The Who
Live at Leeds (2001)

review by: Stephan Finch
Date: 2/18/02

With all due respect, there isn't a rock band on this entire web site that could share a stage with The Who. Together, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon and John Entwistle channeled levels of raw musical energy that would have cracked the likes of Matchbox Twenty or Radiohead in half. But don't take my word for it. Listen to the wonderful new double-album release of The Who's Live at Leeds (Deluxe Edition).

You may be familiar with the original Live at Leeds, recorded at Leeds University on Feb. 14, 1970 and released later that year. I bought my copy of that album when I was 15 years old in 1982 and I still remember my initial reaction: utter disgust. To my ears, which were used to the sleek sound of FM stereo and studio vinyl, this album was unlistenably crude. Townshend's Gibson SG growled and whined and buzzed and just misbehaved all over the place. Daltrey didn't so much sing as howl. Songs I knew from the radio like My Generation and Magic Bus just didn't sound right, nothing like they sounded on the radio. The former went on for 15 minutes and included snatches of other melodies I'd never heard. It was scary. Like the first time you tasted Scotch.

It took me a couple more weeks of listening to the album to realize it: This was my first encounter with Rock. Pure, uncut, uncensored Rock, with all its warts and wrinkles and wonderful humanity. No effects. No synth. No dubs. Just a power trio and a throaty blonde Englishman at the mike.

I wish I had more time to write. Instead, I'll just say that the new release includes the entire concert that The Who played at Leeds University on that February day in 1970, including the entire never-before-released "Tommy" performance, from Overture to We're Not Gonna Take It. Everything was remastered and remixed with supervision from Pete Townshend himself. If you already have the old Live at Leeds, you'll still appreciate this little boxed set.

Unlike the Magic Bus, it won't cost you "one hundred English pounds."

I have to sneak in here again and add a few words about track 4 on this CD, a song called "Tattoo." It's a fantastic live version of a song from the band's third album, The Who Sell Out. (I'll sheepishly confess I've never owned that album.) It's got one of those wonderfully clumsy, power-chord driven choruses that both defined Pete Townshend's writing style but also ensured he'd never have a number-one selling single. Hearing "Tattoo" really reminds me of why I fell for the the Who to begin with. Hell, I think I'll go out and buy The Who Sells Out. I should have years ago.