The Who
The Who By Numbers

After reaching the creative peak with "Quadrophenia," for The Who, the beginning of the decline was inevitable, also due to the state of disarray reigning among artists at that time in the swamp of heroin and alcohol of rock 'n roll....

The novelties in this album are represented by the absence of synthesizers and embellishments that characterized especially the previous album (a double-edged sword capable of stunning the listener but also of suffocating them in a grip of redundant opulence) and by a climate of malaise and depression present in the lyrics. The level of the compositions is decidedly lower than the standard, although there are some good songs:

I would start by mentioning the most famous song on the album, " Dreaming from the Waist", which immediately became a concert staple, where the great John Entwistle towers with his astounding bass technique with some soaring soloistic virtuosity, and the beautiful ballad "Imagine a Man" led by Pete's acoustic and the piano of the album's guest of honor, Nicky Hopkins (present on virtually all the Who's albums of the 70s).

"Blue Red and Grey" also deserves a listen, where the vocal protagonist is Pete who accompanies himself with a ukulele, supported by the background of trombones played by John, a piece with a very particular and sparse yet very effective and moving atmosphere. On the arrangement side, the guitar parts of "However Much I Booze" are notable, although the melody is of little consequence.

The other songs are rather uninteresting and lack a precise direction, the only one that comes to mind is "Success Story" mainly because of the delirious video that accompanied it in the film "Kids are all right" where John Entwistle played clay pigeon shooting with his own gold records.... Keith Moon is a bit subdued throughout the album, but better than the drowsiness induced by his performance on the subsequent "Who Are You".

Ultimately, the weakest album of The Who's era with Keith Moon, the ones without him I wouldn't even include in the discography because they are so awful...