The Who
Who's Next

The four Britons record this work in perhaps the most favorable and inspired period of their career. "Who's Next" follows "Live at Leeds" and especially "Tommy" both of superb quality, and this album fully reaffirms the band's extraordinary abilities.
The album opens with "Baba O'Riley", introduced by a segment played on the synthesizer, the track ignites with Daltrey's voice so determined and grating in this context, and in almost the entire song, as much as it is clear and pure in the central part, followed by elegant guitar scales, and rhythmic drum beats. However, the highlight is the finale, cradled by the sweet and nostalgic notes of the violin which gradually gain strength and speed, blending together with the other instruments in a vortex of sounds. An enchanting and fascinating piece.
Track number 2 "Bargain" begins along the harmonious strings of the guitar, then suddenly explodes into Daltrey's amazing performances who shapes the entire song with his high notes, his coarse tone, and his vocal timbre, especially in the initial section where he's accompanied by Townshend and Keith Moon, on guitar and drums respectively. After 2 intense minutes, the rhythm drops drastically, the power of the singing becomes soft, almost a calm and sweet whisper. Subsequently, the sound gains in consistency, culminating in the chorus shouted by Daltrey, as in the first segment, finally, the song fades away on the long solos of the synthesizer combined with the guitar. Track 3 "Love Ain't for Keeping" is a predominantly Blues song in melody, vocal approach, guitar sound, with some Country highlights worth mentioning.
We then arrive at "My Wife", the pace is rather rhythmic from the start, words follow each other quickly supported especially by Moon's drums showing a good performance, a Rock song that's enjoyable but nothing special.
"The Song Is Over" begins with the graceful, elegant, romantic yet terribly penetrating sound of the piano that duets in perfect harmony with Daltrey's lysergic voice which, at some point, becomes hoarse, hard, deep, angry, and spills into an engaging and tight refrain. Subsequently, the initial quiet returns, then again a sudden change in rhythm and finally again a calm and danceable part delivering the end to the drums. A track definitely full of a thousand facets.
From a great song to another, the sixth track of the album "Getting In Tune", opens on tiptoe and especially on tiptoe guitar that vaguely reminds of "Imagine" by the great Lennon, but then Daltrey's throat decides to catch fire and performs in short sections where you can notice all the roughness and versatility of this voice, always alternating with moments where the decibels and impact of the track drop. The turning point of the song happens in the closing part, there are no pauses, the rhythm is driving, Townshend on the piano wildly performs fantastic runs, Daltrey angry, and harder than ever delivers a superlative performance. A memorable song especially for the ensemble instrumental execution.
With "Going Mobile" the pace doesn't slow down, Rock sound occasionally interspersed with calmer moments, the song culminates in the chorus, here too Daltrey is rather inspired, the presence of the guitar is also substantial, resulting in an appreciable track, fast and overwhelming, especially in the finale, where it's corroded by long and distorted guitar and bass solos.
Penultimate track, probably the masterpiece of the work. The piece, in its first section, is a true ballad, strictly Guitar/Vocals, a sad, melancholic, supplicant melody, almost resigned, stretches until halfway through the song when, suddenly, the melody radically changes, but especially the voice becomes dirty, rough, and disdainful, unfortunately, this only lasts less than a minute, then there's just time to close by resuming the initial sound.
Last work "Won't Get Fooled Again" opened by Townshend's synthesizer is perhaps the hardest Rock piece of the album, deeply marked by Townshend's heavy riffs, Entwistle's bass indulging in long solos, typical of Hard Rock, in closing you can hear the entry entrusted to the synthesizer again and still massive riffs also seasoned with a terrifying scream by Daltrey.

The best album for The Who, extremely eclectic and versatile.