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Rating: The first album by the Who is an album that cannot be missing from any rock collection that wants to boast that name. Recorded in '65 with the help of prominent session men like Nicky Hopkins, it presents the band at the best of the incendiary charge of their beginnings. There are two versions, the English one and the American one called "The Who Sings My Generation" with an additional track "Circles" instead of the Bo Diddley cover "I'm a Man". The version I'm reviewing is the Deluxe Edition which puts a bit of order.
It starts with "Out in the Street" — a powerful introduction, a track that takes us directly into the music of the Who. An aggressive music with Daltrey's bluesy and gritty voice, Entwistle's bass strokes, and Moon's whirling drums. However, in this track, it's Townshend's guitar that stands out, battered with feedback and distortion effects.
Another track I like is "The Goods Gone", immensely powerful with an initial guitar arpeggio and a voice from Daltrey that reminds me a lot of Paul Weller's Jam. There are also masterpieces of English beat like "The Kids Are Alright", pounding and very Beatlesque like the splendid "LA LA Lies". In these tracks, which could have become classic yeah yeah songs, there's a transformation due to the band's aggressiveness, turning them into monsters of power. There are also some very inspired covers of "I Don't Mind" and "Please Please Please" by James Brown, as well as "I'm a Man" by Bo Diddley, one of Townshend's masters. The album's closure belonged to "The Ox", an instrumental enriched by Nicky Hopkins' piano.
In this deluxe version with two CDs, there are also many other gems, including "I Can't Explain", the Who's first single owing much to the Kinks, and their second single "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere", here (unfortunately) in a different version than the known one. Here, we are truly in masterpiece territory. In this track, the typically Mod lyrics speak of the angry youth of the time, and the music follows suit: aggressive and with an instrumental interlude made with the microphone stand, creating sliding, distorted effects on the guitar.
In conclusion, there are also many unreleased tracks, among which the most beautiful in my opinion are "Leaving Here" with fragmented rhythm and "Circles", a track that already hinted at the Who's psychedelic period and appeared only as a single in England.
Finally, a mention of the beautiful cover. Notice Pete's Union Jack jacket and Daltrey's London tough-guy look, it's a whole program for the music found inside the album.
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