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  1. I have given up buying SDEs, but it’s an interesting album, probably their last truly decent one. Townshend’s first mid life crisis when he was only 30! Friend of mine was at the Swansea gig, got drunk and fell asleep during the support act who were Little Feat! Think he was 15.

  2. I would have loved a simple 2 disc deluxe version comprising the original album on disc 1 and the Swansea gig on disc 2. While it’s one of my favourite Who albums, this all seems a bit desperate. Demos and guide tracks tend to be interesting to hear once but then not repeated, in my experience..

  3. I like this album a lot and I’m looking forward to this SDE. I have to admit, I had never liked the Who Are You album, but still got the box from last year and it really changed my mind on the whole thing. Really great collection even if it lacked Pete’s demos. The Who’s Next/Lifehouse box is excellent, no notes.

  5. Like the Stones they’d shot their creative bolt by 1972. There were a few isolated moments here and there of interest of course but The Who as a vital force were over by this point. Surely, if we’re honest, nothing they did after Quadrophenia or Who’s Next would ever be on a ‘Best of The Who’ retrospective.

    • Personally, I’d chuck the stodgy, turgid, self-important ‘Quadrophenia’ in the dustbin of history – if pushed, I’ll save ‘5:15’ – but save ‘Squeeze Box’ and ‘Who Are You’ (title track of the album) for that imaginary ‘best of’ you mention. 🙂

  6. After Who’s Next and Quadrophenia, it would have to be something special to keep on that level.
    This wasn’t, and initial listenings confirmed the title – it really was The Who By Numbers (alternative title suggestion: The Who Phone It In).
    But … repeated listening and there is some good stuff there (more than in the grooves of Who Are You).
    Not their greatest work, but not their worst either.
    Not sure I need the Super Deluxe version though.

  7. In truth, Pinball Wizard, See Me etc (basically the Woodstock bit, or was it that other music festival, that had Hendrix too, but everyone in neat rows of chairs), Who’s Next and 5.15 is about enough, and that’d fit on a CDr.

  9. They sometimes struggled with getting the complete concept over the line:

    The Who Sell Out’s radio advertising concept disappears about two-thirds in; Tommy’s production is marshmallow-soft; Who’s Next comprises the salvageable remains of Lifehouse; Quadrophenia favours bombast over subtler dynamics…

    I like By Numbers because it’s so stripped back, raw and confessional. Pete plays far more lead and his guitar sounds brittle and sharp; Roger possibly turns in his best ever vocal performance throughout (listen to “Imagine A Man”); John and Keith are relatively restrained but absolutely serve the mood of the album.

    It’s also got it’s curve-balls: a novelty single in “Squeeze Box” (which stands out amid the confessional/existential doom and gloom) and Pete’s utterly charming banjo and brass flavoured “Blue, Red and Grey”.

    It’s brief, clocking in at under 40 minutes, but impactful. Not entirely sure its brevity deserves the full SDE treatment, but if I’m going to get my hands on the Charlton disc, I guess I’ll have to fork out for it.

  11. I have a huge affection for the Who, but like many bands from the 60s they clearly struggled to maintain creative momentum very far beyond that time. The Kinks, Stones, individual Beatles…they all had flashes of brilliance, but, be honest, when you reach for an album to play, you henerally go for their imperial period. And that period is, essentially, 1966 to 1973 or so in all cases.

    The Who, and the Stones for that matter, maintained momentum via live performances, and interestingly both also produced their finest live albums in that aforementioned imperial phase. The Who were simply astonishingly visceral live, and that’s their real legacy.

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