| Who Are You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by The Who | ||||
| Released | 18 August 1978 | |||
| Recorded | October 1977 – April 1978 Ramport, Battersea; Olympic Studios; RAK Studios, St John's Wood and Pete's own studio in Goring-on-Thames | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 42:13 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | The Who, Jon Astley, Glyn Johns | |||
| The Who chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Who Are You | ||||
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Who Are You is the eighth studio album by English rock band The Who. It was released on 18 August 1978, through Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. It peaked at #2 on the US charts and #6 on the UK charts.[1] It is The Who's last album with Keith Moon as the drummer; Moon died approximately three weeks after the release of this album.
In 1996, the album was re-released in remixed form. Some of the elements from the original mixes were eliminated, including on the songs "Had Enough", "905" and "Guitar and Pen". However, "Trick of the Light" was restored to its full length at 4:45.
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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 Townshend had ever composed, with multiple layers of synthesiser and strings. Many of the songs also represented another attempt by Townshend to complete his long-contemplated Lifehouse project. Like Who's Next, many of whose songs were also inspired by Lifehouse, many tracks on Who Are You feature prominent synthesiser parts and lyrics about songwriting and music as a metaphor for life (as indicated by titles like "Music Must Change", "Guitar and Pen", "New Song", and "Sister Disco").[2]
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, Moon sinking deeper into alcohol and drug abuse, and general exhaustion from the gruelling 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 and only a few cymbal crashes were added. Moon died just under a month after its release, and on the cover, he is shown sitting in a chair ironically labelled "Not to be taken away".[2] Moon had insisted on sitting in the chair with the back to the camera so as to hide his distended stomach, the result of his alcoholism.
"Sister Disco" seems to mourn the death of disco, although it could be construed to be a criticism of it. Nevertheless, the song could be interpreted to be about a prostitute character within a larger Tommy-like concept album.
It features complicated synthesiser tracks that are the result of hours Townshend spent programming an ARP 2500 synthesiser.[2]
The song was never performed with Moon. However, it was performed regularly when The Who toured with Kenney Jones as drummer, and quickly became a live favourite, despite Townshend's claim that this was his least favourite song to perform. It was included on the band's 2002 Ultimate Collection album. It was also revived for their fall 2008 tour.[2]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [3] |
| Robert Christgau | (B+)[4] |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable)[5] |
| This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. | |
The album was a commercial success, going 2× platinum in the US and Canada, Gold in UK, and peaking at #2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The soundtrack to Grease prevented Who Are You from achieving #1 status in the US. 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 in 1979 when The Who were joined by new drummer Kenney Jones and keyboardist John Bundrick. Bundrick had been invited to play on the album, but broke his arm falling out of a taxi at the studio door and was unable to participate.
Spanning the band's career, just slightly less than half of the album has been played live.
"Who Are You" was the first of the album's songs to have a live performance, its first dating to a concert from the band's 1976 tour at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, ON, albeit in a very raw and abbreviated version extremely different from the finished product. Another early and abbreviated live performance with Moon can be found on the DVD The Who at Kilburn: 1977.
On The Who's 1979 tour, only four songs were played live: "Sister Disco", "Music Must Change", "Trick of the Light", and "Who Are You". On that tour, "Trick of the Light" was actually performed live with both Entwistle and Townshend on bass; Entwistle on eight-string and Townshend on one of Entwistle's old Alembics from the By Numbers tour. However, it was dropped in December and only made its return to the setlist in 1989, with Townshend on acoustic guitar.
"Sister Disco" was played quite close to the studio version, except that the guitar outro was changed from country-style to a more bluesy one, except in 1989, where Townshend used acoustics, and 2008-09, where he could switch his Fender from 'electric mode' to 'acoustic mode'. Townshend actually stated in an interview that this was one of his least favourite songs to perform live (the other being "Dreaming From the Waist").[6] It was played in the tours of 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1989, 2008 and 2009.
"Music Must Change" was oftentimes given an extended workout live, with performances usually ranging from seven to nine minutes. It was played in the 1979, 1980 and 1981 tours, and was also rehearsed for the 2002 tour. Sadly, Entwistle died before the start of the tour and the band were not able to perform this song.
The Who have not been known to play "New Song", "Had Enough", "905", "Guitar and Pen", and "Love Is Coming Down". However, the John Entwistle Band used to play the Entwistle-penned songs while he was still alive.[7]
All songs written by Pete Townshend, unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Billboard Pop Albums | 2[8] |
| 1978 | UK Chart Albums | 6[9] |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | "Who Are You" | Billboard Pop Singles | 14 |
| 1978 | "Who Are You" | UK Singles Chart | 18[9] |
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[10] | 2× Platinum |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[11] | Gold |
| United States (RIAA)[12] | 2× Platinum |