|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy a CD or a vinyl record, get a $1 Amazon MP3 Credit. Limit one promotional credit per customer. Here's how (restrictions apply)
- Includes FREE MP3 version of this album Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A mix of old favorites and buried treasures makes this edition of Who's Next a definite must. One of the defining albums of 70s hard rock from one of the 60s most successful bands, the original album includes some of The Who's best-known work, such as the anthemic "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", the by turns sorrowful and angry "Behind Blue Eyes", and perennial favorite "My Wife". The new tracks on this album are equally worth hearing, including "Pure and Easy" (an alternate edition of which is available on Odds & Sods) and the original version of "Behind Blue Eyes". A hard rock classic, Who's Next is required listening for rock fans of all ages. --Genevieve Williams
Product Description
How about seven tracks added to that monster lineup of Baba O'Riley; Won't Get Fooled Again; Behind Blue Eyes , etc.?! 78 minutes of maximum R&B!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
129 of 137 people found the following review helpful
By Mike Powers
Format:Audio CD
"Who's Next" is definitely The Who's best! Released in 1971 by arguably one of the greatest bands of all time, it followed on the heels of the rock opera "Tommy," and Pete Townshend's abandoned "Lifehouse" project. ("Lifehouse" was originally intended as The Who's crowning achievement - a combination science fiction film, rock opera, double album, and concert cycle, all connected to make a statement.) "Who's Next" contains some of The Who's most outstanding and famous songs, including the rock anthem "Baba O'Riley," "Bargain, "My Wife," "Gettin' in Tune," and "Won't Get Fooled Again," all of them showing the band's tremendous dynamism, versatility and musical maturity. Superbly intelligent lyrics, growling guitars, powerful, gritty vocals, and sizzling percussion, piano, and synthesizer, all converge to make every song on this CD a rock masterpiece.
What makes this digitally remastered CD even better than the original album is the addition of five previously unreleased songs from "Lifehouse," and the previously unreleased, original version of "Behind Blue Eyes. " These songs, which include "Baby Don't You Do It," "Naked Eye," "Water" and others, are equal in quality to the more familiar songs which make up the original "Who's Next" album. Also included are very well written liner notes by Pete Townshend and John Atkins, which explain the evolution of "Who's Next" from "Lifehouse."
"Who's Next" is one of the landmark albums of all time. It's also one of my personal favorites, and an essential CD, not only for fans of The Who, but for all fans of rock and roll music.
88 of 92 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Due to some positive comments made, I would like to elaborate on the "Spruce Goose" comment present in this review for those unfamiliar with that particular bit of history.
In the 1940s, Howard Hughes, the famous aviator and notorious recluse, built the largest "flying boat" ever built. The plane has the largest wingspan ever. Martin Scorceses produced a film called "The Aviator" with Leonardo Decaprio playing Hughes. The airplane was so massive and so unwieldly that only one flight was ever conducted, with Hughes behind the controls, on November 2, 1947. After that, the plane was permanently grounded, and no other subsequent models or additional planes built to the specifications of the Spruce Goose were ever built. The plane is still in existince today.
The whole "Lifehouse" project is analogous to the famous airplane. "Lifehouse" was unwieldy, impractical to implement, and no one really knew what Townsend was trying to accomplish with the project. Ultimately, it was too big for its own good and became doomed due to its size.
Mike London 9-10-2012
---------------------
The Who have always been overshadowed throughout their career by other, more `relevant' trends. The Who persisted, however, and in the end created a body of work, largely penned by Townshend, which has become stands in the rock canon, but they've always had to fight for the spotlight. In the mid 1960s they had to contend with The Beatles and Stones and the rest of the Peace movement. From the early 1970s they had to deal with the singer-songwriter influx, and in the late part of their recording career they had to contend with punk (much of that relationship is dealt with in the highly underrated WHO ARE YOU album).
However, in a three year span, The Who was THE center of rock and roll. From 1969 to 1971, The Who had the world in a spin with ferocious live shows, a whole new idea of what rock and roll could do (TOMMY), and the sheer power and velocity of them live was absolutely amazing. The Who were at the top of their game, and took the live performance of TOMMY on the road for two years. Everyone was wondering what their next move would be.
WHO'S NEXT was the next move. Coming from the failed LIFEHOUSE, the album suddenly changed the direction that The Who had been established in. This is the turning point in The Who's career as far as sound goes. Townshend went from writing mod anthems to more album-oriented rock. When listening to albums like TOMMY or SELL OUT or QUICK ONE and then the later albums such as QUADROPHENIA, this one, or WHO ARE YOU, while you can tell it's the same band they've changed their sound drastically. Although they've always been loud, now The Who were playing genuine hard rock, and boy did it ever rock.
The source material for WHO'S NEXT, LIFEHOUSE, a multi-media extravaganza about how rock was going to save the world, has become, like Brian Wilson's SMILE, one of the great mysteries which everyone wonders what would have been had it come to completion. In The Who's case, I think it benefitted the work overall to not come to completion. Although it always escapes me why "Pure and Easy" was left off the album (as well as "The Naked Eye"), over all WHO'S NEXT plays very tightly, concise, and extremely focused. Townshend sometimes let the concept bog down the music, although not nearly as much as, say, Roger Waters. To his immense credit, Townshend always made sure that the songs were very catchy, and TOMMY has some of the band's best music, but taking it outside the context of the "concept," the music does not stand up as well as WHO'S NEXT.
That's the main difference between TOMMY and WHO'S NEXT, and that's what makes this record such a fascinating listen. If you know the plot of LIFEHOUSE*, then each song makes sense within its context. However, what makes WHO'S NEXT so powerful is the fact that, taken out of the LIFEHOUSE context, the music becomes an entirely different animal, which cannot be said for TOMMY. With LIFEHOUSE failing, instead we, as the listeners, have to take it on the basis of each individual song, and this gives the tracks from WHO'S NEXT more power than they ever could have if Townshend's second rock opera had been fully realised.
The best example of Townshend's songs working better outside the LIFEHOUSE plot is, of course, the last track on the album, "Won't Get Fooled Again." Instead of it being that great finale where Bobby and all his friends have escaped and are playing the final Lost Chord, it acts as excellent social commentary, and coming at the very beginning of the 1970s, after seeing the turbulence of the 1960s and all the tumult we were going through, Townshend manages to pen one phrase that blows the entire free love, hippie generation mentality, and with this one blow they never recovered. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," the very climax of the song, hits so hard and so fast it left the culture reeling, making that song the single most powerful statement made against the 1960s.
Much of "Won't Get Fooled Again's" power would have been deflated had LIFEHOUSE been completed. Another excellent example is "Behind Blue Eyes" which is about the villain of LIFEHOUSE. Instead of being about one specific villain, it instead becomes about the villain in all of humanity. The same can be said of "Bargain." Instead of talking about some esoteric Lost Note that will crumble the Grid, Townshend gives us a very spirituality-driven song. To those who interpret the song about a man and a woman, that's their right, but I've always taken it as more of man's relationship with God.
In the end, WHO'S NEXT becomes The Who's most powerful statement, not in spite of LIFEHOUSE's failure, but BECAUSE of LIFEHOUSE's failure.
*There are several places on the Internet where you can get in detail LIFEHOUSE's plot. Essentially, it's a science fiction piece about rock and roll saving the world. Everyone is plugged into this Grid, and it reads kind of like Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD where they're kept doped up in the fact that they realise nothing's wrong. Bobby, the main character, decides to instigate a revolution, founds this place called the Lifehouse, where a band is playing music. When you go to the Lifehouse, people take all your personal data, everything you are, and then you are given your own personal musical identity. The climax is everyone gets caught up in the music, and everyone's information is fed into this computer which then produces everyone's identity into one single note. The rebels play the Note, everything is put right in the world, and they live happily ever after. Townshend was going to actually do this, and The Who would play rock concents and everyone's data would be represented musically. Can anyone say Spruce Goose?
Good science fiction; hard as hell to pull it off in any other format other than the novel. No wonder it never got completed.
P. S. Stop acting like the bonus tracks are part of the album. It's unfair to deduct stars from an album because of the bonus material. They are bonus tracks, simply that.
In the 1940s, Howard Hughes, the famous aviator and notorious recluse, built the largest "flying boat" ever built. The plane has the largest wingspan ever. Martin Scorceses produced a film called "The Aviator" with Leonardo Decaprio playing Hughes. The airplane was so massive and so unwieldly that only one flight was ever conducted, with Hughes behind the controls, on November 2, 1947. After that, the plane was permanently grounded, and no other subsequent models or additional planes built to the specifications of the Spruce Goose were ever built. The plane is still in existince today.
The whole "Lifehouse" project is analogous to the famous airplane. "Lifehouse" was unwieldy, impractical to implement, and no one really knew what Townsend was trying to accomplish with the project. Ultimately, it was too big for its own good and became doomed due to its size.
Mike London 9-10-2012
---------------------
The Who have always been overshadowed throughout their career by other, more `relevant' trends. The Who persisted, however, and in the end created a body of work, largely penned by Townshend, which has become stands in the rock canon, but they've always had to fight for the spotlight. In the mid 1960s they had to contend with The Beatles and Stones and the rest of the Peace movement. From the early 1970s they had to deal with the singer-songwriter influx, and in the late part of their recording career they had to contend with punk (much of that relationship is dealt with in the highly underrated WHO ARE YOU album).
However, in a three year span, The Who was THE center of rock and roll. From 1969 to 1971, The Who had the world in a spin with ferocious live shows, a whole new idea of what rock and roll could do (TOMMY), and the sheer power and velocity of them live was absolutely amazing. The Who were at the top of their game, and took the live performance of TOMMY on the road for two years. Everyone was wondering what their next move would be.
WHO'S NEXT was the next move. Coming from the failed LIFEHOUSE, the album suddenly changed the direction that The Who had been established in. This is the turning point in The Who's career as far as sound goes. Townshend went from writing mod anthems to more album-oriented rock. When listening to albums like TOMMY or SELL OUT or QUICK ONE and then the later albums such as QUADROPHENIA, this one, or WHO ARE YOU, while you can tell it's the same band they've changed their sound drastically. Although they've always been loud, now The Who were playing genuine hard rock, and boy did it ever rock.
The source material for WHO'S NEXT, LIFEHOUSE, a multi-media extravaganza about how rock was going to save the world, has become, like Brian Wilson's SMILE, one of the great mysteries which everyone wonders what would have been had it come to completion. In The Who's case, I think it benefitted the work overall to not come to completion. Although it always escapes me why "Pure and Easy" was left off the album (as well as "The Naked Eye"), over all WHO'S NEXT plays very tightly, concise, and extremely focused. Townshend sometimes let the concept bog down the music, although not nearly as much as, say, Roger Waters. To his immense credit, Townshend always made sure that the songs were very catchy, and TOMMY has some of the band's best music, but taking it outside the context of the "concept," the music does not stand up as well as WHO'S NEXT.
That's the main difference between TOMMY and WHO'S NEXT, and that's what makes this record such a fascinating listen. If you know the plot of LIFEHOUSE*, then each song makes sense within its context. However, what makes WHO'S NEXT so powerful is the fact that, taken out of the LIFEHOUSE context, the music becomes an entirely different animal, which cannot be said for TOMMY. With LIFEHOUSE failing, instead we, as the listeners, have to take it on the basis of each individual song, and this gives the tracks from WHO'S NEXT more power than they ever could have if Townshend's second rock opera had been fully realised.
The best example of Townshend's songs working better outside the LIFEHOUSE plot is, of course, the last track on the album, "Won't Get Fooled Again." Instead of it being that great finale where Bobby and all his friends have escaped and are playing the final Lost Chord, it acts as excellent social commentary, and coming at the very beginning of the 1970s, after seeing the turbulence of the 1960s and all the tumult we were going through, Townshend manages to pen one phrase that blows the entire free love, hippie generation mentality, and with this one blow they never recovered. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," the very climax of the song, hits so hard and so fast it left the culture reeling, making that song the single most powerful statement made against the 1960s.
Much of "Won't Get Fooled Again's" power would have been deflated had LIFEHOUSE been completed. Another excellent example is "Behind Blue Eyes" which is about the villain of LIFEHOUSE. Instead of being about one specific villain, it instead becomes about the villain in all of humanity. The same can be said of "Bargain." Instead of talking about some esoteric Lost Note that will crumble the Grid, Townshend gives us a very spirituality-driven song. To those who interpret the song about a man and a woman, that's their right, but I've always taken it as more of man's relationship with God.
In the end, WHO'S NEXT becomes The Who's most powerful statement, not in spite of LIFEHOUSE's failure, but BECAUSE of LIFEHOUSE's failure.
*There are several places on the Internet where you can get in detail LIFEHOUSE's plot. Essentially, it's a science fiction piece about rock and roll saving the world. Everyone is plugged into this Grid, and it reads kind of like Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD where they're kept doped up in the fact that they realise nothing's wrong. Bobby, the main character, decides to instigate a revolution, founds this place called the Lifehouse, where a band is playing music. When you go to the Lifehouse, people take all your personal data, everything you are, and then you are given your own personal musical identity. The climax is everyone gets caught up in the music, and everyone's information is fed into this computer which then produces everyone's identity into one single note. The rebels play the Note, everything is put right in the world, and they live happily ever after. Townshend was going to actually do this, and The Who would play rock concents and everyone's data would be represented musically. Can anyone say Spruce Goose?
Good science fiction; hard as hell to pull it off in any other format other than the novel. No wonder it never got completed.
P. S. Stop acting like the bonus tracks are part of the album. It's unfair to deduct stars from an album because of the bonus material. They are bonus tracks, simply that.
164 of 178 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As most people know, one of the main selling points of Who's Next: Deluxe Edition is that the original album comes from the original stereo master tapes "for the first time on CD". The story is that only copy tapes have been used all of these years. On the other hand, Steve Hoffman, former MCA engineer, has claimed for a long time that he found the master tapes in a file cabinet at the Mastering Lab in LA in the mid-80s and used them for his CD version, one variation of which is still available in Canada today.
Well, between listening to the two side by side and running the tape box pictures past Steve, it would indeed seem the Deluxe Edition is the *second* time (at the very least) the true masters have been used for CD. There's little doubt in my mind that Hoffman's version also used the tapes. Both forms of the album sound quite good, although there are some differences between the two.
The Hoffman CD has an EQ that favors the vocals, with the side effect of causing the cymbals to sound a bit "midrangy". The Deluxe Edition, on the other hand, goes for a slightly more "smooth" cymbal sound, at the expense of the vocals, causing them to be submerged slightly, if you will. The DE is a bit less "open", IMO.
There are also some minor differences beyond EQ. For his CD, Hoffman essentially played the tapes back "straight", without fading the hiss out between tracks. [side note: the Canadian version has the hiss "blacked" between some tracks. The original US and Japanese pressings don't.] The Deluxe Edition takes a different approach. As the songs come to a close, the entire track is faded out, causing the hiss to fade as well. The side effect of this is that in some cases the very last moments of some songs are lost.
Interesting note: the between song gaps for most of the album seem to be just about identical between the Hoffman CD and the DE. However, while some previous versions of the original mix (including the Hoffman) have essentially no pause between Behind Blue Eyes and Won't Get Fooled Again, the Deluxe Edition has a few seconds of silence between the two. Very strange. On the other hand, the old US MCA CD (a version not mastered by Hoffman) does have a small gap as well.
A big question on many peoples minds has been noise reduction (NR). Jon Astley (who mastered the Deluxe Edition) is notorious for using NR on just about everything. This has the effect of sucking the life out of the music and causing nasty digital artifacts. Kind of a "swirling" sound if you will. Just listen to some of Live At Leeds: Deluxe Edition for a good (or bad, I guess) example of this. Well, I've got good and bad news. The good news is that *most* of the album is NR-free. Hiss levels are usually about the same as the Hoffman CD, and in a few cases they actually seem to be every so slightly higher. That said, several intros, quiet sections, and fade-outs do have noise reduction. One key place is Won't Get Fooled Again - the intro, synth break, and fade-out all have NR. There's very little hiss during the break, and then as soon as the drums come in, the hiss level goes *way* up. Fortunately the NR isn't quite as intrusive as it was on some other Astley-mastered CDs, but it is still annoying, and there's simply no reason for it.
As far as the rest of the (bonus) cuts go, I haven't really gotten that far yet. I would note that while Baby Don't You Do It is longer than on the 1995 CD, it is still edited in a few places. What's the point?
On the other hand, some (but not all) of the backing vocals mixed out of Pure & Easy on the 1995 CD are present here. The song also comes to a formal close, rather than a fade-out.
Behind Blue Eyes still only has a single guitar solo, unlike the dual solos on the bootleg mix.
I briefly skimmed through disc 2. Rich "White Fang" Weiner has said he thought the mastering was significantly worse on this disc, but honestly, I don't hear (m)any negative effects of noise reduction. It's certainly better than I was expecting. That said, I haven't heard the mixes prior to mastering, and I believe he has. Whatever the case, the sound is *far* better than some of Jon Astley's prior work.
How would I rate this set? Well, it was certainly better than expected. A key selling point is use of the "original tape" for the original album. While I'd say it does sound *very* good, bits of noise reduction aside, I'm hesitant to say it sounds "better" than the Hoffman CD. Both versions have their own strengths and weaknesses. Casual fans will probably do fine with the DE, although I'd still suggest the Hoffman CD to those who really care about sound quality. You might still prefer the DE, but then again, you might not.
Even ignoring the original album, I'd say the set is well worth picking up. The mixes of the Record Plant material are interesting, and the Young Vic show is great from both a performance and sound standpoint.
Despite its flaws, in my opinion this is the best Who reissue to come out in a long time.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic by any measure
This 1971 release sounds a lot different than Tommy (1969) and indicates how much the group had developed in only a few short years. Read more
Published 14 hours ago by Jeffrey J.Park
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of those must have albums that will define your life
Pivotal classic rock album for a classic rock collection. All songs are exceptional and will form a place in your heart.
Published 2 days ago by PK
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who's Next on vinyl
One of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time. A definite must have for any serious music collection.
Published 5 days ago by runawayjim527
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent record
One the those CD you can listen to front to back straight through, then want to listen to it over again. Read more
Published 17 days ago by ChrisCAge
4.0 out of 5 stars
fine rock and roll
obviously, the days of sex, drugs, and rock and roll were just getting started when this master piece was minted. Read more
Published 17 days ago by W. triplette
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Gem
This has been one of my favorite albums of all time. The song Behind Blue Eyes one of my favorite songs of all time. Read more
Published 22 days ago by F. Sasso
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who does't like the who/
Rock wouldn't be rock with out these guys. Baba O'riely rocks as one of the greatest songs ever written in the top 100 all time rock hits. Cool cover. Read more
Published 25 days ago by anthony cobb
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Who
One of my top ten CD's of all time. My top ten cannot include a greatest hits. It cannot be multiple artists. This CD by the Who is well done and every song is great.
Published 1 month ago by Charles Beymer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Album
Grew up listening to this album. Whenever I traveled anywhere I would put my 8 track in and drive for hours. This is my favorite albums of all time.
Published 1 month ago by Ralph
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm Next!
This is my favorite Who CD of all time. I already have the original on 24K gold. Had to have this one of the [Deluxe Edition] series. More versions and more music!
Published 1 month ago by W. E. Elston
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Music > Classic Rock
- Music > Hard Rock & Metal
- Music > Pop
- Music > Rock
