
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century. Their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall stack, large public address systems, the use of synthesisers, Entwistle's and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many hard rock, punk, power pop and mod bands. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
The Who evolved from an earlier group, the Detours, and established themselves as part of the pop art and mod movements, featuring auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage. Their first single as the Who, "I Can't Explain" (1965), reached the UK top ten, and was followed by a string of hit singles including "My Generation" (1965), "Substitute" (1966) and "Happy Jack" (1966). In 1967, they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and released "I Can See for Miles", their only US top-ten single. The group's 1969 concept album Tommy included the single "Pinball Wizard" and was a critical and commercial success.
Further festival appearances at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, along with the concert album Live at Leeds (1970), established their reputation as a respected rock act. The success put pressure on lead songwriter Townshend, and the follow-up to Tommy, Lifehouse, was abandoned. Songs from the project made up the album Who's Next (1971), including the hits "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley", and "Behind Blue Eyes". The group released another concept album, Quadrophenia (1973), as a celebration of their mod roots, and oversaw the film adaptation of Tommy (1975). They continued to tour to large audiences before semi-retiring from live performances at the end of 1976. The release of Who Are You (1978) was overshadowed by Moon's death shortly after.
Kenney Jones replaced Moon and the group resumed touring, and released a film adaptation of Quadrophenia and the retrospective documentary The Kids Are Alright. After Townshend became weary of the group, they split in 1983. The Who occasionally re-formed for live appearances such as Live Aid in 1985, a 25th-anniversary tour in 1989 and a tour of Quadrophenia in 1996–1997. A full reunion began in 1999, with drummer Zak Starkey. After Entwistle's death in 2002, plans for a new album were delayed until 2006, with Endless Wire. Since Entwistle's death, The Who have continued to perform and tour, most commonly with Starkey on drums, Pino Palladino on bass, and Pete's brother Simon Townshend on second guitar and backing vocals. In 2019, the group released the album Who and toured with a symphony orchestra.
Hearing Bill playing the whole of Love Reign O'er Me just reminds me that somethings never change, and that is a good thing too.
Thanks Bill
For several reasons, this song must be played loud. And I expect this is going to be one of those days.
Update: He did come upstairs. And it was very loud. 10/10.
And this is the problem with rock and roll, it was mastered by 1973. The Beatles, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Dark Side of the Moon, the stones, and THIS!
From '74 on, it has all pretty much been poor imitation.
How sad that you have recognized no meaningful contributions in the last 48 years. Rock and Roll didn't stop. You did.
The whining doesn't appear to be coming from the song.
Gosh this band is in need of a decent drummer, guitar player, and a vocalist that can sing R n R.
I just don't get it. Why don't you play some Kid Rock or Foo Fighters? Those guys can are really creative.
That's some high quality trolling right there.
You can't judge a novel based on a paragraph, or a page. Character development takes time.
Quadrophenia is about character development and - the album makes it clear - the adolescent who can't decide who he is and where he fits in the world. You can't express that idea quickly if you want folks to understand its depth and frustration and...eventually...the elation of choice.
Fool me twice, shame on me...
Fool me three times...uh...won't get fooled again?
Not that I want to get into this, but it's funny in its fashion. The Creator, it seems, isn't with a sense of....humor? The generation who made this song their anthem went on to be fooled upwards of 3 TIMES since this song first hit the airwaves in 1971. I'm on the tail end of that generation, but will freely admit that as smart as we proved to be - I point to all the modern tech that stems from us - we are also probably one of the most gullible and stupid generations to have come along in some time. We won't get fooled again? Nah....How about
Pogo's anthem is probably more apt....
10 for me
but a very old bus. I got off in Athens to find some other shenanigans but I did that journey because of this song.
For the sheer POWER of it, no doubt, Mr. Grayson.
If we took all the acts that have comments about "this is played too often" and heeded your advice, well then we'd be listening to Radio Silence...instead, I say Long Live Radio Paradise, and keep playing what you play, BillG!!
Its the drumming.
Its the drumming.
Yup. The way those drums break over the synthesizer bridge; impending, the way the drum rolls in the William Tell Overture hint at something to come. In this case, those drums are leading us to the most definitive scream in musical history....