My Generation: Very Best of

The Who | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 27, 1996)
• Original Release Date: August 19, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002P1N
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,525 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Can't Explain

2. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere

3. My Generation

4. Substitute

5. I'm a Boy

6. Boris the Spider

7. Happy Jack

8. Pictures of Lily

9. I Can See for Miles

10. Magic Bus

11. Pinball Wizard

12. The Seeker

13. Baba O'Riley

14. Won't Get Fooled Again [Full Length Version]

15. Let's See Action (Nothing Is Everything)

16. 5:15

17. Join Together

18. Squeeze Box

19. Who Are You [Single Edit Version]

20. You Better You Bet [Full Length Version]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This fourth single-disc repackaging of the Who's hits is a definitive catalog item with decent liner notes, brilliantly remastered sound and 19 deathless Townshend gems from "I Can't Explain" through "You Better You Bet." --Jeff Bateman

Product Description

Includes I Can See for Miles; My Generation; Pinball Wizard , and more. 20 remastered remixed tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent sampler, but there are better Who CD's, June 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: My Generation: Very Best of (Audio CD)

They got it right the first time they released a Who compilation in 1970, when they collected all their UK hits and singles on to "Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy," but since then the Who has released more compilations, and each time it gets a bit worse. This latest compilation (and the only one in-print in the US) has the most music, packing in 79 minutes that covers their entire career with Keith Moon as well "You Better You Bet," a hit recorded after Moon's passing.

For people who aren't big fans of the Who but like some of their biggest, most famous hits, this CD will do just fine, and for people who are want to start exploring the Who, this is a nice place to start. However, keep in mind this is really just a sampler. It covers almost all of their biggest hits, but it doesn't leave a complete picture of the band. For one thing, you can't boil down their career on to just one disc; their career goes through such a huge change that something like "Happy Jack" seems totally out of place with "Who Are You." There's also too much good material that has to be left off. Important early singles like "The Kids Are Alright" and "A Legal Matter" are essential, and while I'd prefer their inclusion over "Squeeze Box" and "You Better, You Bet," those two songs were still big hits, so you know someone would carp if they were missing.

So, if you're looking to get a better idea of what the Who was about, you could start here, though I'd suggest starting out with "Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy," Whatever you buy, you will want to supplement it with "Who's Next" (their best and a greatest hits album in its own way since every track is an FM classic), "Tommy," and if you want to go further, "Live At Leeds" and the flawed but still interesting "Quadrophenia."

One final word about the sound: for some reason, they put some of these tracks in fake stereo. You don't have to be an audiophile to know how bad fake stereo is; it totally ruins the sound. Just listen to Pictures of Lily on this disc, then compare it to the true mono version on the box set (which doesn't even sound that great to begin with). The box set version is so much better. My Generation, I Can't Explain, Boris The Spider, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere...fake stereo. The rest sound just fine, with some actually remixed, including Won't Get Fooled Again, which is featured in a great-sounding, faithful remix (the recent Who's Next reissue does not have it remixed). I imagine some you don't care, but some of you would probably be steamed if you bought this without knowing that.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Once Passable But Now Outdated Who Collection, August 12, 2005

By 

Anthony Nasti "Tony" (Staten Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Generation: Very Best of (Audio CD)

In my opinion, The Who are the greatest rock and roll band ever. With some of the most talented musicians in rock history (John Enthwistle is the greatest bassist ever) and a barrage of classic rock anthems. However, their legacy is slow being eaten away by a barrage of greatest hits collections that feature the same songs being released over and over again. There have been about nine Who greatest hits/best-of's/definitive collections/ultimate/box sets released over the years.

In 1996, the compilation "My Generation: The Very Best Of The Who" was released. This comoilation contains 20 of the band's biggest hits in both Britain and America. Nine years later, does this collection still hold up? Here are the positives and the negatives.

Positives:
-This collection includes almost all the hits the casual Who fan would want. "My Generation", "I Can See For Miles", "Pinall Wizard", "Baba O'Reilly", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Who Are You", "You Better You Bet" and many other classics are on here.
-Underrated gems like "I'm A Boy", "Pictures Of Lily", "The Seeker" and "Let's See Action" are all included.
-It's affordable. That's good news for casual fans who only want one Who cd in this collection.

Negatives:
-Only one track from each from "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia"? These are easily The Who's best albums and yet we only get "Pinball Wizard" and "5:15". Those songs definitely deserve to be here, but where's "I'm Free", "Tommy Can You Hear Me", "We're Not Gonna Take It/See Me, Feel Me", "The Real Me" (Enthwistle's best bass work is on here), "Drowned" and especially the epic masterpiece "Love, Reign, O'Er Me"?
-Where's is "Behind Blue Eyes"? This track is very popular. Let me explain how popular this track is. It is the Who equivalent to leaving "Stairway To Heaven" of a Led Zeppelin best of. That is how popular that song is.
-For that matter, where's "The Kids Are Alright", "Pure And Easy", "Goin' Mobile", "Sister Disco" and "Eminence Front"?
-"Who Are You" is edited from 6:20 down to 4:51. Arrgh! I hate it when they do that.
-The sound isn't all that great.

If you're just beginning to get into The Who, then you should skip this and get the two cd "The Ultimate Collection", or if you really must have evryhting they did, then get the expensive box set "Thirty Years Of Maximum R & B". If you're on a budget, then I suggest the more recent single disc collection "Then & Now". That collection, while not as good as the other two, have "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine", the band's first studio recording in nearly 15 years. Whatever it is, this collection, while good, is not needed anymore.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars my generation, your generation, all generations, January 20, 2001

By 

Terrence Rusch (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Generation: Very Best of (Audio CD)

Despite the fact that the members of The Who (still living) are all well into thier fifties, thier music is just as imortant and fundamental to young music fans as it was in the sixties. My Generation does a superd job of displaying just how essential the music of this band is to rock. Working chronologicly through it's decades spanning career, this greatest hits album culls works from all of the Who's major releases from '65 to the 80's. This compiliation is the definition of the phrase "jam-packed". Over 70 min. and 22 tracks, My Generation is teeming with some of rock and roll's most quintessential numbers. Begginning with four of the sixties greatest rock songs ("I can't explain","Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,", "My Generation", and "Substitute") the album wastes no time in blowing listeners away. The album's interior contains the thematic trilogy of "The Seeker", "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". The rest of My Generation is fleshed out with several other Who gems like "I can see for Miles", "Pinball Wizard" "Magic Bus" and "Who are You". However while it may seem that all of the essential Who classics are here, there is the nearly unforgivable absence of "Behind Blue Eyes" which easily could have been put in place of one of the weaker songs. Lightweights like "Let's See action" and "I'm a Boy" really don't stack up to the albums highpoints. Overall though, My Generation is a nearly perfectly molded look at one of rock's most influential bands. Yet any true Who fan really dosent' need to buy this since there isn't anything new. But it is a perfect first time album for anyone wanting to get aquinted with the Who. Any generation should be able to enjoy it.