The Who - My Generation (1965)

(originally posted on Facebook)


I was listening to this album today because I love The Who and this is one of the albums by them that I haven't heard yet, and now that I have Rdio I can download it to my iPod. Then I realized this album was on my big list of albums to review and I was breaking one of my rules to review the albums in a random order. One of the reasons for a random order was to not prejudice my album order towards bands I liked, which could affect my enjoyment of a band I'd never heard before. On the other hand I am a Who fan, so not hearing their first album all the way through is kinda odd. On top of that, the album is number 756 in my random order, so it would be quite a while until I got around to it at my current pace. So I don't feel too bad making an exception in this case. Besides, what's the point of having rules for myself if not to accidentally break them?

As of last December, the only Who albums I had heard all the way through were Tommy, Who's Next, and the deluxe edition of Live At Leeds (which I knew I wanted to own because it features a live performance of Tommy). I had also heard and liked a smattering of The Who's biggest hits not from those albums, and from the shear number of songs by them I really liked they became my second favorite band of all time. From that knowledge, last Christmas I put Quadrophenia on my wish list. Since I received that album I have easily listened to it 150 times. It very quickly became my favorite album of all time and established The Who, in my mind, as inarguably among the greatest bands of all time.


Having heard the middle trio of their studio albums (Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia) I vowed to listen to their other albums as quickly as I could get my hands on them, starting with their first three (My Generation, A Quick One, and The Who Sell Out). This proves tough in the modern day, because The Who have released stuff from their catalog so many times in so many packages it's tough to find "the original" album. Even now, listening to this copy of My Generation I know it's not the original. How? Because on the "deluxe" edition of the album Pete Townshend decided to remove the lead guitar parts and double-tracked vocals from the two most popular songs (the title track and "The Kid's Are Alright"). Why this was done I'm not sure, but it certainly doesn't make the album sound better.

(Aside: I've already heard A Quick One and The Who Sell Out. Both of those albums are mostly in their original form on their latest releases. A Quick One kinda sucks but The Who Sell Out is really good for the most part. I recommend it, as does my big list.)

Of the songs I hadn't heard before, there isn't much special. For their first release The Who clearly displayed their talent, but knowing what they would later create this album doesn't impress. My Generation does inform the listener of the band's humble origins when they were trying to punch through an era of crunchy blues-based pop rock, so maybe as a retrospective piece I get it. The Who are one of the most legendary rock bands of all time, so My Generation is important in that sense.

The sound and the music are just OK. Pete Townshend doesn't really extend himself beyond what most rock music was at the time, and Roger Daltrey is still years from finding his defining voice. The wizardry of John Entwistle and Keith Moon is somewhat dimmed by the poor recording standards of the day. I give it 3 stars.

Comments

CAK - Love the Who!!! :)