Status Quo
Whatever You Want

THE REVIEW

Few people know that this fantastic band, in over five decades of their career, has sold more than 130 million records and is the only band to have entered the UK charts for 40 years, placing 65 singles and more than 30 albums.

They have performed over 7,000 concerts and are the only band to have played 40 times at Wembley Arena.

They are also the first to have performed in front of members of the British royal family, Charles and Diana, at the N.E.C. in Birmingham on May 14, 1982.

Rossi and Parfitt are the two “guitars” who have created more riffs in the history of rock,

In 1977, Status Quo were called by the Daily Mirror the best rock band in the world (have you ever listened to their LIVE!) and for the more heavy metal fans I can tell you that with “Is There a Better Way” from 1976, they basically invented heavy metal.

In Italy they are not very well known, except for that masterpiece “Whatever You Want” that some know-it-alls dismiss as an “easy” track. Nothing could be more wrong. Whatever You Want was originally conceived with a more complex structure; the band members intentionally simplified it to make it more direct and immediately catchy, and as they say themselves, they “Statusquoized” it. Easy? Not at all.

Find another band that can play this song live the way they do. Impossible. There’s experience, passion, carefree energy—this is the essence of rock inside here.

Released in 1979, the last year of those fabulous ‘70s, the album opens with Parfitt’s intro. Defined among the best rock intros in history, it starts with an arpeggio and ends in the classic Quo style that makes you tap your feet, bursting into the immortal riff of Whatever You Want!

The two guitars intertwine beautifully, and even now, 47 years after its release, the track still sounds as if it had just been mixed.

The album continues with the lively rock of “Shady Lady,” classic joyous, light-hearted and irreverent rock with beautiful Rossi feels.

The following “Who Asked You” and “Your Smiling Faces” are two tracks of pure Quo-style rock, the latter featuring Parfitt in great form on vocals. Parfitt, who writes and sings one of the most beautiful ballads ever, “Livin’ on an Island,” a song also released as a 45 rpm single. Side B of the album opens with a tough and raw rock duo: “Come Rock With Me” and “Rockin’ On,” showing the wilder side of the album. “Runaway” flies by, just like its rock tempo, and “High Flyer” writes another chapter of raw, no-frills rock that characterizes the whole album, which closes with “Breaking Away” and its vibrant bluesy finale.

This album is a real masterpiece.

Years go by, and in 2024 Status Quo had a world tour, and unfortunately, as often happens, not in Italy, but they did play in Locarno, in a packed Piazza Grande, overwhelming the crowd, both young and old, with their immortal rock.

I don’t know if they’ll tour again; Bown is 80, Rossi is 76... but if they do and you get the chance, go see them—you might have an amazing night.