Reviews (page 11 of 12)
Didn't realize how heavily early-blues influenced they were. Great band, but found the album a bit tedious. The version I listened to had 30 tracks, all 2-3 mins long, all either Beatles-like rock/pop, Rolling Stones-like blues/rock, or Animals-like rock. I guess they developed a more distinct style later one. 'My Generation' and 'I cant explain' are the 2 tracks I immediately recognised
I like the Who, not a a bad album. But it seems long.
This has some classic well known songs not sure how much I can groove on it though
Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. Just sort of alright.
boring
Funny that this was such a big deal at the time, sounds like a pretty typical oldies/rock album from the sixties. Its good, but just not my cup of tea.
I've heard them before, it is good enough.
solid debut from the Who - C
Decent album, a legendary album for the sixties. Mono version is better.
Some classic songs, felt like it really captured the era in the U.K.
Did not listen all the way through. What I heard was good, just not my taste.
Decent but somehow the spark just isn't there
One good song. Meh for the rest
I never realized how Blues influenced the Who were.
Solidt 60’er britisk rock, guitar-dreven, catchy
One of the things I've really enjoyed about this project is finding lesser known songs from artists I already know. When it comes to The Who, though, most of their deeper album cuts do nothing for me. There are some okay ones here, but the hit-to-miss ratio is way too low. Best track: My Generation
Classic Rock Gem, but not the best by The Who. Oh the tom work on the drums is fabulous
The good? The album is pretty short. The bad? I don't like The Who and I'm seriously wondering if there are any people who are unironic fans of the band. It's not that it's a bad band, but it's just so eh
Okayish album.....if I am being generous and if I was Anthony Fantano.....I would say this is a totally skippable album....
Heard Before? Only a few tracks. Notes: - with the exception of the title track, it lacks all the thrills and innovation that mark their later work. - derivative, half-written songs with standard issue lyrics. - i can see how this stood out as especially raw and primitive for the time, but that selling feature is now long past its expiry date. Verdict: Sounds promising. I'm sure we can expect bigger and better things from these upstarts. Listen Again? Nope.
4/10 - Typical 60s and The Who sound, not my cup of tea
It’s fine i guess, didn’t rly do it for me.
It’s alright, but doesn’t blow out my candles, if you know what I mean (I don’t). Favourite track: My Generation
At times, I thought I was going to become a fan of The Who as part of this project. I’d heard a few great songs by the band before, but other than that, I wasn’t particularly impressed. I was looking forward to this album, since it includes one of my favorites. What a disappointment. If this had been the first album of theirs I’d heard, I probably wouldn’t have bothered listening to the others. Oh, I just realized that this is the band's fifth album for me. Apparently, I'm not a fan after all. That reassures me a little. 2/5
Entiendo que es un disco generacional y que sentará las bases del rock pero a día de hoy tampoco me ha dicho mucho. Mezcla muchas influencias pero no hace nada nuevo con ellas.
repetitive SORRY 4/10
i didn’t mind this. nothing stuck out to me so i’m like 99% sure i won’t listen again. 2.5/5
Classic who album … do I feel I absolutely needed to listen to that? No Was this album distinct enough to create a whole sub genre - mod … apparently. I understand why the rockers were all worked up - it’s average and acceptable but nothing more . The style and looks are more important than the music. “The goods gone” is pretty apt. An aptly titled song that is perfect exemplar of the album . “My generation” is a great song but has dated like milk . The generation is now boomers … now I understand why they wanted to die befor getting old .
The Who's debut is cruddy-sounding record that, with the exception of "My Generation" and "The Kids Are Alright", tries to make up for mostly mundane songwriting with attitude and bluster. Some key elements of The Who's sound are established on this disc, including Townshend's up-front guitar and Moon's overly busy drumming, but in other ways the band sounds like any other beat group of the time - Daltry in particular really hadn't found his voice yet.
I refuse to listen to an hour and a half of the Who
Partially known. They got better and this doesn't warrant a full album listen.
I thought this was fine
not bad but not for the playlist
2 and a half
Not my style
4.5/10
I did listen to this one but I forgot to write a review and now I can’t remember what I thought - I guess this means it was forgettable?
The originals are better than I remember. My Generation is such an interesting song. The covers though...it's so bad. Did Daltrey actually try to sound Black on "I'm a Man"? Whatever he did, it was sacrilegious.
Patchy.
the one song that i liked was so much better than the rest of this album that you could've told me it's a different band and i would've believed you fave track: my generation
Not my favorite by them by a long shot. Too old fashioned.
This site links to the deluxe version of this album, but I only listened to the first twelve songs, which comprise the original release. "A Legal Matter" and "The Ox" were my favorites of this largely snoozy collection. I understand the importance of "My Generation," but the song has just become so overplayed and such a signal of the '60s and boomers that any edge it had in '65 has been fully sanded away.
What was it with British albums in this time and stretching out the runtime with like half the album being covers
The guitarist is a nonce. Am guessing it sounded better live than it does on record. Never been the biggest fan of The Who and this doesn’t do much to change my mind Favourite track: The Ox
DNF. too long
very bluesy rock. admittedly the vocals are not really my vibe. i do really like the guitar. drums are ok vocals on the goods gone are a lot nicer. tbh in general i like the backing vocals just fine, the leads are just a bit too glottal for me. i cant listen to them without my voice hurting because im imagining how bad it would kill my throat to sing my generation is the exception because that just sounds fun. call and response can always get it & i like how the stuttering leans into it. ngl saved the album for me guitar you are so beautiful. the drums in the ox go kind of crazy highlights: my generation, the ox
Title track is really good, the rest is just ok.
A strong contender for most middling debut album I've ever heard. Then it just casually drops one of the greatest rock songs of all time ("My Generation") midway through to prove this really is a Who album. Annnnnnnnnnd then it goes right back to mediocrity.
Is this the monkees or The Who?
My generation is the only good one in this, not sure on this mono version either
The Who's debut album is basically a combination of Beat and Garage rock songs. The garage rock aspects are very palpable coming from the very distorted sound and, sometimes, wild and playful drumming, but also are the Beat elements, as the songwriting and melodies are incredibly reminiscence of the particular movement of the 60's. The thing is, I found this album to be a bit boring. This particular style sound very safe and tame for me, almost offering nothing interesting, with the exception of the energetic drums that I've already mentioned; some occasional catchy choruses, like in the biggest songs "My Generation" and "The Kid Are Alright", and even some very noisy guitar parts. Another aspect to be considered is the fact that most of the songs are written by them, instead of filling the record with just covers. This doesn't mean there aren't any, as there are two James Brown covers, those being "I Don't Mind" and "Please, Please, Please", with the addition of an Bo Diddley cover, "I'm a Man", which also happens to be the worst song of them all, as it feels more like a mockery instead of a genuine cover song. Overall, I think the album is quite bland. I don't think most of the material is truly memorable, and even the most relevant songs didn't impacted me that much, and it isn't that interesting.
Other than My Generation, I didn’t care for this album. I was surprised by the amount of blues The Who did, but the album dragged on and didn’t flow well
Beatles-esque without the lyrical or vocal inspiration?
ok
some of the best drums on a 60s record, prrtty much everything else is just ok. bit confused blend of early punk spirit and james brown worship and softer barbershop harmonies, when they go hard it's great tho
Much like the stones first album and to an extent the Beatles it really wasnt clear they were any good at this point
Альбом не понравился, только один трек
Beatles minus aura
Very boring.. I see how it could be inspiring but it was hard to get through
Early Who is similar to early Stones - hint that of what’s to come but not quite there yet. 2nd star is just for My Generation and The Kids Are Alright. Nothing else is worth saving here.
3 fine tracks and a ton of filler
I had some preconceived notions about the Who and you know what? they're not as bad as I thought they were. turns out you really can go places on ketamine.
me aburrio
Not a big fan of this Who album. Later albums are much better. Highlights: My Generation, The Kids Are Alright, I Can’t Explain. 2.5
I like, but don't love, The Who. Honestly this is just a bit... boring.
Is it me, for a moment, or is this an underwhelming album
boys whatever
I've never got The Who. Always feels like sloppy for the sake of sloppy. Maybe it was part of a revolution at the time?
meh, the Who have better albums on this list. This feels like a gifted entry. Its predictable serviceable rock from a good classic rock band, not much else to say, that being said I cant really pinpoint anything here that really grabbed me and hooked me into the album, I was kind of just waiting for each track to finish.
Pretty boring British pop rock from The Who. We’ve had a bunch of Who albums and I just don’t think I’m a fan
There’s a couple good ones here but it’s mostly forgettable. The Who’s catalogue has better entries.
Good music, just feels to “Beatly” I think it shows too much influence of them
Fine. Just fine.
Likte dette overraskande lite. 😬
Jeg trodde jeg kom til å like dette bedre ettersom «My Generation» er en veldig kul låt. Dessverre ble det ganske ensformig som album. Mye er ganske likt. Det er ikke krise, man kommer seg gjennom, men det er ikke slik at jeg kommer tilbake til det.
I thought this album was incredibly bland and safe. I don't know the context of the time, but it seemed like they wanted to sound like every other popular band at the time and were fine at it, but there was nothing I enjoyed here.
It feels wrong to give The Who a two, but this was not a great debut at all.
Interesting, but prefer their later albums (just like everyone else, I’m sure)
This is a pretty middling British invasion/ blues rock album. A couple decent tracks, but there are so many stronger Who albums, it's strange that this made the cut. 2.5/5 from me.
Apart from the titular track, there wasn't much that stood out about this album imo.
This album didn't really go anywhere for me which is surprising because The Who have a couple albums I can listen front to back. This one just didn't scratch any sort of itch, a few catchy rhythms but nothing memorable for me.
Given I did listen to the mono version, so that's surely part of the problem, it just lacked any sort of vibrance. It felt dull, and bland. The drumming intense, but that's about the best thing I can say for it.
No me enganché
2.5
My Generation is stand out of a very boring album.
Pete Townshend has written some of my favorite music, but none of that is here. The title track and The Kids Are Alright are excellent singles. The Ox is a fun but inessential proto-Moby Dick instrumental. The rest could pass as a Dave Clark Five tribute act. Really poor songwriting and mediocre execution. I note that this is one of five Who records on the list, and definitely the worst
Yep, this is British 60s rock alright. I see why it’s a big deal for its time but it sounds dated today
The songs on the album are not bad. However none of the songs really stick out to me. I also think this genre isn't really suited to me.
why does this album have every single white person genre and does them all mediocrely
More like 1.5
This was nothing special
Meh, which was surprising.
Didn't listen.
Ehhh
I’m not a huge fan of the who and this album did not change my mind
It's pretty average except for the title track. Sounds just like the Beatles.
didn't listen to this, so will come back to this lol
I have nothing for this one. The highs are high, but much didn't really keep my attention.
First time listen! I do love a British rock band in the 60s! This album just isn't my favorite from that era. The Kids Are Alright though!!!! <3
Blast from the past, ikke så god lytting for mej
I'd have picked Quadrophenia for the list instead of this one
Not intonit
Непоганий альбом для свого часу, але мені не зайшов
I saw these guys live. The tones of the instruments and vocals are typical of that period. Not something I would revisit.
There’s for sure some good soul on this album. There’s some Beatles sounds in there too. I won’t be reaching for this album but it’s good to know and listen for your knowledge!
I understand that they are explosive and pushing the envelope of what mod music could be but it doesn’t make it good. My Generation and The Kids Are Alright are both manifestos of post war teens expressing frustration and impatience with the status quo. Fantastic songs. Some reviewers were comparing them to the Beatles. Except for the two songs I just mentioned this album has nowhere near a quality of a Beatles album.
One hit wonder
This was fine. Some fun songs here and there but I did not care too much for it. This and the beatles back to back just mesh together, although I think I liked this album more? Who knows (no pun intended).
Aside from My Generation there was no standout songs. It felt very much like listening to a debut album from any generic band in the 60s. The drumming was incredible on a few tracks though
This album was not nearly as good as the first one of The Who that we had here. Apparently it's their first album, maybe that's why they haven't found their style-focus yet.
Bored by this one, just couldn't get engaged
I do feel slightly like a broken record when it comes to The Who cause my opinions of them are pretty consistent throughout the albums. Those opinions can be boiled down to: they are a wildly creative band that was ahead of their time for most of their early career, and I know that because of the lack of variety at the time I know I would’ve been a huge fan if I was alive then, but the real problem is I just don’t care for the lead singers voice really. It’s not bad or underwhelming, in fact he has some very impressive and powerful performances, but I just don’t care for it and I can’t help that. Super impactful influential album, that I just don’t really care for…
I honestly expected The Who’s debut to go way harder. Huge letdown.
There are 4 versions of this album on Apple Music. After wading through to find the version with the fewest tracks (12, in Mono) I sat through 36 mins of ok commercial rock that was probably edgy at the time. Not my thing. “I’m a Man” cover is particularly egregious, followed by “A Legal Matter”. 2/5 From reading some of the other reviews it looks like I’ll have a lot more The Who to listen to down the line. Yay?
Out In The Street - 3/5 I Don't Mind - 3.5/5 The Good's Gone - 2.5/5 La-La-La-Lies - 4/5 Much Too Much - 3/5 My Generation - 4/5 The Kids Are Alright - 4.5/5 Please Please Please 2/5 It's Not True - 2/5 I'm A Man - 3/5 A Legal Matter - 2/5 The Ox - 2/5
Classic rock sounds, preferred the other album by them. Kind of bored of the sound
Not my vibe at all, I thought they would be more rock. Seems like a weird mash up of rock guitar solos and The Beach Boys - but not as cool as that sounds Sorry to be harsh lol
The second half of the album definitely caries. The Beatles lite. A legal matter is my favorite track so far.
A quite lengthy album with nothing that stands out about it. Songs sound quite similar to each other and don’t go anywhere interesting.
3/5. dnf
meh
Ok this is not terrible, but really unnecessary by every measure of the imagination. I like the final track, that is about it. It is however not terribly made so its not horrible, but I'm bored
Who the fuck cares
There’s some good ones, kids are alright is real nice. I like when it sounds like Pete Moon is having a blast. Unfortunately most of it is a bit boring, which even in 1965, boring rock n roll is a crime.
Didn't make too much of an impact
🫤
The two songs in the middle were okay, but wasn't into the very white Brits trying to do Blues covers...
Not my generation thank god
I can’t believe people failed to put them down
One good song
I could never party to the who. It just never really tripped my trigger. I'm not even sure who it was designed for. I don't resent it flatly but it does nothing for me personally. Something feels off. Unlike with stones or, like, great northern soul stuff I just can't get down with it.
Honestly, some of these songs felt like stuff the Beatles were doing on the regular. But the best song is My Generation, which is the most distinct song in here that feels like it has the personality of the band rather than some homage to American blues music etc. Fun songs but nothing too crazy.
I like the Who a bit but this album did nothing for me.
Some good early rock and roll, but the Who would get to far greater things later on. Oh yeah, the title track changed music, etc., etc., etc.
Nisam fan The Who iz istog razloga kao za mnoge dosad, dosadni su mi. Kužim mjesto na listi, ali mi nije za više od 2/5, 4/10
Clearly this is a "you had to be there" album. I think there's a reason that only 4 songs on this album have broken 1 million streams (My Generation is the only one to break 10 mil). This was quite forgettable.
It’s like the Beatles, but less catchy. Would’ve rated it lower if it didn’t include the namesake song on the album…
The album didn't click for me. I have never cared for the early rock albums that sound like this. I will patiently wait for the Pinball Wizard and CSI: Miami guy albums to arrive.
Ngl, I was pretty bored listening to this one. I'm sure this went crazy in the 60's but, listening to it now, nothing on here really stood out to me. I did think the vocals and instruments were great and I actually enjoyed The Ox quite a bit. Though if I'm being honest, I think this one is a 2 for me regardless. I really can't see myself wanting to revisit this album.
I’m not really sure if I liked or disliked this album. I tried to listen through twice, but it just went straight past me. Not sure if it was just very boring or if I wasn’t giving it my all.
I recently got into The Kinks, which puts The Who at a distant 4th place in my British Invasion power rankings. Maybe even 5th because I really like the one Zombies album I’ve heard. I'm way more a fan of this earliest incarnation of these guys than I am the rock opera enthusiast version or the recent version who spent the middle part of this year firing and rehiring Zak Starkey. Maybe that will change as we get further along the generator but, as it stands, the period of my peak Who fandom lasts for exactly 371 days between the releases of this album and their second, A Quick One. Music moved really fast in the 60s, didn't it? How the fuck is this less than 3.5 years before Tommy? The Who are just wee lads here; Keith Moon was 18 when production started but he and John Entwistle are already an all-time great rhythm section. Maybe THE greatest (many’ll throw their support to Jones/Bonham, but I’m partial myself to Mills/Berry). Title track and "The Kids Are Alright" are incredible songs. “Much Too Much” also stood out to me this time around. Interestingly, some quick research shows that the whole album was originally supposed to be R&B covers and that idea was only scrapped after the planned track list got leaked by a magazine, leading Pete Townshend to just, like, crank out a bunch of songs. Another Sliding Doors moment. If you enjoy punk rock, heavy metal, rock opera, or CSI, I guess thank the good people at Beat Instrumental. The original concept for the album lives on via 2 James Brown songs and 1 by Bo Diddley. I think overall these covers are redundant and do nothing to reframe the originals. “Please Please Please” is still excellent. “I’m a Man” kinda sucks. “I Don’t Mind” is somewhere in the middle. Based on the approximately 4 trillion bonus tracks this album has on Spotify, they probably could have swapped them out for something original and had an overall stronger debut album. but we're still in that awkward period in the mid-60s where artists putting out full albums of original songs is still somewhat novel and not the expectation. Rubber Soul didn't come out and change that until... the same day. Of the original tunes, the only one I don’t really vibe with is “It’s Not True” which was kinda giving me VeggieTales energy, as I expected ol’ Roger Daltrey to say that he’d never been to Boston in the fall. Overall, this is another one of those albums that I really appreciate but don't love. That said, the influence on later stuff that I like way more is very obvious.
Not My Generation, mate. What a hideous jacket, what a hideous album.
I really like the Who, and love a few of the songs on this record, but they could have cut out about half of the tracks. The blues covers, in particular, were really cringey.
Not a great album, more a collection of songs showing the band's influences, and a couple of cover versions. The standout track is the title track.
Funny how pleasant and Beatles-knock-off-esque the first few songs sound. Well, besides the fact these fellas have a hyperactive drummer, ie the polar opposite of Ringo who was primarily concerned with serving the song. Then comes My Generation (the song), which suddenly takes the whole Beatles/Beach Boys schtick and transcends and breaks it apart. Including implied use of the f-word. And then... Right back to the sound of a Beatles B-side. With that hyperactive drummer somebody threw in there because they thought why the heck not. And then some fairly... Dare I say embarrassing soul/blues knock-off attempts... Daltrey attempting to sound black (which is a category I'd normally not even apply to anything, but that's very clearly what he's doing) in "I'm a Man". The Ox finally gives the hyperactive drummer his proper due. Fun track. Very underwhelming as an album, though.
kuuntelin yhen biisin ja olin silleee okei nyt en jaksa jotenkin enempää tätä 👉👈 vois tulla seukkii jotai muuta genree
Half of the album sounds like the Beatles, the other half - like Beatles with electric guitars.
It’s fine, just another boomer rock album you probably don’t have to listen to before you die.
A nice old-school rock album. You can clearly hear where it has influenced later bands in the genre. Its not something I would listen to daily though, I'm happy just listening to the few songs that still hold up today.
hmmm… I really only know The Who from the song Eminence Front, which I believe truly rips. That song is fun and weird and makes me want to dance all crazy. This album does not sound like that. This is boring.
Better than coldplay
This has a career starting two songs on it, the rest of it could easily be thrown in the trashbin of time and nothing of value would be lost. Hard to rank a situation like this. Without the song My Generation, would the band have been a flash in the pan? The Kids are Alright is better than average, but not a showstopper.
Gear: Fostex TH610 Artwork: 🦅📸🛢️ Production (2012 Remastered Mono Version): 📏💩🛢️ Music: 📉❌🛢️ Rating: 🛢️(🛢️)/5
I don't really rate The Who aside from a few isolated offerings, or indeed this album. It's just a bunch of scrappy, incohesive nonsense with someone whining and groaning over the top of it, whilst sounding like it was recorded with a Sony Ericsson sent back in time. Maybe there's a deeper meaning at play here, but I don't care to try and make any sense of it.
They remind me alot of The Beatles. The songs I liked were My Generation, Anytime You Want Me, Shout and Shimmy, and Instant Party Mixture!
Nope
A little bit of Shoo wap shoo wap A little bit of Ooooo oooo oooo Oh they're doing it again... Oh... there they go again! And again... Then i realized I was listening to the deluxe version, and theres an hour and 20 minutes to go 🫠 Its not bad music, its just sooooo repetitive. Like out of any other repetitive album on here, this was the worst yet. There were some good songs! Maybe had I not listened to the deluxe version i would have given it a 3. But this was honestly hard to get through, I just did not care after I hit like 6 songs in. Favorites being: My Generation, Bald Headed Woman (only on the deluxe version for some reason??) I guess it sounded too different than the other 12 songs so it was shoved into the deluxe... 5/10 but 2.5 stars cause it pissed me off, so I rounded down.
My Generation in GOAT territory, otherwise the rest is okay. Mid 2s.
meh!
Sure Saved a song: N RYM: N
Not really my thing. Songs generally landed somewhere between "dollar store Beatles" and "basically OK."
The title track is pretty good. The rest of the album felt generic.
This album is like your English teacher telling you to write a short story in class. The only advice he gives is to write from experience, because it is hard to make a lie sound conceivable. “Fuck that guy!” you think to yourself, as you write a love story set against the backdrop of the Korean War. You’re a 14 year old virgin and the Korean War ended 30 years before you were born, but that’s not gonna stop you from writing a banger of a story. Turns out he was right. Your story had no soul.
I thought I would like The Who more. But this is kinda boring.
Not great. Another album with way too many songs about girls. Only one I really liked was the last song—an instrumental.
Meh. As I get older, I realize that most Who stuff doesn't do it for me.
The title track is good but that’s about it
IM SO DONE WITH BRITISH PEOPLE
Hodgepodge
Dat de titelsong een speciaal nummer is, proto-proto-punk in 1965, en vandaag de dag nog steeds een moderne gangmaker, wordt bevestigd als je de rest van dit debuutalbum hoort. De rest grossiert in middelmaat. De James Brown-covers zijn wel grappig, maar niet iets wat al die andere bands uit de British Invasion niet deden. 'The Kids Are Alright' is catchy, iets wat je over veel andere songs niet kan zeggen. De catchy hits uit de pen van Pete Townshend zouden eind jaren 60 furore maken. 5,5/10 Highlights: My Generation The Kids Are Alright
Top track: The Kids Are Alright
Alright. Not for me. 2/5
Not from my g-g-g-g-generation, and I d-d-d-d-don't vibe with it. It's from the 60's and it sounds like it. 2 stars.
I'm sure this slapped when it came out, but has since aged like milk
You'd catch 'em surfin' at Del Mar, (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Ventura County line, (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Santa Cruz and Trestles, (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) Australia's Narrabeen, (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) All over Manhattan, (Inside, outside, U.S.A.) And down Doheny Way, (Inside, outside) Everybody's gone surfin', Surfin' U.S.A
Boring rock n' roll. Nothing terrible here, but nothing really interesting either. 2.5 rounding douwn
ONE AND A HALF HORUS I COULD NOT DO IT
Some have aged worse, but it doesn't hold a candle to what they'd do later.
Good. Not great. I think maybe there is too much Who on this list and this is the one that could have been left off.
I don’t know why but I really don’t care for the Who. Maybe I’m just seeing them from too modern of a perspective but they sound like the most vanilla version of British rock to me.
Hasn't aged at all well. A mix of silly pop songs and white boys trying to sing the blues.
Greasy diner jukebox-core. 🥤🍔
a rough debut
Would LOVE to see a 2025 update of this "generation" lmaooo
If only they knew the horrors their generation would wreak upon the world. Mostly white boy blues here with some hint of their more sophisticated work to come.
All the songs sound the same what the hell man. Damn, it's even worse on the second listen.
It's completely fine. Revolutionary at the time, classic and certainly less interesting than it once was now. Entwistle's still one of the best bassists to bass
hard to believe but it's another who album.
*1965. *It was fine. *35 minutes. Listened twice and didn't even realize it started over. *Forgettable, but not bad. RATING - 6/10
Listening to the mono version --Out in the Street...a little r&b here --I Don't Mind...James Brown cover. I'd prefer Brown --The Good's Gone...just kind of drones on --La-La-La-Lies...Entwistle is doing cool stuff and there are interesting harmonies but overall this is just okay --Much Too Much...I usually like Daltry's voice but he isn't doing it for me on this album --My Generation...I can see why this is the big hit, finally feels like each band member is firing on all cylinders --The Kids Are Alright...I like the song but the recording's a little muddy. Probably been cleaned up for remasters --Please Please Please...Another straight James Brown cover. Daltry's great but he can't touch Brown at Brown's own game --I'm a Man...now we're doing Bo Diddley? The Wikipedia article about this album claims that when it was first released, it received criticism for being a "rush job". I have to agree based on the current listen --A Legal Matter...Townshend takes over lead vocals. I like this one. It kicks and feels more like where the band would eventually end up --The Ox...a jam to close things out. It's fine. Nicky Hopkins on the keys is fun
Mid
Chair
DNF
The Who at their best. 2.5
I'm a tad disappointed. This nice bluesy, 60s sound that the British did is nice. I'm A Man is a nice cover. My Generation is a classic song but rest is meh to good. 2.5.
Much like most of The Who albums in this collection, I've never heard anything from this aside from their megahits (which I think is only "My generation" and the Beatles-esque "The kids are alright", despite that there were at least two other singles from this album). It's really interesting to hear how...generic...most of their songs are on this album; clearly they were still honing their distinctive sound and style, although Daltry's voice is always pretty distinctive, and a few tracks like "The good's gone", "My generation" and "A legal matter" have hints of more mature Who sounds (plus awesome drumming on "The ox"). I also hadn't realized how much they hued to R&B in their early years, including some pretty painful covers. I know it's their debut album, and I know it's hard to place an album in its context nearly 80 years later, but I don't really see much other reason to include this album in this collection, frankly (despite Christgau claiming that it's "the hardest rock in history").
2/3
Aside from ‘my generation’ and ‘the kids are alright’ this is just a bit meh. Far from their best and nothing that really raises them above everything else.
I am yet to remain convinced that The Who are not massively overrated. This album did nothing to change that opinion. Clearly “My Generation” is the standout track, and all of the others barely registered with me. Kudos to them for having short songs, though.
meh, it would have been fun and upbeat if most of it weren't so deeply associated with tv commercial background music.
Bleh
Didn’t listen
Love the Who but wished the album would have been much better!
If your father has a British bulldog tattooed on his bicep and owns/has owned a Staffordshire Bull Terrier then you can bet that he fucking loves The Who. What is a Mod anyway? I don't know and I don't care; what I do know is that this is pub rock for perverts (I'm looking at you, Pete Townsend). I read once that Pete Townsend had to ask Roger Daltrey to stop beating him up after shows. Daltrey shouldn't have listened. Look, I liked The Who when I was a kid and didn't really know better. The problem is that there were so many superior bands in the 60s doing the same music, but better. The only decent track on this record is "The Kids are Alright" and that's only because a fairly decent movie borrowed it for its title. Anyway, today is a new day.
I already didn't like "My Generation" at all.But then the horrible cover of I'm a Man was an unpleasant surprise.
no, just no. 2 stars
The Who are like the one band of "classic rock" canon that I just never vibed with. I never outright hated them, but I'd rather listen to Zeppelin, The Stones, The Beatles or even Bad Company over this any day. Plus, the James Brown and Bo Diddley covers on this thing are laughably bad.
2/3
you know what, maybe I'm just not a fan of British hard rock, and that's okay. can't love everything!
asked Thought it was a bit better than Who's Next at first, the ending songs almost made me do the irreversible
Not really my thing
Sounds like four English lads having a toss-about with black american blues & r&b. Influential for those who missed out on the original source code but I maintain, the WHO had some great tunes but are overrated.
The Who gets the 2
I mean whatever. Not my cup of tea.
One or two good tracks but a lot of poor ones. Interesting to see how they started
Nice music. Great production. Not my type
The who is not really scratching that 60s rock itch for me. My generation is good, but mostly because it was kinda one of those first stutter songs. Other than that it was forgettable.
I hope I die before I get old, and start believing in fundamentally racist and obvious dogma regarding international trade relationships
pior que eu acho o baixo desse álbum mto bom, como um todo mas ROCK dá não
Not as heavy and raucous as the reviews would have you believe. The tracks all sound thin, and the songs are all pretty generic in form.
Only song that caught my attention was the title track
This shit really makes you appreciate the Beatles my god
Idk all the songs sound the same. Considering what literally every other band was doing in the mid sixties, this is shit
Not their best. Not great. 5/10
This overstays its welcome about halfway through. Way too long for what it is.
2 stars not cause it’s bad, it just doesn’t need to be on this list. Nobody needs to hear this
I've always thought of the Who as a good band despite rarely listening to them, but good lord this was one of the dullest albums I have encountered on this list. It almost put me to sleep on my drive home. Fortunately, the Who have other material which I enjoy more. And fortunately for this album, there was nothing outright bad about it. I will likely never listen to it again before I die, though. Favorite track: title track
No comment. Not good or bad. Just didn't elicited any emotion within me at all. Like plain oatmeal.
Knowing The Who would later cover Heat Wave by Holland-Dozier-Holland, it was disappointing that their debut album didn't open with a cover of Out in the Street by the Shangri-las. For all the dexterity of Moon and Entwhistle, their versions of two James Brown songs would see the band docked wages. The quality of not quite being able to pull-off popular black music overhangs the whole album, much as it does on the early Beatles records. Smokey Robinson is present, even when his writing credit isn't. And, yet, the funk, Motown, and Brill Building impulse is a good one to follow. The Who might go on to be a stadium rock band, but they are a pop group at heart, benefiting here from immediacy and absence of grandiosity. Still, The Ox sounds the most like them having actual fun, rather than just recording fun to sell. That's the trap into which they fall over and over, I think, not quite art, not quite product. Nothing from Moon is intentional, nothing from Townsend is instinctual. As on Exile on Main Street, which we've already discussed, Nicky Hopkins is the star of the piece and far too frequently buried. 2 As you may remember, many years ago I offended a friend of ours with disparaging comments about The Who, a favourite band of his. I don’t recall the comments I made but they were offensive enough that the gentleman brought them up the next day presumably having been much bothered by them in the interim. This was terrible to me and I apologised…I think (I hope). I then resolved never again to risk hurt to anyone by verbal attacks on the music that they held dear. Such an attack, as I should have understood better loving much music so dearly myself, far from being a challenge to some abstract philosophical principle is really a sort of assault on the heart and the mind of another person and is plainly bad behaviour. If that particular resolution outlived even a couple of hours I‘d be very surprised; I still haven’t expelled that compulsion from my personality all these years later. However, I did make another resolution at the same time; at some point I would give The Who a fair spin. Because I hadn’t. I knew some of Tommy and a handful of the hits. That‘s not a just basis for slagging off a classic and beloved band to a fan’s face. Well I hadn’t got back to that resolution before this weekend so here we go now. The Who. First album. My Generation. Fair spin. *I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot/ so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spue thee out of my mouth (Revelation 3: 15-16 KJV)* As John the Revelator points out, the reason God doesn’t like The Who, is that they art lukewarm. Not playful or witty or weird enough to be good pop music. Too orderly and commercially deliberate (and not weird enough) to be good rock music. When I say ‘not weird enough’ of course I clarify that I am referring to the music, lest the voices of The Who’s supporters clamour in defence of notable paedophile-researcher Pete Townshend. If ‘pop’ and ‘rock’ are slightly anachronistic stools to set either side of an album that came out in 1965 I will say that this describes my essential problem with all the music, mostly from the 1970s, I have encountered by this cursèd band. Daltrey’s singing is a key problem. He was blessed with an edgy, powerful voice but he can only use it to utterly banal effect. There is a cleanliness and precision of delivery about it that speaks of deep-set squaredom. There is no accent, no character, and no drama in his voice; save when he is imitating other singers and when he does that, on Please, Please, Please and I’m a Man, it is excruciating. Moon puts so much into every song that he puts in nothing at all. He is a party trick. A great drummer who never does great drumming. Pete Townshend’s guitar playing…ugh. I am going to stop talking about The Who in general now because this is too long but also because there will presumably be ample opportunity for that in future. There are bound to be another three or four Who albums at least in this list. The album is My Generation so let’s focus on its particular sins rather than the mark of Cain which all Who albums carry. There is a strain of chauvinism running through this album which is extremely distasteful. Opening your album - nay, your career - with what sounds like a rape threat letter from a stalker is a verifiably bad idea anyway but when Pete is on the front cover glowering in black like an alley-lurking strangler that the police helicopter has just found with a spotlight it is doubly so. Oddly this album was released exactly the same day as Rubber Soul - which finishes with Lennon’s horrifying paean to woman beating ‘Run for your life’. But the rest of Rubber Soul has the decency to be absolutely charming and wonderful. Not so My Generation. The album’s one attempt at procedural sweetness, ‘La La La Lies’ falls utterly flat amid a barrage of variations on ‘I’ve had you and now I’m away to have someone else because that’s the way I am baby’ [not an actual lyric] or ‘Just wanna keep doing all the dirty little things I do’ as throwaway pap ‘A Legal Matter’ puts it. There is a sense of musical manspreading throughout as well: Daltrey’s baseless vocal confidence; Moon’s witlessly virile drumming; Townshend’s guitar lines always relying on loudness and ignorance for memorability. Entwistle’s bass I really like; subtle, thoughtful - he presumably paid up his man dues on the front cover, Union flagged and thumbs in his belt like a Millwall fan ready to settle a 1-1 draw with a good old dust up with a few of you Berkshire Hunts. I’ve written too much. What I meant to say was My Generation is a very good song, although I don’t think the stuttering quite works - good idea but needed a singer with a bit of contempt in them to really sell it. The rest of the album is mostly dreadful. 2/5
It was ok but nothing special
Quite basic 60's pop music and the Bo Diddley cover of 'I'm a man' even sounds a bit silly sung by 21 year old Daltrey. Album closer The Ox sounds much better than the rest of the album and perhaps is a sign of what was to come for The Who.
I wanted to like this much much more but nope. Almost whole album just faded to background.
It sounds very much like what other contemporary rock bands did at the time and I prefer the latter recordings they've made. Especially their "Live At Leeds" is stunning. I feel like this album is on this list just because it has the track "My Generation" on it. Which is... not a good reason in my opinion. Retrospectively ranking this album this high, because it is the "forefather of punk and heavy metal" is just weak and lazy, it's just the first one that has a hint of what The Who was going towards, but that doesn't make this album any better.
Felt like a different band on each track. Maybe I'm discounting how early the album was but only the obvious two songs sounded like what came to be The Who, the rest were uninspiring
Like the beatles but less innovative
I was expecting more energy and more rambuctiousness similar to ‘My Generation’ but it all fell flat except for that track.
Don't really care for the vocals, cool that it inspired rock but this style is definitely not mines. 2
My immediate impression of this album was that it didn't sound like The Who I knew. Reading into a bit of its history, it didn't surprise me at all to learn it was mired by shitty band dynamics, the worst of the music industry, and the desire to chase the next Beatles-like hit. The Who has some great music - this isn't really that.
I remember my best friend's mom getting mad at us and telling us to shut off that song that was making fun of people with stutters. I always think of that when I hear this album. Otherwise, while there's flashes of what was to come, this album was too much of them trying to be the next Beatles. I think once they found their own sound later in the decade is when they really became something amazing.
boring except for the title track
1 or 2 cool songs. Otherwise forgettable.
i just dont care for this era of music
ibland beatles-esquet, ibland proto-altrock a la 00's, oftast (antagligen) banbrytande men ointressant för mig. (:
Blues vibe was there, but just background music. Long as hell and some of those later songs were super annoying
Songs were mostly ok, but a lot of it was repetitive. The Kids Are Alright was pretty good, of course. The rest of the album was meh. Best song: The Kids Are Alright
Άμουσο, βαρετό, δεν έχει να πει τίποτα. Κουραστικό και επαναληπτικό. Ποιότητα παραγωγής χωρίς αντίκρισμα στην σύγχρονη εποχή. Ο χρόνος είναι πολύτιμος για να τον σπατλάμε για να ακούμε να χτυπάνε κατσαρόλες μέσα σε γκαράζ και να γρατζουνάνε τις κιθάρες με τον χειρότερο τρόπο. Ανυπομονώ να τελειώσει. Άνευρα κομμάτια πλην του My Generation. Αποδεικνύεται από την ανισόρροπη ακροαματικότητα. Επιτέλους τελείωσε. Είχε λίγο ενδιαφέρον, αλλά ευτυχώς τελείωσε.
I had no idea My Generation was from 65. Huge song. A few other bangers but a few hit and miss songs as well. You can tell how iconic the album is though. Big influence for The Animals and The Stooges
Songs I enjoyed: Out In The Street My Generation The whole album gave me the vibe of Full House (the show) which I love. Still no songs I would prefer listening to again. I would listen to Money, Money, Money from Abba's Arrival album more hahaha.
Until this project started, I don't think I'd heard a complete British rock album from the 60's by anybody but the Beatles. I was mostly familiar with the hits. And it's become increasingly clear how much of it was influenced by blues. For this album, My Generation seems to be the least blues song on it, the one that feels the most unique. I guess that's why it stuck around. It's an okay album, but there weren't any songs that had any staying power outside of the already iconic title track.
ONE song out of 30! How on earth did they ever make it big? Don't get me wrong, I liked a lot of their stuff ... but man, this was tough to get through. In fact ... I didn't!
This was fine, nothing bad but also nothing all that interesting. 4/10
Sounds very dated, struggled to get through it, the track My Generation is a clear standout
Early Who were much more like other bands of the sixties, which in my opinion is an improvement. Still not that keen on them though.
Eh, it's not all that. I'm sure it hit differently back in the sixties, but I'm starting to think that The Who just isn't my thing.
Outside of a handful of their big hits I mostly find The Who tedious to listen to. Like, I get it. It’s just not really for me. 2.5/5
The Who had some good songs. I’ve yet to see evidence of a good album.
I really liked who's next but this just wasnt good, the song my generation was good but everything else...not so good.
It was ok, but not life-changing. I never was a huge The Who fan.
Very 60s, very Brit. Hard to believe My Generation is from 1965; this song, The Kids Are Alright, and A Legal Matter are somehow still holding up 60 years later. And then there’s The Ox showcasing Entwhistle playing base like a lead guitar. Got some goofy covers that sound like they’re trying too hard to make it to America. So I listened to both the UK version and US release (which is better because it’s shorter.) We had the ‘71 compilation album Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy at 4Ex which has the main hits off My Generation and some more listenable B cuts. Fortunately, The Who continued to improve from their debut through the early 80s. My Gen comes in at (2.5*s) Sorry baby.
I guess I didn't realize how much of the early The Who were basic R&B covers. I like quite a lot of The Who's catalog but this early debut album doesn't move the needle much for me. I get that they became a huge act but very little on My Generation (other than the title track maybe) did anything to stand out. This sounded like it could have been by pretty much any act from the 60s. The one thing I noted is that Roger Daltrey's range on his vocals is more than I would have expected from a 20 year old. His style has always seemed pretty consistent and dialed in so it was weird to hear some alternate songs with him crooning old blues hits. I want to give this higher marks for The Who's legacy, but at surface value I don't think My Generation is anything notable. It's a pretty run of the mill early rock album with mostly misses as opposed to hits. Not sure this was something I needed to hear before I died. 1.68 stars
This was fine I think. What stuck out most to me was the vocal performance, not necessarily in a good way. The delivery is kind of all over the place and seems to imitate other blues/folk artists that were popping in the US at the time. Just felt kinda inauthentic I guess.
This album is a little shit I'm not gonna lie.
The Boo! The band gets a lot better by the time of Tommy (hell, ‘Happy Jack’ and the second record are miles and miles and miles above this album). The debut doesn’t really hold up beyond the big hits, and overall, is plagued by too much imitation and a terrible cover of ‘I’m a Man’.
Didn't wow me.
It was ok. 2.5
no está mal pero not my mood, me aburrí un poco
I was looking forward to this one. I really had never listened to the whole album before, but it turned out to be just generic 60s stuff. The title track is great, of course, but just about everything else was entirely missable. Especially that cover of "I'm A Man". What the hell was that. 2.5 stars
It was okay
OK
Baby boomers singing about their generation is so ick.
Eh. My Generation was good tho
2.63
It's fine. My Generation is the highlight, the rest just kind of becomes background noise.
Cool but nothing exceptional
It's not for me. Didnt even finish it.
Bit better than the other Who album listened to so far but still not a fan. Lot of the lyrics have aged very badly. Kinda boring.
Eh they are going to be great but they aren’t yet. My Generation is an all timer and the other 40 tracks aren’t great
Overall the upbeat-ness was quite enjoyable but otherwise, apart from a few liked songs, this track list really didnt stick out or affect me in anyway and while not bad in any way was just generally a neutral listen. I could definitely have said more about this album but if I had to add one more thing I’d say all the instrumentation and melodies, while still not bad, got a bit generic.
I'm just not sure I am into British rock that much...?
It's alright, didn't love it. Less gritty than I expected based on title track which was interesting but no real standouts for me. Fave song: title track Least fave song: the good's gone Would I listen again: probably not but we'll see
Third Who record so far. Two more to go because there's FIVE on this thing for some reason. My big discovery from all this is that I don't actually like The Who much and thought I did for some reason. Like I somehow gaslit myself into thinking I did.
This was weird. It was nothing like what I expected it to sound like. Why was it like a range of different genres? One minute it was like proper 60s rock and roll, the next it was like The Beatles, the next it was like gravelly blues?! Did The Who get better over time?! Yeah not sure I liked this much.
Audio quality didn't seem great.
I'm relatively familiar with the Who, or at least their golden era. I generally find rock music of the 60's boring and this is no exception. The title track and "The Ox" are the only standout tracks. The others very much feel like a band trying to sound like other bands. A fair to middling first effort. It's comforting to know that the Who would eventually become a fantastic band.
It seemed good for the first couple songs but then you just wanted it to end quickly but it didn’t
I know they are an iconic band but this album felt all over the place. and just all over bland.
Just not really a fan of the who and this album is in no way innovative
Kinda meh to be honest.
Not a huge fan of The Who. This album has done nothing to shift my opinion. Always feel like if the world wasn’t mad for British music at the time then this band wouldn’t have got anywhere.
This is an ok album; there are elements that will make future Who good, but not quite there, maybe because I listened to the mono version. The cover makes me think of Oasis. 2* Highlights: my generation
Not awful but certainly nothing great
Feel like a hater lately. I'm a Who fan and man, this ain't it. Three KILLER tracks with My Generation, The Kids Are Alright, and The Ox. The rest is just half-baked poorly recorded who.
No doubt influential at the time - but I didn't really get into The Who, sounded like a slightly more hardcore version of the general 60s rock sound. All good though, apparently I have at least 4 more chances to see if I like them in this challenge !
okay. revolutionary i'm sure
I think I prefer the later Who rather than this Beatles-esque music. Hints of what was to come but on the whole not a great album compared to what else was around at the time.
The song My Generation is iconic. The rest was not something that hooked me that much.
Instrumentals are good but don’t love the vocals. Favorite/memorable songs: My Generation, Daddy Rolling Stone
3-4: zu rudimentär; wegweisend, jedoch klischeehafter 60er- Beat
probably the best album I've heard from them so far, but still kind of a slog
2. i did not freak with this