The Who
The 1st Singles Box

It sometimes happens to receive a little money as a gift for Graduation, and to want to buy some good music. It also happens to spend 30 minutes contemplating a singles box set of The Who which costs a whopping 46 euros. It happens that once you get home with the hefty package and your wallet still crying, you realize that on Amazon.com the same box set costs 28 dollars. Perhaps soon a store owner will be murdered with the ensuing explosion of the shop (and to think that with an annoyed air he gave me a one euro discount); but that's another story.

If you're new to the world of The Who, DO NOT buy this singles collection. If you hope to find a 50x50 poster and/or an autographed Keith Moon slipper inside, DO NOT buy this Box. If you don't like having 12 CDs roaming around the house with only 2 tracks each, DO NOT buy this Box. However, if you are a die-hard Fan with a capital "F" of The Who, precise collectors and devotees of trivia like: "Did you know that 'Happy Jack', released on December 9, 1966, reached the third position on the Norwegian charts?", then you might consider buying it (But don't get ripped off on the price like me...).

The spectacle that presents itself upon opening the cardboard box is definitely pleasant; there are 12 singles with the recordings of both sides A and B with original covers both on the CD and the package. It's practically as if Townshend and Daltrey had set about shrinking each single with a vice until it became the size of a CD. The booklet has a nice very "Old Style" graphic, and includes comments from reviewers of the time and recording and chart information. It is interesting the presence of many hard-to-find tracks elsewhere, such as "Bald Headed Woman", "Shout and Shimmy", "Circles", "Doctor, Doctor", "Dogs Part II", and especially the two new singles (dated 2004), "Real Good Looking Boy" (featuring Greg Lake on bass), and "Old Red Wine".

From a strictly musical point of view, we have both major and minor pieces. The Who are depicted following their evolution from the Mods' Pop-Rock of "My Generation", to the experimental psychedelia of "I Can See For Miles", the masterpiece with prog influences "Tommy", of which "Pinball Wizard" appears, to one of their most famous pieces "Won't Get Fooled Again", reaching up to the Mods nostalgia reinterpreted in a more modern key of "Quadrophenia", in 5:15, ending with the electronic applied to a very powerful Pop of "Who Are You".

The two new singles are nothing special, but they bode well for the future. We are waiting for the release of the EP "Wire and Glass" and consequently "WHO2", to see if the absence of Keith Moon and John Entwistle has nevertheless been filled by good musicians and equally good songs.