The Who - Who Are You (1978) [2013 My Generation, My Music: Back To The Rock Years] CD-Rip

On the Who's final album with Keith Moon, their trademark honest power started to get diluted by fatigue and a sense that the group's collective vision was beginning to fade. As instrumentalists, their skills were intact. More problematic was the erratic quality of the material, which seemed torn between blustery attempts at contemporary relevance ("Sister Disco," "New Song," "Music Must Change") and bittersweet insecurity ("Love Is Coming Down"). Most problematic of all were the arrangements, heavy on the symphonic synthesizers and strings, which make the record sound cluttered and overanxious. Roger Daltrey's operatic tough-guy braggadocio in particular was beginning to sound annoying on several cuts. Yet Pete Townshend's better tunes -- "Music Must Change," "Love Is Coming Down," and the anthemic title track -- continued to explore the contradictions of aging rockers in interesting, effective ways. Whether due to Moon's death or not, it was the last reasonably interesting Who record. The CD reissue adds five previously unreleased alternate takes and demos.


Tracks:

01. New Song 04:13
02. Had Enough (John Entwistle) 04:30
03. 905 04:02
04. Sister Disco 04:22
05. Music Must Change 04:38
06. Trick of the Light (John Entwistle) 04:47
07. Guitar and Pen 05:58
08. Love is Coming Down 04:06
09. Who Are You 06:21
Bonus Tracks:
10. No Road Romance (Previously unreleased) 05:05
11. Empty Glass (Previously unreleased) 06:23
12. Guitar and Pen (Olympic '78 mix - previously unreleased) 06:02
13. Love is Coming Down (Work-in-progress mix - previously unreleased) 04:05
14. Who Are You (Lost verse mix - previously unreleased) 06:22

Personnel:

Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, percussion
John Entwistle – bass guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer, brass on "Had Enough" and "Music Must Change", lead vocals on "905"
Pete Townshend – guitars, backing vocals, piano, synthesizer, lead vocals on "Sister Disco" (bridge), "No Road Romance" and "Empty Glass"
Keith Moon – drums, percussion
Rod Argent – synthesizer on "Had Enough", piano on "Who Are You", keyboards on "Guitar and Pen"
Ted Astley – string arrangement
Andy Fairweather-Low – backing vocals on "New Song", "Had Enough", "Guitar and Pen", "Love Is Coming Down", and "Who Are You"
Billy Nicholls – backing vocals on "New Song" and "Had Enough"
Michael Nicholls — backing vocals on "Had Enough"