How good were The Who

[Tuearts right boot]

They weren't good.




They were and still are fucking brilliant. A genre to themselves, never equalled, never bettered. Daltrey, Townshend, Moon and Entwhistle individually absolute masters of their craft. God only knows how they became who and what they are. Ok so Jones and later Starky have filled in but who cares.

 

[EL APACHE TEVEZ]

Defo one the best.

 

[Tuearts right boot]

edit....Daltrey's still a good looking bastard.
edit 2...I had the pleasure and privilege of blowing up Townshends garden wall in the 70's, he had a cottage in a Cornish village on the Helford estuary and I was a bored teenager with pyromaniacal tendancies and a box of crow scarers....

 

[OB1]

My favourite band ever, a four piece inc vocals, uncompromising with a "take it or leave it" attitude.Not the best technically, not the most popular, and certainly not the most commercial, and I can understand why some dont rate them as high as some of their contempories. However, if every band played to their best in a concert, the Who would top the lot, but only the original line up. They also pushed the boundaries with rock operas, early synths, use of lasers in live acts along with stereo/quadrophonic sound. They stood out in some of the great festivals like Woodstock and Isle of Wight and had one of the true mental rock legends in Keith Moon. If I had to pick one bands music as all I was allowed to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be The Who, and I make no apologies for that, as I would be very happy.

When you say not the best technically, who are you measuring them against? Moon and Entwistle were among the top few players of their instruments in rock music (I'd have them in 3rd and 1st places). Townshend is an excellent guitarist and fine multi-instrumentalist.

 

[MillisleBlue]

Fabulous album. My older brother had it. It got me interested. I hadn’t really heard much up until that other than my generation.
New little except they used to smash up their instruments and hadn’t taken them seriously.

That album changed my mind. Got Tommy after that and started listening to more.

Townsend is a bit iffy, but he wrote great stuff.

Think I read somewhere that smashing the kit came about due to an accident at a gig involving Townshend's guitar and a very low ceiling. Having damaged the guitar, he couldn't stand there like a complete tube with all these young impressionable faces in the crowd looking up at him so he decided the best thing to do was continue smashing up the guitar in order to save face. Wasn't too long before word got round about a band who finished their gigs by smashing up their kit and it became the main reason to go see Townshend and Moon do just that. Daltrey was always the hard-nut and there are no words to adequately describe Entwistle's bass-playing...

 

[Blue_eyes]

When you say not the best technically, who are you measuring them against? Moon and Entwistle were among the top few players of their instruments in rock music (I'd have them in 3rd and 1st places). Townshend is an excellent guitarist and fine multi-instrumentalist.

Dont get me wrong as they were all great( my fav band dont forget) and suited each other perfectly in a music sense,and collectively there is no one I would rather watch play. Entwhistle was an innovator with his early bass solos and maybe I did him most injustice with my statement. Moon was a force of nature and filled in where there were no gaps,but I have seen many "experts" say he didnt have the discipline of the likes of Ginger Baker. Townshend was rhythm based and although I love his live work and use of power chords I would say that the likes of Hendrix/Richards and Clapton(his most obvious contempories) found the instrument easier to play. Daltrey was a superb rock vocalist and has even managed to deliver slower ballads effectively, but there really are better singers. I dont argue with people about a band being "the best" as its all about personal opinions, I never got into Floyd,Zep and the smiths for example but theres plenty who prefer them to the Who(see the album chart on here). I see it like the most beautiful woman isnt necessarily the sexiest, a slight flaw can sometimes raise the appeal of something, and for me, the Who offer something no other band has equalled, and Im probably too old now for that to change.

 

[Blue_eyes]

Woodstock 51 years ago, 500,000+ audience, starts slow and builds, just three instruments and vocals,imo fantastic.

 

[nmc]

They weren't good.




They were and still are fucking brilliant. A genre to themselves, never equalled, never bettered. Daltrey, Townshend, Moon and Entwhistle individually absolute masters of their craft. God only knows how they became who and what they are. Ok so Jones and later Starky have filled in but who cares.

Never got why they replaced Moon with Jones - couldn’t be more different. I know Moons extravagant style grated with Townshend but even so!

 

[lazerblue]

how the fuck townsend stays on his feet,he looks stoned, got to love entwistle, looks like an headmaster in charge of a class of unruly kids

 

[Bob Hope]

nimrod talks shit