The Who

The Who
The Who Hits 50!
Geffen/UMe
by David Chiu

When it comes to the Mount Rushmore of British bands, the Who stands along with the Beatles, the Stones and Led Zeppelin as the most important and influential rock groups in history. Fortunately throughout its history the Who never followed through with the “I hope I die before I get old” maxim from “My Generation” and soldiered on despite the major changes rock and roll’s changes in the last 50 years. Now marking the band’s golden anniversary is a new deluxe collection of 42 tracks spanning its entire history, from “Zoo Suit” when the band started out as the High Numbers, to the newly-recorded “Be Lucky.” While there have been numerous Who compilations in the past, The Who Hits 50! feels more historically complete in that it features some overlooked tracks like “Athena,” “It’s Hard,” “Dogs” and “Don’t Let Go Coat” along with “It’s Not Enough” from the band’s last studio album, 2006’s Endless Wire. And of the course there are the famous hits and album tracks that bears no introduction or repeating. As for the new song “Be Lucky”, it’s actually quite good in recalling some of the band’s swagger with surviving members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend still showing some punch. Hopefully the story of the Who doesn’t end with this celebration, but perhaps another new chapter in the book.