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Who Are You

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This article is about the album. For the title song, see Who Are You (song)
Who Are You is an album by British rock band The Who. It was released in June 1978 on Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and on August 1978 on MCA Records in the United States. It peaked at Number 2 on the U.S. charts and Number 6 on the UK charts. It is notable for being the last Who album with Keith Moon as the drummer. Moon would die about a month after the release of this album.

Who Are You was put out at a time when the two major camps of rock, progressive rock and punk rock, were conflicting due to their antipodal styles. Pete Townshend's compositions were written as an attempt to bring the two styles together. The album showcases some of the most complicated song structures guitarist Townshend had ever composed, with multiple layers of synthesizer and strings. Moon's deteriorating health is reflected in some of the tracks; the alcohol and drug abuse had taken away from the frenzied drumming he was renowned for.

There was a three-year hiatus between Who Are You and The Who's previous album, The Who By Numbers. The band was drifting apart during this period, due to the band members working on various solo projects, drummer Moon sinking deeper into alcohol and drug abuse, and general exhaustion from the grueling tour schedule the band had kept over the decade. Moon's health was especially an object of concern, as he only managed to come in during the last few weeks of recording and was unable to play in 6/8 time on the track "Music Must Change", so drums were removed completely from the track - only a few cymbal crashes were added. On the album cover, he was told to sit on the chair in that manner to hide all the weight he had gained since 1975; his gut was actually sticking far out over the trousers he was wearing. Coincidentally, the chair was marked with the label "NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY."

The album was a commercial success, going platinum in the U.S. and peaking at Number 2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The soundtrack to Grease prevented Who Are You from achieving Number 1 status in the U.S. The success of Who Are You generated excitement at the prospect of a new Who tour for the album. However, the album is surrounded by tragedy for Who fans due to Moon's death shortly after the album's release. The songs on the album were later performed on tour when The Who reformed with drummer Kenney Jones and keyboardist John Bundrick.

See also 1978 in music.

Contents

Track listing

Who Are You (original 1978 release)

  1. "New Song" (Townshend) – 4:13
  2. "Had Enough" (Entwistle) – 4:27
  3. "905" (Entwistle) – 4:02
  4. "Sister Disco" (Townshend) – 4:22
  5. "Music Must Change" (Townshend) – 4:38
  6. "Trick Of The Light" (Entwistle) – 4:45
  7. "Guitar And Pen" (Townshend) – 5:56
  8. "Love Is Coming Down" (Townshend) – 4:04
  9. "Who Are You" (Townshend) – 6:16

Bonus tracks (1996 remastered CD)

  1. "No Road Romance" (Townshend) – 5:10
  2. "Empty Glass" (Demo version) (Townshend) – 6:23
  3. "Guitar And Pen" (Olympic '78 Remix) (Townshend) – 5:58
  4. "Love Is Coming Down" (Work In Progress mix) (Townshend) – 4:06
  5. "Who Are You" (Lost verse) (Townshend) – 6:18

Personnel

Trivia

External links

References

The Who
Roger Daltrey | Pete Townshend | John Entwistle | Keith Moon
Kenny Jones - John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Pino Palladino - Zak Starkey
Simon Townshend - Jon Carin - Simon Phillips - Doug Sandom - Colin Dawson
Listings
Discography - Filmography
Other related people
Peter Meaden - Kit Lambert - Chris Stamp

 

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