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The Who discography

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Main article:The Who.

The Who have an extensive body of work, being active to semi-active over the past four decades.

Contents

Discography

Studio albums

   YearTitleV? Genre: Concept material:
    1965My Generation√ "Pop Music" The Who's Debut Album
    1966A Quick One√Pop Music (with a capital 'P'). Includes 10-minute "mini-opera".
    1967The Who Sell Out Psychedelia and satire. Concept album. Also includes elements of an unfinished Rock opera called Rael.
    1969Tommy Rock, plus some late psychedelia. Rock opera.
    1971Who's Next Rock. Salvaged from the failed Lifehouse project.
    1973Quadrophenia Rock. Rock opera.
    1975The Who By Numbers Rock. Loose Concept as Pete Townshend's confessional album
    1978Who Are You Rock. Includes a few elements of John Entwistle's unfinished Rock opera. The final album with Keith Moon on drums.
    1981Face Dances Rock. The first album with Kenney Jones on drums.
    1982It's Hard Rock. As of 2005, the band's final album.
    2006WHO2 Rock. The newest studio album in over 25 years. It is set to be released October 23, 2006
V? : √ = The album had a title and track list that varied between the UK and USA releases.
See the album links for more information.

Period collections

Notwithstanding their renown as a concept-album band, The Who had an active life as a singles band until 1972, when they released their last non-album single "Relay" in December. Their singles and various unreleased materials were occasionally collected and released as albums even while the band was still active, sometimes as stopgaps for years when no album was on the horizon.

The resulting albums are distinguished from the "Late Collections" (below) because they are collections of singles and other unreleased material of the relevant period rather than "greatest hits" or late "kitchen sink" collections. The material tends to be very good, and these albums are often thought of as Classic Who Albums along with the regular studio albums.

Year Title Comments
1968 USA only Not a live album, as the title might imply. The material is chronologically localized, and includes several psychedelic goodies.
1968 Direct Hits UK only
1971 Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy A good history of the pre- Who's Next Who. Not available as a remastered CD, though most of the material appears as bonus tracks on the other remastered CDs.
1974 Odds and Sods The title describes it best!
1994 ''Thirty Years of Maximum R&B A four CD box set of The Who's most popular songs, as well rarities, interviews, commercials and sketches.
2002 The Ultimate Collection A two disc greatest hits with both singles and top hits from albums.

Live albums

Year Title Comments
1970 Live At Leeds Several variant editions exist; see the link.
1970 Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Not released until the film came out in 1996; see the filmography below.
1984 Who's Last A double live album of The Who's first farewell tour in 1982 (It would not be their last).
1990 Join Together 25th anniversary reunion tour; accompanied by horn section, backup singers, etc.
2003Live At The Royal Albert Hall Concert in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, with special guests such as Bryan Adams and Paul Weller. Recorded on 27 November 2000, released in 2003.

The 1970 and 1990 live albums are available as two-CD sets including a performance of Tommy plus about an hour of other material. Live At Leeds is also available on a single CD without the performance of Tommy. "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" contains a bonus disc with 4 songs from a performance on 8 February 2002.

Other albums

The Soundtrack to the Who Biography. This album is mostly comprised of Rare Live Performances.
  • 1996 -
    • Another "greatest hits" collection which includes hits such as "Join Together," "Won't Get Fooled Again," and, of course, "My Generation."
  • 1999 - BBC Sessions
    • The BBC Sessions is a collection 23 songs and 2 Jingles recorded solely for BBC Radio Transmission.
  • 2004 -
    • Another Who Greatest Hits Album + 2 Brand New Songs never released before, "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy". It is rumored that the two new songs will be featured on the next studio Who album.

    UK Singles

    The Who, until the release of Tommy, were known mostly as a singles band; that is, they were better known for their individual songs than the albums that they appeared on.

    • Ready Steady Who! EP - November 11, 1966
    :Disguises / Circles / Batman / Bucket T / Barbara Ann
  • Tommy EP - November 11, 1970
    • :Overture / Christmas / I’m Free / See Me Feel Me
  • Wire And Glass: Six Songs From A MiniOpera EP - July 17 (Online) July 24 (Stores), 2006
    • :Sound Round / Pick Up The Peace / Endless Wire / We Got A Hit / They Made My Dreams Come True / Mirror Door.

    Other appearances

    Notable Songs

    Who Songs in

    Original recordings of the Who's music were used intermittently in various contexts unrelated to the band, starting with the use of a track from Tommy in a March of Dimes television commercial during in the 1970s. However, starting in the late 1990s there was a marked increase in the rate of such usage, summarized below.

    Movie soundtracks

    Television shows

    Commercials

    Some Who fans consider the commercialization of these songs to be a sell out on Pete Townshend's part, especially the use of the originally spiritual "Bargain" to sell SUVs. Other fans accept the commercialization, glad that the music's appeal has proven to be so enduring.

    Filmography

    Films

    ;1970 Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival:Concert film of The Who's performance at the third Isle of Wight Festival. It was filmed in 1970, but not released until its direct-to-video release in 1996. For more information about the movie see its entry at [The Internet Movie Database]. (Excerpts from this performance are also included in the film Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival, released in 1997, and a sound recording of The Who's performance was released in 1996 under the name Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970, as listed in the discography above.)
    ;1975 Tommy:Ken Russell's camp treatment of the Rock opera, with Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Jack Nicholson, and an all-star cast of Rock musicians including The Who. For more information about the movie see its entry at [The Internet Movie Database].
    ;1979 Quadrophenia:A Franc Roddam film that expands on the sketchy story of the Rock opera. It tells of the coming of age of a young mod at the time of the Mod versus Rocker riots of 1964. Sting plays a prancing phony along with a cast of unknowns. The Who's participation was limited to the soundtrack, which includes songs from the Rock opera, new songs written for the soundtrack by Pete Townshend, and the original recordings of various Motown hits. For more information about the movie see its entry at [The Internet Movie Database].
    ;1979 The Kids Are Alright:A Jeff Stein documentary about The Who, including live performances, TV appearances, and interviews from all phases of their career up to that point, including their US debut on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. For more information about the movie see its entry at [The Internet Movie Database].

    Other film appearances

    ;1967 Monterey Pop:The Who's stage-wide destruction competes with Jimi Hendrix's lighter fluid. For more information about the movie see its entry at [The Internet Movie Database].
    ;1968 The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus:Includes a for-the-occasion performance of "A Quick One While He's Away". Filmed in 1968, but not released until its direct-to-video release in 1996. Lore among Who fans holds that it was this performance that kept the film from being released, because The Who so upstaged the Rolling Stones' performance with it. For more information about the movie see its entry at [IMDB]. (A portion of this performance is also included on the album The Kids Are Alright, described in the discography above.)
    ;1969 Woodstock:The movie about the famous music festival. Includes excerpts from The Who's performance of Tommy. For more information about the movie see its entry at [The Internet Movie Database].
    Roger Daltrey also had an ongoing career in film and television, unrelated to his work with The Who, notably a role as Franz Liszt in Ken Russell's Lisztomania.

    The band has also had other numerous concert videos and DVDs released, such as Live in Boston, The Who Rocks America, and Tommy and Quadrophenia Live: With Special Guests, among others.

     

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