The Who - The Greatest Hits & More
80million year old rockers release a greatest hits. And, um, 'more'
The Who are nothing short of legendary. We can use other such understatements as ‘iconic’ and ‘influential’, but with such bands – their prime now decades away – this is one of a plethora of compilation albums of their music (Wikipedia indicates the number's at least twenty). The tracklist is incredibly similar to 2004’s 'Then And Now', but this latest starter pack/cash-in has the distinct advantage of second disc of rarer live material.
The first contains your standard assortment of the big hits and stronger numbers - not that there’s much that’s ‘standard’ about such unforgettable classics as ‘My Generation’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’ and the still phenomenal ‘Pinball Wizard’. But the second disk contains sixteen live recordings that range from a BBC session from 1965 to as recent as a cut from their Nassau Coliseum performance three years ago. The performances are vastly better than their recorded counterparts – they’re crisply produced and achieve that ever-elusive sense of atmosphere and excitement live recordings so often struggle with.
The downside of this second disc, however, is that most of these songs appear twice (in the Case of ‘My Generation’, three times). The album of live tracks is a plus, but there's little else to distinguish it from the many compilations already available. A good starting point for newcomers, but it’s a maybe, even for completists.
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