I've been wanting to post proper reviews of a few records here, including the new ones from Joe Jackson and Squeeze, which I like a lot, and the new Don Henley, which is not quite as good as people think it is, but I haven't been able to find a minute. So please, instead for now, enjoy this gem from The Who, recorded around the time of the greatest record ever, "The Who Sell Out," (a Who Sell Outtake, if you will) and left off the final product. I have been singing this to myself for three days and counting.
As for "Sell Out" being the "greatest record ever," I guess that is a bit much. But I will not be exaggerating when I say, no two records in my collection get played more consistently than The Zombies "Odessey & Oracle" and "The Who Sell Out." I will not be lying when I say, I have played these two records twice, maybe three times a month for the last 20 years.
The Zombies "Odessey & Oracle" is about as perfect as a record can be, featuring one mini-masterpiece after another. Yet I find I can give it a rest more often than "Sell Out," which has become an obsession. "The Who Sell Out" is admittedly flawed. Can I unequivocally say "Yes," if you were to ask, "You think Sell Out is better than Rubber Soul?" The answer is, "No." I can't. The answer is probably "No" to a lot of similar questions. But I will say this and mean it. More than any other record, "The Who Sell Out" still thrills me. It's an adventure that never feels the same way twice. This is why I write about it in some capacity as often as I do.
I will play it today. Maybe you should, too.
5 comments:
You must have bought Squeeze on import - I'm still waiting on the American release. Got so much to listen to at any given time these days, I don't find myself dwelling on release dates the way I once did. I think the new Don Henley is the best Eagles album released since their dissolution (which aint saying much ...). I don't like the "guest artist" routine that all these legacy artists are doing now, but that's a solid album. Strange to me that people are calling it a "country" album ... when it sounds like what the Eagles were doing without the heavier rock elements. No one was calling The Eagles "country" back in the 70's!
I guess I can see why "Taxi" as left off of The Who Sell Out - good song, but not quite the "oh wow" factor of the rest of the album. The album I've been playing at least monthly for a long time is Left Bank Too. it has some of the same attributes as your two - gorgeous melodies, amazing arrangements, and effectively working as a suite.
"The Who Sell Out" is a favorite over here, too.
The Eagles were indeed thought of as "country rock", especially in the beginning, while Bernie Leadon", former Burrito Brother was in the band.
I'm in total agreement with you about "Sells Out"! It has been on of my favorite albums for 48 years. I don't think of it as it's individual tracks but as one amazing whole.
Capt. Al
After being a lurker for quite a while, twas reading this post and had to emote! I remember being in art school, in Philadelphia, circa 1980-81, and having grown up in the Philly suburbs, i was now IN THE BIG SMOKE! At some early point I bought "Odessey & Oracle" and the first Left Banke lp, and a record show in NJ, as well as "#1 Record".....i musta listened to those 2 LP's a few hundred times, absorbing the melancholy and hearing songs I'd never heard....around that time i found the "Radio City" sealed at the old Third Street Jazz store in Philly, and that trio of records, I swear, shaped my thinking and romanticism, and extended to when I was writing songs in crappy guitar bands here in Boston! I had those MCA double LP's in high school in the late 70s, and didn't quite 'get' "Sell Out" at first, but i LOVED that all the songs sounded different...they were all by the same band of course, but they all weren't the same sound......I always thought that was so cool, and the oddball commercial spots enhanced it's, well, British-ness......all my pals in high school 1978 loved "Tommy" and the then-new "Who Are You", but "Sell Out" was the disc I played the most, in between Raspberries, Dwight Twilley, Flamin' Groovies, and Shoes!!! And as far as new music goes, I help out my friend from Los Angeles who does the International Pop Overthrow shows, and get to hear some great new pop music, but even now, i need to be really knocked out by new music, but it certainly IS out there...thanks again.....
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