a single and on the 2003 deluxe edition.[68] All tracks written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Overture" Townshend 3:50
2. "It's a Boy" Townshend 2:07
3. "1921" Townshend, Roger Daltrey on chorus 3:14
4. "Amazing Journey" Daltrey 3:25
5. "Sparks" Instrumental 3:45
6. "The Hawker" (Sonny Boy Williamson II) Daltrey 2:15

Total length: 18:36

Side two

1. "Christmas" Daltrey, Townshend in middle eight 5:30
2. "Cousin Kevin" (John Entwistle) Entwistle and Townshend 4:03
3. "The Acid Queen" Townshend 3:31
4. "Underture" Instrumental 10:10

Total length: 23:14

Side three

1. "Do You Think It's Alright?" Daltrey and Townshend 0:24
2. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle) Entwistle 1:26
3. "Pinball Wizard" Daltrey, Townshend on bridge 3:01
4. "There's a Doctor" Townshend, with Daltrey and Entwistle 0:25
5. "Go to the Mirror!" Daltrey and Townshend 3:50
6. "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle 1:35
7. "Smash the Mirror" Daltrey 1:20
8. "Sensation" Townshend 2:32

Total length: 14:33

Side four

1. "Miracle Cure" Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle 0:10
2. "Sally Simpson" Daltrey 4:10
3. "I'm Free" Daltrey 2:40
4. "Welcome" Daltrey, Townshend ("more at the door") and Entwistle (spoken part) 4:30
5. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon) Moon, with Townshend 0:57
6. "We're Not Gonna Take It" Daltrey, with Townshend and Entwistle 6:45

Total length: 19:12

The Verve "Urban Hymns"

Urban Hymns is the third studio album by English alternative rock band The Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year. As of 2015, Urban Hymns is ranked the 19th best-selling album in UK chart history and has sold over ten million copies worldwide.

The album features the hit singles "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "Lucky Man" and UK number one "The Drugs Don't Work". The critical and commercial success of the album saw the band win two Brit Awards in 1998, including Best British Group, and appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in April 1998. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

The Verve had previously released two albums, A Storm in Heaven in 1993 and A Northern Soul in 1995. The band had only achieved moderate commercial success up to that point, and the band split shortly after their second album due to internal conflicts. Vocalist Richard Ashcroft quickly reformed the group, with Simon Tong, an old friend of the band on guitar, however Ashcroft realised Nick McCabe's unique guitar style was required to complete the true Verve unit and later asked him to return. Tong also remained adding more guitar and keyboard/organ textures, making them a five-piece band and expanding their sound.

The four-piece had already recorded several tracks for the album with Youth as producer, but once McCabe returned they re-recorded several tracks and changed producers to Chris Potter. McCabe said that in the next seven months of work, "... the key tracks were recorded from scratch, but some of them were already there."

The cover photo was taken in Richmond Park, London by photographer Brian Cannon, who was also responsible for the artwork of the band's previous two albums. Cannon said that the simplicity of the image was because Ashcroft simply wanted fans to "listen to the fucking record".

The Verve were known for their music's complex, immersive sonic textures. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and remains the band's most well-known song. "The Drugs Don't Work", the band's only number one single in the UK, became a concert staple for jam bands and other groups.[citation needed]

The rest of the album alternated between wistful ballads like "Sonnet" and "Space and Time" (written by Richard Ashcroft), spacey grooves like "Catching the Butterfly" and "The Rolling People", all-out rockers like the pounding "Come On" (which existed in demo from the "Northern Soul" era) and psychedelic driven songs like "Neon Wilderness". The hidden track "Deep Freeze" features distorted guitars and a baby's cry sound. It has strong ambient influences that set it apart from the rest of the tracks in terms of composition and overall mood.

Urban Hymns received widespread critical praise upon its release. Melody Maker hailed it as "an album of unparalleled beauty so intent on grabbing at the strands of music's multi-hued history". Ted Kessler of NME praised Urban Hymns as the band's best album to date, adding that its first five songs alone "pound all other guitar albums this year – bar Radiohead's OK Computer – into the ground with their emotional ferocity and deftness of melodic touch." Similarly, Rolling Stone critic David Fricke deemed it "a defiantly psychedelic record — soaked in slipstream guitars and breezy strings, cruising at narcotic-shuffle velocity — about coping and crashing". The Los Angeles Times' Sara Scribner noted its "lush, intricate, ethereal sound" and felt that The Verve had "delivered an achingly beautiful record that's just desperate enough to never get boring."

In a more mixed assessment, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune felt that Urban Hymns was lacking in enough songs as memorable as "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and "The Drugs Don't Work" to justify the album's long length. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice cited the latter track as a "choice cut", indicating a good song on "an album that isn't worth your time or money."

Urban Hymns spent 12 weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart, with a total of 124 weeks on the chart. It also became The Verve's first charting album in the United States, where it debuted at number 63 on the Billboard 200, giving the band their first commercial success in the country. Urban Hymns ultimately peaked at number 23 on the chart and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on 4 April 1998; it remains the group's best-selling album in the United States to date, with over 1.3 million copies sold as of 2009.