Customer Reviews

30 Years of Maximum R & B

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

You would have to spend a lotta money to get all these songs on their original discs. This is the best "best of" compilation ever...but at the cost of superior sonics. The sound quality on these discs is horrible. Listen to any track on the box's discs from WHO'S NEXT and then listen to the remastered WHO'S NEXT from just a few years ago and the difference will amaze you. I can stand for the sound to be a little wooly on the older stuff but for the tracks on disc 3 and 4 to sound the way they do is a crime. The box is only worth it to me for the hard to find tracks like JOIN TOGETHER and LONG LIVE ROCK and THE KIDS ARE ALLRIGHT. Other wise save your money and by the remasters of WHO'S NEXT and LIVE AT LEEDS.

The "Thirty Years" title of this collection is misleading. Though released to coincide with the band's 30 year anniversary, it had already been 15 years since the death of drummer Keith Moon and 12 years since the release of the band's last studio album. Only one track was recorded after the band's 1982-83 "farewell" tour. Chronological nitpicking aside, this four disc box set, while indeed containing a ton of terrific music, suffers from an identity crisis.

Who exactly is its target audience? I ask that question because it is about evenly split between rare tracks/alternative versions and original recordings from the band's studio and live albums. As such, the collection is too lengthy to be of interest to casual fans and contains way too much repetitious material for ardent fans who likely already own most if not all of the Who's catalog. Confusing things even more are a generous helping of "dialog" tracks (including Pete swearing at the audience during a live show, the band members making disgusting phlemetic noises prior to recording "Behind Blue Eyes") that do more to damage the band's legacy than enhance it.

All of that said, the music itself remains tremendously powerful. For all of its flaws, "30 Years" is still well worth repeated listenings for those with a little extra money to spend.

For a band to obtain such a high status as the Who have, they sure had some crummy treatment from their record companies with numerous substandard compilations. 30 Years Of Maximum R&B was an honest attempt to try to set the record straight but there are some problems with it. There are 79 songs on the box set but at least five of them are edited down from full length. They are: Jaguar, Shaken All Over, Bargain, Dreaming From The Waist, and Who Are You (which is NOT the single version it proclaims to be; I know because I have the single). Furthermore, A Quick One, While He's Away and See Me, Feel Me both alternate between live and studio versions in the same songs. Happy Jack also is not the single version but an alternate version with a different drum track. And for those who are looking for the studio version of Substitute you won't find it here. On the plus side there are a number of unreleased live tracks where the Who really shines, among them Naked Eye, Dreaming From The Waist, and My Wife. There are also unreleased studio tracks, studio banter, and live verbal diatribes with the audience (there's even the assault, both verbal and physical, between Pete Townshend and Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock!!). And there's the awesome full length version of The Kids Are Alright which is finally available in the U.S. Personally, I would drop a couple of unreleased tracks to get the full length version of the above mentioned songs. Still, I suspect it will appeal to completists who have everything else and will want the unreleased stuff. But for those who want the hits I suggest picking up My Generation-The Very Best Of The Who which delivers the hits, and then explore other cds (Tommy, Who's Next, Live At Leeds) to get better examples of what this great band has accomplished.

This is a big pill to swallow. It is a huge pill. Five hours of a band that has built the reputation of being the hardest rocking band out there. The Who have been around since the early sixties, and this box captures it all. Not every track, but plenty enough to capture an acurate picture of the band at every stage of their career from The High Numbers through the 1989 Reunion Tour. In addition to the unforgettable and unforgivable songs in their illustrious catalogue, this collection is peppered with amusing snippits of concert dialogue, comedic radio sitcoms, and studio false starts. Alternate versions of already familiar songs help keep this collection fresh, and the book that comes with it is detailed and enlightening. There is more than enough here to introduce the uninitiated to The Who, and there is certainly enough unreleased material to keep the ititiated interested. This is comprehensive. It is what a box set is supposed to be. However, don't expect to be listening to it start to finish repeatedly. Rather, it is like a cherrished book that is lovingly read every once in a long while and fondly remembered in between.

This isn't the perfect collection of The Who, but then again, it's hard to include all the best of the Who on 4 CD's. The last reviewer mentioned 2 songs that aren't even on this collection. At the time of this release, we were treated to some new stuff like "Bonie Maronie", live versions of "Naked Eye", "My Wife" and "Dreaming From the Waist", remixes from Sell Out, some extra selections from the famous Leeds concert, and some excellently remixed High Numbers recordings along with some never before released songs like "Girls Eyes" and "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (many of these are now included on rereleases). The problem with "Music Must Change" and "Guitar and Pen" are that they are remixed so that you can barely hear Keith Moon's drums. Also, they should've included "Fire" (off Pete Townshend's Iron Man album and performed with John Entwhistle and Roger Daltrey). Nevertheless, it's quite a collection of quintessentials and hits("My Generation", "I Can See For Miles", "Pinball Wizard", "Love Reign O'er Me", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Happy Jack", "Slip Kid", "Who Are You" and "You Better You Bet"), single tracks ("Let's See Action", "Heaven and Hell", "Dogs", "Relay" and "The Seeker"), classics ("Sister Disco", "Eminence Front", "A Quick One", "Rael", "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere", "Boris the Spider", "Acid Queen" and "5:15") and onstage and studio banter (it all begins with Pete scolding a wild crowd and other highlights include Pete sassing Roger and punishing Abbie Hoffman for an unappreciated public announcement in the middle of the Who's set at Woodstock). Plus, you get plenty of comedy skits from the late Keith Moon. To end the box set, there is an apology from Pete taken from a 1969 concert explaining why the Who could not perform an encore followed by a 1991 cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Allright for Fighting" (one of the highlights from the Two Rooms CD). The book is loaded with pictures and essays from Pete (whom I quoted in the title of this review), Dave Marsh (who argues that the real leaders of the Who were the Who, not merely Pete), Keith Altham, the Who's publicist who almost got "stuffed and put in a glass case", and an excellent chronology by Chris Charlesworth.

It's not that this is bad material (with some exceptions, like the horrible alternate "The Real Me" that should have stayed unreleased), just that there are a LOT of little mistakes and annoyances that really add up. One or two mistakes or annoyances would have been understandable and easy to ignore, but not when they keep happening over and over again. The constant seguing of the songs is by far the worst error. This technique only works well when the end of the first song and the beginning of the following one sound enough alike to phased in and out simultaneously. Many times there isn't even one single nanosecond of breathing space between songs. There are also a few songs which are a mix of studio and live versions, like "A Quick One" and "See Me, Feel Me." Other big errors are mislabelling "Sparks" (the live Woodstock version) as "Underture." They never did "Underture" live. The live "Bargain" on here is also shortened by about a minute; the full-length version of this particular live rendition is found on the rarities compilation 'Who's Missing,' which was released some years before this boxed set came along. There are also a number of errors in the booklet, like giving incorrect chart positions for some songs and reinforcing the common but incorrect belief that Keith Moon was born in 1947; he was born in 1946 but lied about his age so people would think he was younger.

Besides the constant seguing, the other most annoying thing on here is the inclusion of way too many songs from 'Sell Out,' a total of eight of the original thirteen. There's also too much material from 'Who's Next' and the original LAL. Giving more than three or four songs from each album is no longer just giving a little sample of each album represented, and it feels jarring hearing them all played out of order, with so many songs from those albums included. Maybe that's the reason why there were barely any songs from their sorely underrated Eighties catalogue, with only one song apiece from their final two studio albums and then the next two Eighties songs being really poorly representative of that period. They could have picked a better song from 'Who's Last,' as bland a live effort as it may be, in lieu of the live version of "Twist and Shout" they used, as well as a better song from the '89 triple-LP 'Join Together' over the endless live rendition of "I'm a Man." The final song, a '91 cover of the Elton John song "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)," is fun and peppy, but could have been included somewhere else if it had to be included at all. That is not the track you use to close a boxed set with; it should have been so obvious that the final track should have been a blistering live version of "WGFA" or "SMFM"!

Still, the material included here is by and large great, along with some cute Keith skits done for the BBC, interviews, onstage dialogue, and studio conversations held before songs. There are also a lot of songs that were unreleased before this boxed set came along, though since then most of them have been released as bonus tracks on the CD remasters. And some of the songs are still hard to find on CD, are only on vinyl, or are hard to find altogether, whatever the format they're available on, like the irresistably cute ditty "Dogs," "Call Me Lightning," and the High Numbers-era material like "Here 'Tis" and "Zoot Suit"; before this, only the High Numbers song "I'm the Face" was available on an official release. It's too bad they couldn't have cut some of the superfluous songs to make room for more rarities, like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" or some of the songs on the out-of-print 'Two's Missing.' Overall, the many mistakes and annoyances aren't enough to overlook the fact that it's still great material. I'm lucky I found a used copy of this, complete with the booklet, for only $35 in a used record store!

If you have ever heard a WHO song on the radio, and thought "Hey, this is pretty good stuff!", then you MUST pick up this amazing gift set. Sure, it's a little pricey, but it is WELL worth it! The set contains a 4 CD chronological retrospective that begins in 1964 with the first songs recorded as the "High Numbers" and ends with the 1993 Elton John cover of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" Included in the set are all the classics (I Can't Explain, My Generation, Pinball Wizard, Won't Get Fooled Again, Love Reign O'er Me, Who Are You, You Better You Bet, Eminence Front) as well as rare live tracks, B-sides, and unreleased material! There is also a 2 1/2 hour video included in the set that chronicals The WHO's live career, from their stint at London's legendary Marquee Club right up to the highly successfull 1989 reunion tour! Much of the footage has never been seen! What more can be said about this powerful band but simply.... "LONG LIVE ROCK!!!" PETE TOWNSHEND (guitars, vocals, keyboards) ROGER DALTREY (lead vocals, harmonica) JOHN ENTWISTLE (bass, vocals, brass, keyboards) KEITH MOON 1964-1978 (drums, vocals, comic relief) KENNY JONES 1979-1985 (drums)

First, I must say that my rating of 1 star is not a commentary on the Who's music itself. For that, see the other customer reviews of this album. I have given this box set one star because of the weakness of the collection itself.

A box set is supposed to do two things: 1. Give a proper overview of the group's work to listeners unfamiliar with the band and 2. Provide obscure and unreleased tracks for those listeners who are already familiar with the band's work, and are interested in more than just the albums. A box set should also offer definitive sound quality and full length tracks, wherever possible.

This set fails in all these areas. First, The Who were a concept album band, and offer several strong, cohesive albums. I recommend "Tommy," "Who's Next," and "Quadrophenia". They also have several singles, such as "The Seeker" and "Magic Bus" which are not found on any album, and other singles, such as "Who Are You" which are found on otherwise worthless albums. A proper box set should offer the definitive studio versions of these singles. Instead, shortened versions are included. The third area of interest for Who neophytes is live Who recordings. Although many cuts from "Live At Leeds" (another essential album) is included, little else is offered. These problems make the box set a poor introduction. If you are new to the Who, get all 4 of the albums mentioned above, plus "My Generation - The Very Best Of The Who."

Greater problems are found with this box set for those old fans looking for new stuff. As a general rule, everything of interest that could be included on the box set is already released. Infinite greatest hits compilations and live albums are available. All the old albums have been re-released since this box set came out, and offer superior rarities as bonus tracks. The "Odds And Sods" album has now been doubled in length and contains an amazing number of quality rarities. All interesting song demos (and, many, many more) are included in Townshend's "Scoop" and "Another Scoop" series. The few things not already released are missing here. For example, no BBC cuts are found (due to contractual problems?).

To top off problems related to content, the sound quality of almost all tracks is inferior to the more recently released albums. And, as stated above, too often an edited version of a song is present instead of the full length version. Also, the tracks are presented in an awkward, chronological order interspersed with dialogue and demo tracks. Box sets work better when each disc is cohesive (as in The Doors box set), because listening sessions are rarely 5 hours long.

Anyway, to sum up my review, skip this box set and go straight for the albums, and slowly move deeper into their catalog. This box seems to have been slapped together to make a quick buck and offer another ego trip to Townshend, instead of to offer a great package to the consumer, which was certainly an option due to the Who's large catalog of music.

This is an incredible box set. How can the above reviewer say it was "slapped together" to make a quick buck ("The Who Sells Out, again?)? The BLOODY thing comes with a 72 page booklet.

I truly had forgotten how much I love The Who until I heard this collection. I never, ever listen to "classic rock" radio, and if I did, I'd probably only hear Baba O Reilly or Won't Get Fooled Again. The "Oldies" stations would never play "I Can't Explain", although it's innocuous and catchy.

So I bought this. I saw it at a record store, yes a record store, not online, and was flooded with memories of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy introduced to me at the tender age of ten by some stoner neighbor. But I never thought of them as one of the greatest. The Stones, of course, but The Who? Well, yes. Compare this to any of the Beatles collections. If you were trapped in a restroom for the rest of your life (I'm sick of the desert island scenario) which compilation would you rather have? Which has more substance, more diversity, more, can I say this, cajones as rock LEGENDS?

I just bought The Kids Are Alright here at Amazon. I can't wait to see it again. It's been 15 years.

By the way, Rock and Roll Circus wasn't aired because Mick Jagger was angry that The Who blew them away. True story, I'm told.

Thank you, and rock on....man.

This box set is excellent. It contains songs from their time as The High Numbers up until their reunion in 1989. The only problem is that "Quadrophenia" was not touched upon enough, but it does have a previously unreleased version of "The Real Me" that rocks, and it has possibly the best Who song ever, "Love Reign O'er Me". The early songs as the High Numbers are a must for a true fan. Although the 4th disc is pretty lame aside from a few songs, the collection as a whole is very good. I too was upset about the single version of "Who Are You" being used instead of the full length version, but oh well. "Can't Explain","Substitute","My Generation","The Kids Are Alright","Anyway,Anyhow,Anywhere", and many more great Who classics more than make up for that mistake. This is the first Who CD I've bought,and it's a great overwiew. I suggest buying this and then purchasing other CD's such as "Who's Next", "Tommy",and "Quadrophenia".