The Who: Who's Last Disc 1 CD Track Listing

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The Who Who's Last Disc 1 (1984)
Who's Last - Disc 1 of 2\n1988 MCA Records, Inc.\n\nOriginally Released 1984\nCD Edition Released 1988\nRemastered UK CD Edition Released March 20, 1999\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Once all the dust had settled from the farewell tour, once all the hits compilations were released and every part of America had been conquered, there was only one thing left for the Who to do -- release a live album commemorating that final tour. Who's Last was that album. A double LP filled with all your Who favorites -- which means, of course, not only is there nothing from the Keith Moon-less Face Dances and It's Hard (even though they were purportedly promoting the latter at the time), there are no songs from any album past Quadrophenia, unless you count "Twist and Shout," a cover the Who had never recorded before this record. Sticking to the classics actually works against the band, since these chestnuts simply don't sound as powerful with Kenny Jones behind the drums. Jones, however, shouldn't take the brunt of the criticism -- he's just doing his job -- since Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Pete Townshend are acting like professional musicians, not as bandmates. In other words, it's a damn long way from Live at Leeds to Who's Last, and the distance between the two extremes is nothing short of stunning. Who's Last is so lifeless and lackluster that it's hard to believe the same band released both records. It may not be a graceful way to end the Who's career, but it's hard to imagine a better testament to why it was time for the band to come to an end. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nReally, 4.5 stars - they were still the BEST band in 1982!, March 16, 2006\nReviewer: bass boy "music fan" (Arkansas)\nOne-star reviews? Come on. This is still better than any Stones live recording, period. Yes, The Who in 1982 wasn't quite the same animal as it was during its 1965-1978 golden era when Moonie was on the drums, but it was still a great band. To call them "going through the motions" is silly. I have the videotape from the "final" Dec. 1982 show, and it still is a B+ video of the best band in the world. \n\nGet the import version, which has the original, "burning Union Jack" flag cover, and be sure and pick up "Live at Leeds" remastered and "Who's Next Deluxe" for some great live Who with Keith Moon on the skins. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPretty Lame - Does not Sound like The Who, February 20, 2006\nReviewer: Michael D. Hebert "Mike Abear" (Newport Beach, CA)\nSo my roommate has this CD and let me borrow it to check it out. As a drummer, and a devoted fan of Moonie, this CD is pretty awful. The music is very clean and concise, like a packaged piece of pop. No manic or exciting music that made The Who who they were. I could not believe "Baba O'Reily," which I think is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The CD really sounds like they were just going through the motions for the bucks, but it is pretty bad.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNot As Bad As Everyone Thinks, March 14, 2005\nReviewer: tgfabthunderbird (York, PA United States)\nI suppose having heard this before I heard other, choice live recordings makes me think "Who's Last" is not as bad as others. Consider the machinations of MCA records in putting this out as a last (but not the ultimate last) grasp for more money. \n\nTownshend disbanded the Who in '83, and got out of their remaining contract with Warner Bros. Now, from the final '82 tour was a three-album selection of live tracks, which included stuff from "Face Dances" and "It's Hard." MCA however decided that only tracks from albums they put out were good enough, and so critics blasted this as a sell out, and unfairly I think blamed the band for it. Blame MCA. \n\nI have an unofficial recording of the last '82 show in Toronto, and it is better than this, and includes tracks not shown on the "Rocks America" video. But how about this? \n\nThe band blasts its way through the usual old hits with powerful and professional abandon. There really isn't anything wrong with these performances. A couple of surprises was the inclusion of "Dr. Jimmy" from "Quadrophenia" and Entwisle bellowing out "Twist and Shout." \n\nIt's really alright if you want to hear something a little bit different from the first ending of the Who. This part of the era has been slammed by too many people, bitching about Kenney Jones replacing Keith Moon (no one could replace Moon, and Jones was chosen for his experience and the very fact that he was DIFFERENT from Moon in terms of style). Jones does a fine job here, so get over it! \n\nThis was also a time that Townshend wanted to move the band in a new direction, a bit of a tighter sound, which is why he added a horn section to play more "Quadrophenia" numbers and included John Bundrick on keyboards (though Tim Gorman played on the 'final' tour in '82). \n\nIt's a moment in time well worth listening to, and for Heaven's sake, ENJOYING!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe End of an Era, February 22, 2005\nReviewer: Julie A Ross (Pleasant Hill, CA United States)\nThis CD is out of print in the US, but I got lucky...I found a copy on vinyl at an eBay auction, and now this great Who performance is part of my collection. \n\nIn 1982, the Who embarked on their "farewell tour." This CD documents that tour. Musically, the results are very good. Kenny Jones does very well on drums, though I prefer Zak Starkey as a substitute drummer. The song selection is decent, though a bit redundant. The sound quality is a little disappointing, but nothing too drastic. Highlights of the album are "I Can't Explain," "Who Are You" and "Summertime Blues." \n\nI can recommend this album to anyone seeking to complete their Who collection. If you're a casual fan, get Live at Leeds. Also check out The Who Rocks America for a visual look at the tour.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nHere's the skinny on "Who's Last", October 13, 2004\nReviewer: S. A Smith (USA)\nHey guys, here's the deal with this record. The reason it doesn't include anything from "It's Hard" or "Face Dances" is because those records originally came out on the Warner Bros. label, where "Who's Last" and their other records were on MCA. In 1984, the year of release of this 2-LP set, it was unlikely that MCA would have acquired the rights to the Warner Bros. songs, like "Eminence Front," etc. that are seen in "The Who Rocks America" VHS tape. Also, these shows occured in 1982, not 1983 like so many people (and magazines) often claim now. The "final tour" ended in Toronto in late December, 1982. \nAnyway, yes Kenney Jones is no Keith Moon, but give the guy a break. This bass player will jam with him any day of the year. \nJust listen to this record, and then the (good) Rolling Stones' "Still Life" from the same era (1981-82), and tell me The Who sounds "bloodless." No way. Even with (the terrific) Kenney Jones on the drum throne, The Who were still the best band around in 1982.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nBland live effort, July 22, 2004\nReviewer: Anyechka (Rensselaer, NY United States)\nA lot of people who complain about this album seem to be living in the past; this album consists of live material from various 1983 shows, and whether or not Keith Moon had died and been replaced by Kenney Jones (whom many fans hate), they were obviously moving in a different musical direction since the late Seventies anyway. You can't fairly compare their live material from 1983 and 1970 and expect it to be the same, or get mad because it's not the same. Still, they still did great live shows during this era, and most of the performances showcased here are rather bland and mediocre instead of exciting and on fire. Allegedly, this album originally was supposed to have consisted of three sides of material from live shows in 1975 and 1976, with the final side being material from the '83 tour. Maybe it was PR spin to say in the liner notes that the band personally selected the songs on this album. But no matter which performances were included and excluded, whether the band personally picked the songs to include, whether more recent hits should have been included, this was intended as a live greatest hits album as well as a farewell present to the fans, a reward for their love, loyalty, and support over the years, as it says in the liner notes. The best songs are "WGFA" (easily the best song on here!), "Dr. Jimmy," "Boris the Spider," "Baba O'Riley" (I get chills hearing the audience singing along with the middle-eight), and "Love, Reign O'er Me." \n\nThis album would have been better if the songs had all come from the same show; there's no element of cohesiveness here, not even a mention of which songs came from which shows. There's also barely any onstage chatter; some people dislike that on live albums since they just want to listen to the music, but it also adds a human element to hear the band making jokes, telling stories about the songs, throwing insults at one another, or even bawling out the audience. It's just missing the warm emotions and musical fire and passion that makes their 1970 album LAL such a great classic live album. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nLike a Bootleg... Sans the Creativity, July 3, 2004\nReviewer: Joel T. Davis "davis9163" (sacramento, ca United States)\nBeing a big Who fan who caught two incredible shows on this supposed farewell -- ahem-- tour in 1982 (with the Clash opening one of the shows...ooooooh), this, clearly the weakest of the Who's live efforts, struck me as a sloppy, bloodless, postmortem by MCA to cash in. Everything about this package screams minimal effort.\nLittle to recommend here except so-so performances of the favorites that are undermined by the surprisingly poor sound quality for a major label release. As with other reviewers, I am dumbfounded by the complete lack of Kenny Jones-era material, understated records that, especially in the case of "Face Dances," have actually aged pretty well.\nFor vintage live Who try perhaps the greatest live record ever, "Live at Leeds"....for polished, punchy later-era Who, give "Join Together" a listen...For a decent keepsake of this particular tour, seek out a video or DVD of "The Who Rocks America." The sound quality alone outstrips what is here.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThis is what is up with this CD..., March 9, 2003\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis is The Who's live document from their farwell tour in the early 80's. Odd that the tour was partly promoting their last album "It's Hard", yet the CD doesn't have anything that album nor the 2nd-to-last album "Face Dances". I guess the record company wanted to stick to the 'classics' (i.e. what will sell).\nI love The Who. I bought this CD because I never owned it before. I had previously owned a burned copy of it, but I wanted a legit release. Unfortunately, though, no information other than the track listing is given on this disc before you buy. I wanted to know what this was.\n\nThis CD is out-of-print in the USA, so an import is your only option. The USA version (2 discs, actually) can still be found on auction sites or used, but it would be very pricy. This import version comes from the UK--this is a legit release from MCA UK.\n\nIt is indeed just one disc--handy that all the tracks are on the same disc, so you can hear the entire album without changing discs. It's a full disc, too--running just over 75 minutes.\n\nCover art is unlike the USA version in that this CD has a full color british flag burning. Artwork in the package as a whole seems like it was thrown together rather quickly, so don't expect to be too impressed.\n\nSpeaking of quality control, MCA screws up by listing the keyboards player on the disc "Jim Gorman". Actually, the guy's name is "Tim Gorman"--with a 'T'. Casual fans wouldn't even know it was a screw-up, since the guy wasn't an essential nor official member of the band. Hardcore fans probably just wouldn't care, like me--in The Who's recorded history, there has been a few errors similar to this: spelling Daltrey's or Entwistle's names wrong has happened. It shouldn't (and doesn't) take away from the music.\n\nSound quality is standard CD--nothing to shake a stick at, but better than converted mp3's! I'm not going to talk about the performances, because they were typical of the band's tour that year--worse than the 60's/70's eras, but what are you going to expect without Keith Moon behind the drum kit?\n\nAnyway, if you are a Who fan looking to add "Who's Last" to your collection, this may be your only official release still in print.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPunk Rock Who, August 14, 2002\nReviewer: J. Grgurich (Arlington, VA United States)\nPete Townshend was very intrigued and impressed with the punk movement, particularly as the Sex Pistols handled it, and I think the performances and arrangements of these Who standards show it. Remember, this is only five years after the Pistols released "Never Mind The Bollocks." \nTo my ear, all of these Who songs have an abruptness and aggressiveness to them. Townshend's playing in particular is hard, sharp, and slashing, with lots of power chording and not as much soloing as in previous years.\n\nI love this album. There's a fierceness to the performances--from all the members of the Who--that attracts me. But when Townshend does decide to break out and solo a bit, it's very melodic. His playing here is all around the best I've ever heard it. \n\nAnd as for Kenney Jones' drumming, personally, I like it. It's also tight and sharp, so maybe it just fits where the Who were at this time in their career.\n\nI only give it four stars due to the lack of material included on the album. Why isn't anything from "Face Dances" or "It's Hard" included here? Nevertheless, it's worth the dough.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe Who's last hurrah, August 2, 2002\nReviewer: John H. (Northern Virginia)\n...This is a good live album, but gone are the extended jams that were hallmarks of The Who's live performances in the late 60s until the death of Keith Moon (the best one can be found on a bootleg of the band's show at the Pontiac Silverdome in December 1975).\nThe songs are great, but stick too much to formula. The only "Tommy" offerings are "Pinball Wizard" and the "See Me, Feel Me" coda. The Who seem to be going through the motions and "sticking to the script," but they are doing it well with a few improvisations. The sound quality of the original LP and cassette wasn't all that great, so I hope the CD will be better.\n\nThough Kenney Jones is an outstanding drummer and the only logical choice at the time to sit in Keith Moon's place, Moonie's manic drumming is missing here. Jones, however, does well with what he has to work with.\n\nBottom line, an excellent record of the last real Who tour.\n\nHalf.com Details \nContributing artists: John "Rabbit" Bundrick \n\nAlbum Notes\nThe Who: Pete Townshend (vocals, guitar); John Entwistle (vocals, bass); Roger Daltrey (vocals); Kenney Jones (drums).\nRecorded live on their 1982 "farewell" tour.
This rock cd contains 9 tracks and runs 35min 5sec.
Freedb: 6b083709
Buy: from Amazon.com

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