It’s been 14 years since I first saw the Who live. It was Oxegen Festival 2006. I had only really started listening to them when they released their 2004 greatest hits compilation called Then and Now. That included a couple of new songs, so there was hope of new material and a tour. I was delighted to get the chance to see them.

Obviously being a fan of rock music, I had heard some of the more famous Who tracks. So seeing them live playing what was basically a greatest hits show blew me away. The memory of the crowd screaming along to Baba O’Reilly will stay with me forever. I was totally sold on the band that day and I became a much bigger fan, rooting out albums and digging into their back catalogue a bit more.

They had released an album just after I saw them at Oxegen, and honestly it didn’t really do anything for me. Even if I did rush out to buy it. But at the time that was grand, I had a lovely back catalogue to jump into.

It’s been a long 13 year wait for new material.

Originally when I heard of it I was skeptical. Their last album wasn’t brilliant and it had been forever since they recorded anything. I had seen them live a few times since that first show and they are always a treat, but could they still crack out an album?

Thanks to the magic of Spotify I was able to listen to the new single, Ball and Chain, when it came out. I was left anxiously wanting more. The effect of hearing that song made me rush home to my guitar to try and learn that riff. The Who were back with a bang. But what would the album hold?

Thanks yet again to the magic of Spotify, I was able to find out. I do still pick up albums, I love the sound of vinyl, but I use Spotify to help me decide which albums I want.

I think the album is a brilliant return to form. The fun thing is they don’t care what you think anyway as the opening track says, “I don’t care, I know you’re gonna hate this song”.

The overall sound is quite Who-like. They have Pete’s lovely twangy guitar and his love for beautiful synthesizer sounds. Roger’s voice has obviously changed over the years, he can’t hit all those notes like he used to, but it works so well on this. When he wants to be powerful you can hear it on tracks like Street Song.

I noticed a lot of past reflection on this album. There are very obvious past nods like the intro riff to Won’t Get Fooled Again used as the ending on the track Detour. The lyrics show an almost analytic view of their past careers. For example, the song I Don’t Wanna Get Wise. This song is almost an answer to the band’s probably most famous hit, My Generation. Instead of “I wanna die before I get old” it nearly says I did get old, but I would do it all again.

Even the intro song calls out their early career. But it’s almost a passive, sneering look at the music industry. Pete says the music is all going to fade anyway, so he doesn’t mind other guys ripping off his songs.

There is also an air of the political on this album. Songs like Ball and Chain, Beads On One String and Street Song are clearly still pushing for an anti war peace loving world. This is very apparent on Beads On One String. Lyrics like “I don’t care how you name Him, He is always the same, I just know that we shame Him, When we kill in His name”. This is almost a religious reference. Careful not to mention any one deity, even this implies a world unity.

The band they have pulled together to record are brilliant. When they hit their mark they sound perfect. The drums for example are held together nicely by Zak Starkey (yes, Ringo’s son). You can really hear him wail on the drum heavy track Detour.

Not every song is a hit, personally I thought the Pete-only outing I’ll Be Back was a bit too folky. It’s not a bad song, but I don’t think it fits the album, it is definitely just a Pete solo track that seemed to be out on to boost the album tracks. She Rocked My World strayed a bit too far from the Who magic for me as well. It is almost a jazz song, I am not sure it works for the Who. It does suit Roger’s deeper older voice however.

There are few songs that use an orchestra, my favourite of which is Hero Ground Zero. The band is currently touring with an orchestra, so I would imagine they will sound lovely live.

Overall I really enjoyed this album, it is very much a return to form for a great band. They are touring this year, and I am very much looking forward to catching them again and hearing some of these tracks live.

I would recommend giving it a spin (yeah man, I will be picking this up on vinyl). And if you can go see these guys live, it has always been a treat. To quote Del Boy, ”I don’t care what they say, you can’t whack The Who”.

— Darryn