Much of
Who's Next derives from
Lifehouse, an ambitious sci-fi rock opera
Pete Townshend abandoned after suffering a nervous breakdown, caused in part from working on the sequel to
Tommy. There's no discernable theme behind these songs, yet this album is stronger than
Tommy, falling just behind
Who Sell Out as the finest record
the Who ever cut.
Townshend developed an infatuation with synthesizers during the recording of the album, and they're all over this album, adding texture where needed and amplifying the force, which is already at a fever pitch. Apart from
Live at Leeds,
the Who have never sounded as LOUD and unhinged as they do here, yet that's balanced by ballads, both lovely ("The Song Is Over") and scathing ("Behind Blue Eyes"). That's the key to
Who's Next -- there's anger and sorrow, humor and regret, passion and tumult, all wrapped up in a blistering package where the rage is as affecting as the heartbreak. This is a retreat from the '60s, as
Townshend declares the "Song Is Over," scorns the teenage wasteland, and bitterly declares that we "Won't Get Fooled Again." For all the sorrow and heartbreak that runs beneath the surface, this is an invigorating record, not just because
Keith Moon runs rampant or because
Roger Daltrey has never sung better or because
John Entwistle spins out manic basslines that are as captivating as his "My Wife" is funny. This is invigorating because it has all of that, plus
Townshend laying his soul bare in ways that are funny, painful, and utterly life-affirming. That is what
the Who was about, not the rock operas, and that's why
Who's Next is truer than
Tommy or the abandoned
Lifehouse. Those were art -- this, even with its pretensions, is rock & roll.