Reviews (page 2 of 8)
# Album Name: The Who Sell Out # Artist: The Who # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Honestly, i thought this was terrible. Apart from i can see for miles, the rest is absolute junk. The more i listen to albums of the who, the more im convinced they are just a greatest hits band. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, i simply dont resonate with their studio albums. Nowhere near the same league as some of the greats in that respect. # Top Tunes: I can see for miles. # Would I listen to it again? No
I like The Who. I currently have 48 of their songs "liked" on Spotify. I consider "Who's Next" a perfect album where I like every song. Also, The Who was the first concert I ever saw - at Shea Stadium (NYC) in 1982 with the Clash opening. Going in, I have 1 song liked on this -"I Can See For Miles" - which was the one that I remember from the radio. But I have never listened to this album in total- so I'm excited to see how it is. Ugh, I don't like how they add the radio "skits" to several of these tracks. I wish they had split them out more. "Armenia City in the Sky" - hmm, not sure what to think about this. Sounds like they were trying to do the druggy, psychedelic thing. But I didn't think this was very good. The way he pronounces Armenia is pretty annoying. "Silas Stingy" is pretty bad. Funny how at the latter part of "Rael 1" they use the same bass and guitar riff from Tommy - this preceded that album. But I didn't really like that song too much. Also, interesting how he used the phrase "See, feel or hear from you" - which presaged similar lines in Tommy - in the song "I Can't Reach You". I ended up liking 7 new to me songs ... - these where all fun and funny - "Mary Ann With The Shaky Hand", "Odorono", "Tattoo" - these were good love gone wrong songs - "Our Love Was", "I Can't Reach You" - these were also good, and are love song-ish for the Who: "Relax", "Sunrise" This was a pretty fun record. It was a good surprise since I hadn't heard any of this before, except for the 1 song. There were some stinkers too - but at least I now have 7 more songs by the Who in my collection. So this pushes them into the exclusive club of only 17 artists where I have over 50 songs liked! Liked songs on Spotify: 8/14 Rating: 3/5
The first half of this record interested me with its assured experimentation and a broad and deep palette for such a young band. “I Can See For Miles” is a standout, arriving past the halfway mark on the album to add the cherry of a great pop hit. But the excursions into corny British whimsy became too frequent for me and brought the project down. I’ll be generous with a 3
Obviously it's gimmicky as hell but I cannot lie... I find myself a little charmed by the gimmick. "I Can See For Miles" also is just great in its own right of course
I really expected this to be ok, but it was dogshit. The small bits of songs that sounded good for a moment then turned to irritating messes. Whoever thought those stupid advert segments were a good idea were wrong.
Never really been into The Who but I do like their little interstitials between the songs that act like little commercials. Makes the album feel a bit more chaotic. I dunno their music is just meh, pretty basic rock and roll. Something I might not change the channel if it was on the radio but would never ever put it on.
I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest Who album; first track doesn’t even sound like them, but then progresses more into their traditional sound.
An exquisitely British concept, no doubt, but these Brits may have wasted their idea by using it at a time when they were in a musical slump. A lot of the instrumentation and vocals sounded cheap and low-effort, and the usual creative songwriting by Pete Townshend didn't seem to be there. I can see where they were going with "Heinz Baked Beans" and "I Can See For Miles", maybe even the opener, "Armenia City in the Sky", and the rest seemed rather uninspired. Even "Tattoo", as silly as it was, was at least on-brand silliness for the Who, but one definitely has to be in a mood to stomach silliness and uninspired.
Masterpiece! The album you REALLY have to hear before you die is Petra Haden’s note for note a cappella version of The Who Sell Out.
I appreciate the originality of the concept, but I didn't like the album, except for "I Can See For Miles".
Kinda cool that there's a tongue-in-cheek concept album out there from 1970 that reminds me of Songs for the Deaf, but it just didn't hook me. +1 for effort.
Um… this is really annoying. I WANT to like it. I don’t. I’m just getting more and more edgy as it goes on. I was going 3. But… yeah, no. Today it’s a 2. 2 Boolean: um…. False. Yeah. No reason for this
Over-indulgent twaddle. Maybe one decent song. Very disappointing for my first Who album.
Okay but only felt something with the following songs: "I Can See For Miles" and "Our Love Was".
The sorta sold out and I don’t mean tickets
buns bro
Ég hef mjög gaman af því að hlusta á Who og þeir hafa sinn hljóm sem skín þarna í gegn. Mér fannst conceptið mjög skemmtilegt og hafði þá gaman af auglýsingunum og sjóræningjaútvarpsstöðinni. Þessi plata mun samt gleymast hjá mér er ég nokkuð viss um.
4/10 - I don’t understand how the guys in The Who convinced us that a) they are an all time band and b) how they convinced us that they get to tell us who the most impressive bands of all time are. These guys act like Pink Floyd is the only other band in their league. Even without a personality tax, it’s a 4/10 album.
Couple of songs on here that I like but overall this just isn't for me. I actually found a decent amount of this to be annoying and the album cover makes it even worse. 4/10
Overrated band overrated album. Tommy should be this low too but I can't change it
I enjoyed this weird album much more than I expected. I'm an annoying Who purist who "only likes their early stuff" and I always avoided Who Sell Out because it seemed like the turning point to their more pretentious high-minded prog-adjacent arena rock. The concept of the album is whatever, but I loved almost every song. They all sound somewhere between the Kinks and the Residents. And it's quite tongue-in-cheek and goofy, but also weirdly heartfelt. Plus, "I Can See For Miles" might be the best Who song.
They sold out by getting weirder. I approve.
Who gets a 3? Who gets a 3.
TL;DR: Conceptually interesting and sometimes great but too much of this is underwhelming or aggressively irritating. BEFORE: I don't mind Who's Next but otherwise don't really listen to The Who. I'm aware of the concept behind this, and it makes me wary. AFTER: It is hard to understand the appeal. Other than the jingles - which are uniformly annoying - there is nothing in here that the Beatles or other bands of this era haven't done with significantly better results. A decent proportion of the lyrics sound like the first draft of something written under duress in a high school English class. HIGHLIGHTS: I Can See For Miles and Sunrise are spectacular. The production is impressive. Beyond that, Armenia City In The Sky is engagingly weird and druggy although I'm pretty sure that's not how you pronounce Armenia. Our Love Was is well-executed and melodic with an interesting chord progression and great guitar solo, only slightly let down by the vocals in the bridge. I Can't Reach You and Relax are both competent, dreamy rock songs. LOWLIGHTS: The jingles tie the concept together but largely subtract from the music. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand, Odorono and Tattoo are under-cooked with vaguely off-putting lyrics. Silas Stingy wastes inventive music and harmonies on half-baked lyrics. Rael 1 starts with truly awful singing before settling into aimless rock opera. I didn't bother with the bonus tracks. VERDICT: 2 stars. 2 great songs, some OK album cuts and a whole lot of filler, nonsense, sophomoric lyrics and grating interludes that detract from the high points.
Experimental rock, /10 Acits: 5 Hbb: 6 Mawtsh: 5.5 O: 6 T: 5.5 Lost the will to listen to it more! Olw: NR Icsfm: NR Icry: NR M: NR R: NR Ss: NR S: NR R1&2: NR
A concept album. I can see why some people do not like this, but this album sounds like The Who to me much more than their first one did. I was going to give it a 4/10, but I am going to bump it up to 5.5/10 just for the song I can see for miles. Top song... I can see for miles
This list doesn’t need 5 albums by The Who does it. This is fine but no need for a repeat listen. 2
The Who Sell Out is The Who discovering that rock music could be funny without becoming disposable. And that’s more important than it sounds. In an era increasingly obsessed with psychedelic seriousness and grand artistic statements, The Who basically said: “What if we made an album that sounds like you’re listening to the radio while eating baked beans?” Then they quietly inserted one of the most explosive rock songs of the decade into it. That combination of absurdity and ambition is what makes the album special.
I get a kick out of this whole goddamn thing. Most concept albums are pretentious twaddle but this has a wonderful sense of humour, it’s totally cohesive and musically interesting. Put it on the shelf next to Sgt. Pepper.
I could see this being funny and novel when it came out, but it just kinda annoyed me listening to it with modern ears.
some annoying parts and melodies, other good parts
toppertje...was een redelijk onbekende van The Who voor mij... blij dat ik deze eens in zijn geheel hoorde... zal ook niet de laatste keer geweest zijn
The songs on this one don’t really hit it for me. There’s something fascinating about most of the products being no longer sold, however.
Am I missing something?
Dogshit
I'm not a big who fan but this was actually a great concept album. I liked the skits as transitions and the playfulness. I can't say it's a 4 from me but I feel guilty for the 3 I'm alotting it because it's somewhat north of that.
Reklamerne og det der er MEGET anstrengende, ellers et ok album med nogle gode numre
Der er et par sange som er virkelig fede men konceptet holder det virkelig tilbage
Didnt care much for the ads or the music
Uno de los álbumes conceptuales mas únicos que pudieron ser creados. Usar tonos de marcas y comerciales para el álbum y que todavía eran comerciales con ellos mismos es de locos.
It’s great that they were going for a concept, but this album is really annoying and doesn’t work. They really needed to stop hanging out with Frank Zappa.
Nette Idee aber das Ergebnis ist leider wohl nur für Historiker interessant. Ein Kracher ist dabei (I can see for miles). Dafür gibts einen Extrapunkt. Was dann in Summe nur zwei macht.
The concept behind this album is very interesting, and of course I Can See For Miles is a classic.
I don't dislike The Who. But this album is a stinker. Those ads aren't even funny at all. 2/5
Good stuff
Pretty fun
Elsker normalt concept albums og mærkelige sager, men jeg kan åbenbart virkelig ikke lide The Who
*44 Who cares
To be honest SLET ikke så forfærderligt som jeg havde frygtet. Den sniger sig op på en tre'er (meget lille), fordi jeg ikke følte mig nødsaget til at skippe nogen steder.
Det føltes mindst tre gange så langt, som det egentlig var 2.2
Høje ambitioner; fed idé; virkelig ringe udført
Every band from this era sold out. Who gives a shit?
Ok album
this is a cool CONCEPT for an album. it's not a very enjoyable listening experience, though, it really doesn't feel like an album full of songs but feels instead like skits with the occasional song in.
3.4
Certainly of its time. Interesting, but not captivating
Auglýsingagrínið fer greinilega í taugarnar á mörgum, en það truflar mig hins vegar ekki neitt og ef eitthvað er rammar það plötuna bara betur inn í tímabilið. Lögin eru sum afbragð og önnur fín, mér leiðist bara Silas Stingy. Og loks eru bónuslögin hér skemmtileg. Hendi fimmu á þessa.
It's not for me. I don't really "get" the who particularly. I was pleasantly surprised by the first record with the R&B feel, but when they go more straight rock, I just don't see what's that interesting about it. Combine that with a goofy concept playing around with consumerism and I'm just frustrated.
Funny story about this album that nobody asked for: back in January 2024 when I started this project, I for some reason decided to make a pointless and arbitrary prediction that this would be the last album I am given at the end of my journey. And it was looking promising for so long. 945 albums in and I was still going strong, until today. It really was looking like I was in with a genuine chance of having predicted correctly, which honestly would have been so funny. But here we are, I guess it was unlikely to actually be this one, only a 1 in 1089 chance after all. Anway, yeah the music is great of course but this is quite possibly the single worst album cover of all time.
i remember listening to this in high school because it was on beck's list of favorite album covers. i like the weird jingle bits, dont really care about the normal songs. mostly remarkable in that going through this list with youtube music is making have a big bone to pick with deluxe editions. all these classic rock albums have them, and you cant find the original except sometimes through user playlists sometimes. picking all the extra takes and demos and alternate mixes out my queue i didn't realize that for this album's original thirteen tracks, the deluxe edition has ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN. why would anyone want to listen to this nine times? still less annoying than hearing baba orilley for the sevenhundredth time in ones life
The Who are an iconic band that most people have heard of and they have songs that are easily recognizable. However, this album is average at best and does not contain any of their big hits. It is an easy listen and flows well.
Not your typical Who album, and not my cup o'tea.
By far their best album. It's so fun and goofy and relevant and doing all the same various styles of music better then their contemporaries, just as a joke. Because they can.
I assume this was meant to be very tongue in cheek, but it is still bad. "I Can See For Miles" is the only slightly redeeming part, but even that's a bit of a mid Who song.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would - especially as I gave my previous The Who album (Live at Leeds) one star. I love a concept album - and the selling out advert theme is fun and also petty in a way that I find really iconic to be honest. Hell yeah - this was cool !
I’ve already gotten another The Who album and didn’t love it, so I went into this unsure of how I’d feel. But this is pretty fun to listen to. It feels like a blend of musical theatre, rock opera, and that good ol’ classic 60s rock sound. I liked it way more than I anticipated and am glad I didn’t skim it over!
Who else enjoys this album? Me. Surprisingly, I thought this album was pretty good. Going in, I was kind of worried that it was going to be just British Invasion pop rock since this was before The Who’s golden period in the 70s, but after listening to it, they definitely had that spark before that period. Framed as a radio station throughout the album, it includes several jingles and commercials along with the music. While some of the jingles don’t transition great, clipping off at the end of the track, I still think it is a quirky and interesting way to make the album stand out. The band is able to create these interesting little story songs, such as Tattoo, one of my standouts due to it’s acoustic guitar riff and catchy vocals, and the iconic I Can See For Miles, another standout, and definitely the heaviest rocker on the album, giving Entwistle and Moon chances to shine. The band really shows off their acoustic side on the album, with songs like the jaunty Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands, and the beautiful Sunrise, my other two standouts. Other tracks do show off their more rocking side, like Armenia City In The Sky, which is a more psychedelic track. Overall, I think this album is an enjoyable experience, and while I don’t think it’s better than The Who’s other great works, I still think Who fans should check it out. Now I’m gonna flip the channel and see what I get next.
6/10
Not my favorite The Who album. It doesn't have the raw intensity of some of the later work nor the standouts from My Generation and other works.
Wow, the 1960s really were just the doldrums of music, weren't they? Aside from the boring songs, make sure if you decide to listen to this album, to listen to the stereo version, not the mono version, because having every sound be completely in the centre of the sonic field makes the entire listening experience completely unbearable; it feels like walking down a corridor where the walls on either side are completely bare - you keep waiting for something to fill that space, you want there to be decoration to keep you interested, but all the while you're stuck in this Overlook Hotel of an album, where there is nothing but to go forward in the hopes that eventually you will find the exit.
I would categorize this as : Really, really unnecessarily annoying Best Song: Sunrise Rating: 3/10 Stars: 2
A fine, but dumb, concept, whatever, that's rock 'n' roll sometimes - I don't like this shit b/c it's annoying e'en before it's pretentious. Folk who decry rock music for its annoyingness have a premier case in point w/ this record, a collection of songs that are as pointless as they are frustratingly heady & soulless. 'Flying, soaring / Shining morning / Never leaving / Lying, dying.' If I wanted British conceptual, I'd go for The Kinks before almost anyone - I just don't buy this group's attempt at sixties wit, like, wink, wink, what's the joke? 'I Can See For Miles' contains some classic Moon drumming, but its hook goes on for miles & miles, repetitive b/c Daltrey doesn't know how to write a good tune. Nope, not e'en close, The Who DID NOT presage punk.
Well made but I don’t like 90% of it. You can put this under albums i wish were less committed to The Bit, because the persistent ads and jingles and general goofiness make me want to eat roofing nails by the fistful.
I respect The who but im not a fan of this album…
Bit silly and not their best
Not their finest work
Nice
Genuinely one of my favorite albums of all time, and maybe one of the most underrated albums ever. Dare I say, it’s better than Quadrophenia and Who’s Next.
everyone was crazy in the late 60s
5eme album proposé après 'Tommy', 'My Generation', 'Who's next' (notés 3/5) et 'Live At Leeds' (noté 4/5). Et grande déception ! J'ai du mal à supporter les pubs en général, là elles me gâchent complètement l'écoute. En plus il n'y a pas vraiment grand chose a écouter ... J'ai eu du mal à aller au bout. Aucune envie d'entendre cet album une seconde fois. =>1/5
Never listened to anything like this before. Weird but good.
Dit is nou echt zo'n album waarbij het leuk is om meer over de geschiedenis te lezen. De albumcover riep vragen op en dus ging ik lezen, terwijl ik het album aanzette. Ongeacht wat ik van de muziek vind, vind ik het concept leuk bedacht. Wat betreft luisterbeleving was het album niet zo mijn ding. Daarom geef ik het twee sterren!
First, I just want to be clear: the Apple Music version took a 40-minute album and added so much shit that it is now a 5-hour album. So I stopped at the end of the original tracklist. The weird fake commercials and in-between segments make this whole album feel like a really unique thing. I enjoyed Armenia City in the Sky and I Can See For Miles the most of the set. Overall, good shit. I don't think any of these would be featured in a CSI.
Fucking rubbish. I’m sick of having to keep hearing The Who on this list. Moon and Entwistle are such a solid rhythm section that I wish I could hear them in any other band. The Who were so obsessed with making a concept album about anything that they neglected to make good music.
Absolutely insane that they listened back to some of these songs and thought 'yep that's good put it on the album'. Old radio station inserts are cool. The vibe is a mix between beach boys and beatles but if it took all the good songs off and left only the weird slightly bad ones. Screaaams of Britain/England too and I can't say I love it. But overall it grew on me a little. 6.8/10 Favourite Tracks: - I Can See For Miles - Early Morning Cold Taxi
Very quirky and fun, 8/10
Just a down right fun and super unique listen. Loved the concept and also liked most of the tracks, will definitely revisit to see if this could be a 5 in the future.
This is fine.
lo mejor fueron los jingles publicitarios.
4/10 - Creative but not enjoyable to listen to really
Well, I suppose it's handy to know The Who can be terrible as well as good.
A couple of stone cold classics bookended by some very dated humor. Another entry on this list that is more interesting to talk about than to listen to. Whatever.
544/1089 - The songs aren't strong enough to compensate for when the novelty of the radio commercials wears off.
Took a little to come around to the silliness of this album, but pretty fun once you understand what's going on. Would definitely benefit from repeat listens/more familiarity with the joking angle. Even the interludes are fine enough to listen to, and feel like little time capsules for British culture of the late 60s. Top tracks: I Can See For Miles, Sunrise, Rael
More annoying than I remember, still listenable (for the original 40 minutes, not expanded). I can see for miles and general listen ability is 3. Soft 3 though.
Well. That was an experience. It's a difficult one to explain. There's a bit of everything here. Some "normal", some humour, some innuendo. Actually, perhaps a lot of innuendo. In a general sense, I enjoyed listening to this. Some fun tracks to bop along to, and a few laughs along the way. But overall, I'm a fair bit more confused than I was about an hour ago. Many of the tracks were a bit slower, less energetic than I expected. I guess more recent The Who is more my speed. Rating: A strange one. 3 I guess. I really thought I'd be rating The Who more highly than I have, but I suspect I've run into 2 of their weirder experiences.
A gimmick but a fun one 3
A concept album is so much greater than the songs it's made up of. In this case, the concept is not very great and the songs are even less great. Like all concept albums it constantly diverts from its central concept and any time it adheres to the concept you wish they were singing about like having sex and doing drugs instead (they later solved that one in Tommy though). I think the concept is very funny but didn't love the execution. A couple good songs though.
By their third album The Who had ascended to their rightful place as one of the Holy Trinity of British Bands - Beatles, Stones and The Who. Any album that contains Tattoo and I Can See For Miles has to be staking a claim and Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand is a filthy minded little ditty while Armenia City in the Sky is a perfect bit of effect laden Psychedelia (can we say "drugs" boys and girls?) It does fall apart in the second half. Rael is one of Townsend's attempts at writing a story through song that he'd lean into with Tommy. It's completely weird, but it does have the first appearance of several musical themes that would turn up in Tommy. Silas Stingy is Entwhistle indulging his odd sense of humour. Sunshine seems to be Townsend being deep and meaningful and ends up sounding like The Who sing Simon and Garfunkel. The adverts, which many will just find annoying I guess, are, to anyone who listened to commercial radio in the sixties, deadpan accurate parodies of what radio actually sounded like. The master pieces were still to come, but this is just about there.
A weird combination of radio jingles. Can’t believe this made it onto this list. Who is replaying this?
The cover is sick I can see for miles is unbelievable The rest of this is just awful
one of the most disappointing selling outs I've heard
I usually like The Who but I did not find myself enjoying this album as much. Seemed to be a collection of songs opposed to a coherent album. No song really stood out to me.
I still stand by my opinion that The Who have some great singles, but no great album. This doesn't really change that opinion.
A fantastically oddball album. 4.5/5.
Enjoy your biscuits and tea with WHO now fortified with special vitamin K!
Wow... I like The Who but oof. I didn't really like this one at all. I Can See For Miles is great and the closing track has some cool moments. That's everything nice I can say.
Liked this one more than Tommy. The added layer of irony with the radio station bits were fun too. Still not 100% my speed though.
It was neat hearing a couple musical ideas from here find their way into Tommy, like from Rael. The radio stations bits were cool too. I Can See For Miles is the only real standout at the end of the day and the rest of the album, musically, is just fine.
It's not as bad as the overall score on the site, but it's one of the weaker Who albums. Interesting because of the skits and ads, and because of their rare romp into psychedelia, but it's a long way from their best and most seminal work.
Nice for in the background, it all peters by.
Meh
Not sure what the big deal is with this album, it’s decent but I think it’s considered a classic, but it didn’t really stick out to me much
They did sell out, not many awesome tracks on this album
Not my favorite. Fun songs and lyrics but
Number: 179 Date: 07/01/2026 Artist: The Who Album: The Who Sell Out Year: 1967 Style: Mod Art Pop Rock Familiarity: Well-versed (4) Rating: 4 Before: ======= This is my third 60s album in 3 days and they have all been pretty good, but I'm a child of the 60s so I guess I'm a bit biased. During: ======= Starts off very good but loses steam towards the end. After : ======= Top three tracks for me are Armenia City in the Sky, Our Love Was, and I Can See for Miles. 4 my personal rating 5 suitability for this list 4 impact ----------------------------------------------- 4 composite rating
I usually don’t like The Who but this was at least interesting in concept. I’m not sure if this is before they became the safe vanilla rock, or just a weird divergent path they tried.
Def vibed with this could maybe even go up to a 4 potentially
Ah, ça fait plaisir de tomber sur celui-là ! J'ai l'impression qu'on a tendance à un peu ignorer ce qu'on pu faire les Who dans leur première partie de carrière, dans les années 60. The Who Sell Out prend la forme d'une fausse diffusion radiophonique, avec ses jingles et ses pubs qui interviennent entre les titres. L'album est assez long, plus de 20 titres pour plus d'une heure de musique, c'est sûr, il faut aimer. Moi j'aime beaucoup cet album qui a beaucoup de charme. Le groupe se permet tour à tour de faire preuve d'humour (Orodono, Heinz Baked Beans) ou très sérieux (Our Love Was, Someone's Coming), passant de l'un à l'autre sans effort. Les harmonies vocales fonctionnent à la perfection, chaque titre est unique et parvient à rester en tête. Vraiment un excellent album.
Weird.
Apart from I Can See For Miles, it's not very good is it?
Bizarrely bad album considering its the who, I Can See For Miles is the only reason it’s a 2 instead of a 1. Weird and annoying.
I actually really enjoyed this one, didn’t sound as stale as some of the other art pop we’ve heard until now, very ironic for an album that’s called selling out. I just wish they cut out the last 3 songs. They added very little
I mean I fuck with the concept but at the end of the day this is literally a bunch of advertisements interspersed with a few songs
Fuckin bullshit. 1.58
Thoroughly brutal listen, everything sounds so half baked, maybe I am just not British enough for this but it just sounds like an album that was made purely to fulfill a contract or tie people over for a bigger future release. Maybe I’m being harder on the Who but when you know what they were capable of, this sounds even worse.
Not even giving it an ironic name saves this from being absolutely dismal.
Poop with a little bit of pee
Keith Moon is great but I don’t like the who very much and this album ain’t it.
Dosadan album, možda jedna ili dvije dobre stvari. 2/5, 3/10
This is definitely an odd album, but the songs are enjoyable enough to listen to. Had iconic "I can see for miles".
Man are The Who annoying on this album. God, they have 5 on the list. Well, we’ll have to see. This whole thing was obviously much better in theory. Love the humor, the ideas, the fun-making - in theory. In execution- they make me want to… stab. Supposedly Roger Daltrey never did cocaine. But man does this feel cocked out. 3 Boolean: True, cause they’re The Who
A quirky and fun early run by The Who, introducing us to a few glimmers of the glorious Tommy that was in our future.
It was kind funny
Pile of steaming poop. Somebody must have told Pete Townshend that he is a creative genius, and the world needs his brilliant rock operas. Whoever fed his ego needs shooting.
I have no idea where to start with this album, there is the standout banger 'I Can See For Miles' and a couple of other tracks which had some very good guitar work, but the whole package just did not work. I'm sure the ironic 'Sell Out' advert thing was clever at the time, but the context has now been irretrievably lost to someone like me. Ok in places confusingly disastrous in others.
One of my favorite albums of all time by one of the best bands ever!
Pretty ass
I'm split in this one. On one hand, it's interesting to see this side of the Who. I'm used to Who's Next and Tommy Who. This Who is much more 60s psych leaning. On the other hand, there's only a few songs that I would return to, including Armenia City in the Sky and Mary Anne with the shaky hands.
I found this album extremely annoying. Also gets one extra point less for the disgusting cover art alone.
Sounds good and it's creative though maybe a bigger commitment to the commercialist jingle-fueled novelty would be fun, just having a bunch of perfectly normal songs feels like the easy way out But it's not like there was an incredibly extensive well of novelty albums pulling off concepts like this back then, it's some decent fun Also an all-time cover
Сара 2 Марко 4
It’s a genius mix up of commercials and amazing hits. It leaves me wondering if this were made today what annoying commercials it’d have to do.
credit where credit is due to the who
not great
There are too many albums from The Who on this list.
Interesting Who album I was unfamiliar with. Kind of disjointed, imo, but still fun.
I never really liked The Who. I just don't get it. This record is annoying. I didn't enjoy any part of it.
Despite a handful of truly great tracks, I've always struggled to gravitate towards The Who, who, for the most part, seem be achingly mediocre and the more of them I listen to, the less I seem to like. I'm slowly coming to the realisation that perhaps they're not the band they threatened to be when I first heard _Baba 'O Reailly_, _Pinball Wizard_, or _Won't Get Fooled Again_ and that they're destined to be a band who have a few great songs in an overly long back catalogue. ... or perhaps this just hit different back in the 60s and early 70s
Enough songs I like for it to be an ok listen
I love a bit as much as the next guy, but there’s such a thing as too much commitment. Maybe I would have liked this better if I didn’t know what these guys were capable of. Where’s quadrophenia you cowards!!!
Interesting album. Good stuff, but quirky.
A bit chaotic but I enjoyed it
idk man it was kind of annoying I fear it felt underwhelming
SUENA VIEJO. No puedo describirlo de otra manera. No está mal. Me hace acordar a los primeros discos de los Rollings
I try not to repeat myself in these things, but I have realized that on the rare occasion that someone actually reads them, they are only seeing THAT review and not going through all my previous reviews of that band. So I need to once again point out: I am not a big Who fan. I like their greatest hits but beyond that I could really take or leave them. I realize I am in the minority on that opinion, but they've just never really done much for me. So all of that being said, this album is absolutely NOT essential in my opinion. I don't think anyone NEEDS to hear more than one Who album before they die, and while it has its moments (like "I Can See for Miles,") this one is certainly not it.
I….don’t think I get this album. It feels impossible to understand this art outside of being deeply immersed in its full cultural context. A couple of bangers though, it gets a 2 just for I Can See For Miles. Still don’t think I can ever not associate The Who with my high school English teachers being gaga for them.
Dette var ikke like kult som det av The Who som har kommet tidligere. Svak 3.
Soundet er kult, men treffer meg ikke sånn veldig i dag. The Who er litt hit or miss per låt for min del. Andre album fungerer bedre.
This Who album kinda sucks? They're also kinda turning me away from concept albums. I like the CONCEPT of a concept album, but its often not executed. The Kinks "Arthur" nailed it. Pet Sounds sonically nailed it. Dark Side etc. Maybe its just The Who.
Feeling validated by your review, Sean. Thought The Who were one of the great bands, but so far have felt kind of underwhelmed by their albums. Funny to read that Townsend claims Sgt. Pepper's copied the drafts/concepts for this album. Okay, Pete!
I love it
4 Don't hate the radio ads concept but I just think the songs aren't quite as strong as my generation (two days ago haha), bar I can see for miles.
Probably not one of their best albums. Some good songs with these weird non commercials in between.
A bit silly, a bit funny, a bit annoying in parts. Quite gimmicky with some decent stuff thrown in. 2.5/5.
I’m afraid I don’t really understand this album? Like they are singing about the most random things ever and sometimes I wonder if their songs are just ad placements. The only version available to Apple Music is the super deluxe version that has like 50 versions of each song and the whole thing is like 5 hours so I didn’t listen to all that. I listened to the version with the radio jingles and like it’s cool but like why??? Anyways some of the songs aren’t even that good and doesn’t make much sense so I will have to give it a 2.
Man this album is boring and lame. Maybe I'm not British enough to enjoy this "wild" and "wacky" album. Every song sounds like they are about to fall asleep (just like me). The commercial concept is interesting, but just comes off as annoying. They also give up on the concept halfway through the album. I did not really get much at all out of this album, but it isn't the worst thing ever. I think this is my last The Who album on this list so that's good atleast. Mid 2.
S tier album cover and name. Bloody brilliant. Love it. Unfortunately, the music itself isn't quite what I enjoy. Doubtlessly competent, and I think it was quite well received when it came out. Just not entirely for me, I suppose. It's definitely good, though.
I love the who but this shouldn't be on the list!! tommy, quadrophenia, live at leeds, who's next... much better
one of my favorite who albums!! as a lover of a campy 60s aesthetic and pirate radio (as well as the who) this album is right up my alley and used to be my favorite of theirs!!
Even without the painfully unfunny skit adverts they did, the music behind them wasn't any good and definitely not as good as their other albums on here, and I don't really see much in The Who at all. I'm actually surprised that it's even managed to get a sitewide rating of 3. I'm confident that if this was not released by The Who it gets nowhere near a 3. Also the less that I look at that album cover the better. Makes me wanna throw up.
What a fun album!!! All it is missing is....quality songs. I think they have it in here for its novelty quality, but really this isn't great.
I thought the definition of selling out sacrificing your artistic vision for the misguided sake of producing music that will sell. Here we hear The Who sacrificing music that will sell for the sake of their misguided artistic vision.
It’s wild: I went in thinking I knew The Who, then this album shows up with all these softer, slyly great songs tucked between the fake ads, and suddenly I’m realizing I’ve only ever lived in the hits. The familiar tracks land, sure, but the real surprise is how many of the other tunes are genuinely good — warmer, more melodic, almost tender — and the whole thing ends up being way more enjoyable than I expected.
This is often very silly and often very cool. 3.5 but rounding up for pure inventiveness and self-awareness
Pretty good
Je ne sais pas trop quoi en penser, trop situationnel et je ne sais pas discerner si c’était un album que j’ai apprécié ou non mais cela restait tou de même agréable
Meh. Det er forgetable med lynets hast.
Jeg forstår ikke hypen om The Who
Maybe it’s because I had Hendrix just before, but this bored the shit out of me
No es serio.
The story behind the album is the best part of it. It's funny to see them poking fun at themselves and critics, and even funnier to know the load of legal trouble they got into with their antics. The music is pretty hit or miss. Some of the songs are great, others would be totally forgettable if it weren't for silly lyrics and the sampling of commercial ditties.
Interesting concept album. I’d probably have to be more a fan of The Who to enjoy it, but it wasn’t terrible either. I recognized Tattoo and I Can See for Miles.
The Who, Steely Dan, and the Eagles. No matter how many albums you include from them, I will fail to understand the appeal.
I Can See for Miles
4.1 3x grew on me and it's great
I didn’t like this album, it started well then ended drav
#363/1001. The Who invent the concept of a concept album and never look back, instead they see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Leuke momenten, maar ook weirde. Blijft niet zo hangen
Ni mn ding
There are a lot better Who records than this. But it's the Who and that's still pretty good.
An interesting album to include on this list. They definitely have better works in their career. Not many hit songs on here and some of the songs are just odd. 2/5 Probably won’t listen again
Just because something’s unique doesn’t mean it needs to be recognized, even from a mega-band like The Who, who I otherwise love. This was just a dumb concept and not an enjoyable listen.
Great psych rock
I prefer three Who when they're playing straight rock music. The fun stuff on The Who Sell Out would wear thin after a few plays in my view.
I had no idea that The Who were at one point a psychedelic rock band. This is much, much more my thing than their hard rock stuff and puts my lack of exploration of the band to shame. There’s so much heart and soul on this record. The epic, restless I Can See For Miles is the high point (a new favourite song of mine) but I also loved the jingles and warm sense of humour (reflective of the cover art).
Why did nobody tell me The Who were great! Love this cut of lightly psychedelic pop tunes, love the jingles, very fun, solid 4
Uh... what was that? While I know the Who and one of the songs here, I'd never heard of this album or that they'd done this "concept". Probably for good reason based on the result. This felt like a joke from the start. And maybe the general concept was, based on the execution of the "ads". But the songs really weren't good either. I'm not sure if they just didn't put effort into anything when they made this, or if this is actually them trying. I'm also not sure which would be worse. My main issues came from the tone and the lyrical content. The music was over-manipulated (a lot of reverb/echo layers) with dreamy-sounding vocals. It reminded me of the Byrds, though I think the Byrds did it better. There was almost no bite to it, which felt odd to me given some songs I've heard from the Who. The childish lyrics weren't limited to the skits, but were unfortunately in every track as well. Honestly, at times I wasn't sure if I was listening to the start of a skit or an actual track. The more I listened to, the more annoying it all got. I don't really care for the Who as it is. Their other album I've gotten here so far (My Generation) was fine at best. This one falls well below that. The best track, I Can See For Miles, was actually worse when hearing it as part of the album. Whatever it is they're trying to sell here, I'm not buying. Overall: .75/5
This was really fun! Such a cohesive world they made with the album
Gotta respect The Who. Classic band but felt abit underwhelmed with this on first listen.
Wow… this was definitely a choice. I was already in a bad mood today but this made it significantly worse. And why is there ads in the middle ?? 1/5
salright
The Who create a concept record. This LP pays tribute to the 60's Mod scene and Pirate Radio, which both have been on their way out since the album's conception. It's a brilliant compilation of power pop tunes and a healthy mix of tongue-in-cheek product jingles as well. Ranging from Baked Beans, to Deodorant, to a fictional acne medicine, these skits are funny as well as musically gratifying. The best one to me being the Deodorono* skit. The twist at the end of the jingle is fantastic. That's not to say that the main tunes on this record aren't top notch either, oh no in fact this is one of The Who's most well written and most cohesive projects.. well ever! The record opens with the intensely psychedelic; as well as powerful rocking, "Armenia City in The Sky". The song takes cues from Jimi Hendrix in composition, with blaring guitars and effects heavy playing. The chorus is catchy as hell and the instrumental just doesn't stop for this track. Perfectly setting up the expectations for the LP. The next single "Mary's Shaking Hand" is to Simon and Garfunkle what Steeler's Wheel's "stuck in the middle with you" was to Bob Dylan. The song is a pleasantly folky ballad that almost perfectly mimics S&G style folk rock, but just as tastefully as well as tongue-in-cheek. The crown jewel single of this project is definitely "I can see for miles". It's a powerful song with The Who's catchiest hook and Moon's most consistently relentless drumming lines. The guitars wail and twang in the back as Entwhistle provides a massive low-end with his thunderous playing. It's a seriously intense track and a ton of fun to listen to. The album's closer "Rael" is probably the most expertly crafted song in the record, and definitely foreshadows their progression into Rock Opera with "Tommy". The only track on this record that's a bit of a sour note for me is "Silas Stingy". The song's repetitiveness and mocking tone is a bit much and it kind of runs longer than it needs to, but really... in the grand scheme of the record it's pretty easy to overlook. I really really loved this album. It has so much variety without feeling too scattered or directionless, the concept is executed wonderfully, and it certainly is The Who's first example of true greatness to come.
The Who Sell Out is a smart, funny (sort of) concept album. But the concept behind it does make it susceptible to flaws. The framework of this as a radio station with ads is really smart and unique, and honestly there's less reliance on this gimmick than I thought. But there are still several tracks that don't really hold up on their own. That, in combination with my preference being towards harder rocking iterations of The Who, as opposed to their psych stuff, does get in the way of The Who Sell Out in my eyes. But the result is *definitely* still a good album. I Can See For Miles is one of the band's best songs. And a lot of the more straightforward psych songs are a lot of fun; I'd like to highlight Armenia City In The Sky, Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand, and Tattoo in particular. I will also say this album is a little front-loaded. Side A is *much* better than side B, even though B is certainly not bad. The result is an album which is best appreciated for it's unique concept and creative execution, even if it occasionally gets in it's own way.
this album rides the wave of psychedelia and studio experimentation of the mid 60s; the concept of a London pirate radio station opened the door to the thematic possibility of creating a work around the same idea that the band would explore later sonically, one can also feel the response to the paradigm shift brought about by psychedelic music, especially by the beatles. the band abandons powerful riffs in favor of creating an atmosphere with less traditional structures and unusual effects in my opinion, the concept hasnt aged well, and i feel that the jingles and ads interrupt the pace and atmosphere that the songs achieve
Barem mi je bolje nego Tommy. Čudan album. Mislim da ga ne mogu svariti s jednim slušanjem pa dajem veću ocjenu preventivno.
Funny and creative
Very weird album Standout song: I can see for miles
I'm a bit torn on this one. I've long loved The Who, and have made the argument in another review that Who's Next may be the single greatest rock album of all time. This album highlights their often overlooked silly, humorous side. And it's impossible to dismiss any collection that gave us the first album appearance of "I Can See for Miles" (though it had already been released as a single before being included here). But the LP is very uneven, and the joke wears thin pretty quickly. I mean, any chance you ever get to listen to The Who is a win. It's just that this one feels like a pretty big drop-off from their best works, and (for my money, at least) a step down from excluded albums like Who Are You and Quadrophenia (which was later added to the 1001 list by a user, it seems).
2/5
Я так понимаю, альбом задумывался как концептуальный - радио, реклама, коммерция и прочие смыслы. Наверное в 1967 это было свежо. Состарился плохо на мой взгляд.
Far from the best The Who album in my opinion.
Very underwhelming Who album. I do like the band a lot so I had a high standard coming in but this was kind of disappointing. Had more of a Beach boys vibe wish I would do like also but didn't fit with The Who as much.
One great song does not make a album a must listen.
Not a bad concept album, but not my fave of The Who's work.
Uh, qué locura de album. Banco la propuesta. No me llamó mucho igualmente. Pero se le ven cositas. Van a llegar lejos estos. 6/10
pretty fun concept album. and i like most of the songs. i kinda want to look like the beans guy (i guess that's roger daltrey) hes beautiful.
Better than I was anticipating!
I thought the album title and art were both fun, but ultimately the album was a bit of a flop for me. No real standouts and overall just kinda meh.
Deep cut counter culture album from 50 years ago shockingly did not age well
An album with gimmicky commercials was bad idea
Armenia city in the sky - 3 Heinz baked beans - 2 Mary anne with the shaky hand - 3 Odorono - 3 Tattoo - 3 Our love was - 3 I can see for miles - 5 I can't reach you - 3 Medac - 2 Relax - 3 Silas stingy - 2 Sunrise - 3 Rael (1 and 2) - 2
A stream of consciousness Favourite track: Sunrise
I Can See For Miles is a pretty good song but against the rest of this album it becomes a verdant oasis, a light in the dark. An album criticizing consumerism and examining music's place as yet another commodity would be intriguing but they did absolutely nothing with it. They could have at least committed to the concept/message and tried to incorporate it into the "real" songs. Instead it's just a jumble of unrelated songs with a few fake ads in the first half. It's dumb.
Only one The Who album needs to be on the list and we already listened to it (Who's Next, specifically). There are a lot of artists on the list who are overrepresented but fuck me if The Who aren't the most egregious anyway the gimmick here isn't nearly as cute or as funny as they think it is, I can think of at least 1001 other albums I'd recommend someone to listen to before they die before I'd even accidentally remember this one. it sucks. even the big hit off this is low tier The Who. I genuinely hate this
2026.05.07
That was ok, some neat ol 60’s rock, it gets bonus points for being funny with the whole “what’s for tea” and odorono sellout bit. Standouts are Odorono, our love was and i can’t reach you.
It's an odd concept for an album but it's not bad, even if it doesn't sound like The Who I recognise in their later work. They sound more like The Beach Boys or The Beatles here.
The weird, interspersed jingles make this a hard listen, especially on repeat sessions. “I Can See for Miles” is a treasure, though.
I respect how weird this is but it's just not very enjoyable to me. It just feels like a bunch of unfinished songs
Mer eller mindre olyssningsbart
För plojigt och ostrukturerat. Föredrar Who's next framför detta.
Näe, för stökigt och ofokuserat. The Who ska göra vad man är bra på och det är inte detta.
Var i helt fel mindset för larvig 60-talsrock idag. Hade rätt tråkigt. Men ska inte va en fullständig gnällkuk, finns såklart några minnesvärda låtar, som ”i can see for miles”.
Tror jag bara hört "I can se for miles" från den här skivan tidigare. Måste tänka om mina tidigare åsikter om The Who. Tyckte det här var fett bra.
Svag I delar men helheten är rätt trevlig
Felt like an injoke im not in on.
boring af
There is no need to repeat Wikipedia on the importance of pirate radio to The Who, the significance of this album, or just the mere fact that this was their first concept project. Even though this album can be a turn-off to some of the biggest diehard fans of The Who, many fans of the band Sparks acknowledge it's influenence and importance.
I don't know, maybe back in the 60x it was something new and fresh, but most of the songs are impossible to listen now, I am getting irritated lol. The funniest thing is that album has 96 rating on Metascore with critica reviews like “After 50 years it still sounds fresh”. Ahaha, oh my god, after 50 years it still sounds like a joke
Meh
“The Who Sell Out” is a concept album by The Who recorded in the 1960s, so I expect it to privilege sleaze and pretension over juice, and to sound thin, combing out the band’s noisy ferocity. My expectations are met, yet it’s still a good time. “I Can See For Miles” is one of their best, menacing and spiky. The opening psychedelia is a modish performance that privileges the Ox, one of the most entertaining bassists, so it’s a delight. Mostly cynical whimsy played with gusto, I’ll take it.
Everything apart from I Can See For Miles is absolute trash. The Why?
Not bad, but I didn't love it.
This was really fun.
Продались гаврики, как не стыдно
De radio jingles en ads waren wel grappig en I can see for miles ging vet hard maar de tweede helft van het album begon op een gegeven moment wel tamelijk te zagen :/ ritmisch ook niet echt in de bovenste helft van meest interessante dingen die ik ooit gehoord heb,,, 2,5/5 maar vooruit een 3 voor de eerste helft
mijn eerste paar docs was van the who <3
first of all, it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be and as i saw in a bunch of reviews. i think that the concept was executed quite nicely actually, to me it felt exactly how watching ads on television felt as a kid - everything interrupted with a commercial, as if rubbed in your face. so for that, it has my respect - the way that the concept for the album was delivered. however, musically, it was quite boring, none of the songs really caught my attention as something "more than decent". but if i had to pick a favorite - it would probably be "our love was"
In some parallel universe, there's a really good psychedelic The Who album with perfectly integrated ad jingles adding to the grand absurdity, with more I Can See For Miles and Armenia and with decidedly less 'mingy stingy'. I just know there is. In this universe though, this is a three-star album at best.
This is a concept which I surprisingly haven't seen before. It is such a clever idea to have the album sort of feel like a radio station, with songs separated by adverts, showing the commercialism within not just radio, but music itself. The songs themselves fell slightly flat for me, with nothing really exciting me. If it wasn't for the interesting concept of the album, I think it would be quite forgettable, if I'm being honest. There is nothing really 'wrong' in any sense with the vocals, instruments or any of the songs... they just feel a bit dull to me, I suppose. I think that this idea for an album, supported by strong tracks, could make for a really good project, but the execution isn't all there. For creativity, though, I think this would be an album that I will think about from time to time, and maybe even listen to again. Music can be interesting and different if people think outside the box, and that is what makes it so flexible and intriguing. There are no limits to what you can do with music, and this is just one example. Stand-outs: Heinz Baked Beans I Can See For Miles Silas Stingy Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand - Alternative
fine but also unnecessarily long.
It was fun, unexpected and unlike anything I've heard from The Who, compositions were good and there were a few standouts. Overall okay for me.
6/10 There's some decent songs here, and one excellent one. But the Who were always capable of producing some absolute garbage, and it's here again, not only in the naff faux-ads, but also some rubbish songs.
Back in the 60s, selling out was doing a radio advert for baked beans. These days it’s all about being paid to defend war crimes.
The Who me desconciertan bastante. Por un lado los encuentro geniales, me gustan mucho más que Led Zeppelin, por ejemplo, pero por otro, me dejan frío, me cuesta emocionarme con su música. En este álbum me desconciertan más si cabe. Concebido como un álbum conceptual que simula una emisión radiofónica, la banda transita entre la ingenuidad de ciertas composiciones y la complejidad de las partes instrumentales, y ya empieza a jugar con sonidos electrónicos. Pete Townsend peca siempre de prepotencia, y parece buscar que cada álbum sea un hito por sí mismo, a veces lo consigue, pero a mí este se me atraganta un poco. Su importancia y su relevancia ha ido ganando con los años, será que necesito seguir escuchandolo.
definitivamente, un buen album. muy The Beatles, cosas super raras que lo hacen interesante, creo que no guardé ninguna en el playlist, pero son buenas
favs: our love was sunrise rating 0.7/5
buneknk
I love The Who and they made some great albums, but this isn't better than "good." I understand the tongue-in-cheek self satire, but I hear far too many commercial jingles without them in my listening queque. One great song.
The "concept" of a pirate radio station isn't really necessary as there are great songs on here that could stand alone as an album. But the little fake ads and public service announcements are fun, endearingly goofy, and make a good album even better. Some great character studies on this album--"Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand," "Silas Stingy"--and one of their all time best songs, "I Can See for Miles." It even has a little preview of "Tommy" on "Rael." They were one of the best, most creative bands of the era and just getting started. And, holy crap, Keith Moon on drums was a force.
Decent album
I've never listened to this album before, but have been a fan of The Who for a while. This was borderline unlistenable.
I actually didn't mind this despite all the reviews seeming to pan it on here. A couple of good tunes on this and I went off The Who when I was 18.
Such a weird album. And definitely one of the most off the mark The Who concept album. A few of the radio interludes are quite fun but mostly it just feels distracting. At the same time the idea of writing songs as commercials often makes for not very interesting songs. In fact there’s only one really great song on side 1; but the fact that “I Can See For Miles” is as good as it is almost makes up for it. 2.5⭐️
No
Favorite Track: I Can See For Miles
The concept for this album did not land for me. The Who consistently have awesome guitar/bass work, but it was kinda lost behind the rest of the components of the album.
I sort of get the meta joke that this album is, but the commercials don’t work for me. The second half has glimpses of Tommy and save the record for me
Odd and weird
No, just no. The Who albums ive had have been music for Brexiteers and this is more of the same but with a shit concept about adding adverts in.
One of the many tricky things about making a concept album is deciding how closely to adhere to the concept; a lot of the best concept albums (*Sgt. Pepper* chief among them) are quick to discard the framing whenever it proves inconvenient, while worse ones stick to the concept too slavishly. I think Townshend & co. mostly navigate that tension pretty well, although I acknowledge that I'm naturally not going to be able to get the same effect from the fake commercials, etc., as somebody culturally closer to the time and place of the album. The bigger issue here is that there's one transcendent song - the majestic "I Can See for Miles" - and several other perfectly fine but less memorable songs. And while Townshend's gift for genuine lyrical pathos is present here (as on the wistful "Sunrise"), more than anything this album confirms for me that the meaning of the Who is, and always has been, primarily communicated through what they're doing musically - Moon's drums (he's only really let off the leash on "I Can See for Miles"), Townshend's searing guitar tones, Daltrey's pleading voice. They're meant to be felt as much as heard, and there's not quite enough feeling here to for this to rank with their best. I can't believe I have to tell a band with Pete Townshend and Keith Moon in it that they need to be *louder* but here we are.
genuinely this was awful to listen to. i can see the comedy aspect but other than "I Can See For Miles" i did not enjoy this.
okayy
The most British thing I've ever heard.
good vibes, happy music, gefällt mir gut. stabile 5/5. hör ich gern.
The concept was interesting but it didn't draw me in.
British rock doing British rock things. It's a bit psych, funky vocals and guitars, and a generally chill vibe. I'm not previously familiar with this record, but I certainly know a bit about The Who thanks to my British father. This is solid.
The cover tells you exactly what you’re getting — Pete Townshend sitting in a bathtub of baked beans, Roger Daltrey clutching a giant deodorant stick, both deadpan and ridiculous. The Who Sell Out is the band at their most playful and conceptually inventive, structured as a fake pirate radio broadcast complete with mock advertisements between songs. It’s a genuinely clever piece of pop art, and for a stretch it works beautifully. The first half earns its reputation. The concept gives the record a specific texture and wit that distinguishes it from almost everything else in the 1967 landscape, and “I Can See for Miles” hits with a melodic authority that justifies its classic status. The fake ads are charming in the early going — absurdist, self-aware, and funny in a way that feels genuinely inventive rather than gimmicky. The problem is time. The bright, bouncy vocal quality that gives the record its energy starts to blur into sameness across the full runtime, and the commercials that felt like inspired conceits in the first half become wearing interruptions by the finish line. The concept that creates the identity also creates the fatigue — a structural problem that a lot of ambitious records share. A synchronicitous moment — the taxi track arriving during an actual Uber ride — offered a brief highlight near the end. Not quite enough to push it to four. A fair three: inventive, occasionally charming, and ultimately a record that runs slightly longer than its best ideas.
Cool idea, but most of the songs didn't really grab me. Will probably give it another chance, but my least favorite Who so far.
absolutely not
Pretty cool record. Quite fun with the little jingles and whatnot; nothing really stood out as exceptional though. Favourite tracks: Odorono, Tattoo, Silas Stingy.
C'est un album concept qui se voulait un peu comme un show à la radio avec de fausses publicités. C'est assez différent des albums conventionnels mettons! J'ai trouvé les chansons inégales. Je vais être sévère vu que c'est mon 3ème album d'eux et que c'est celui que j'ai le moins apprécié.
not my cup of tea
6/10
Great band
I feel like I don't have a lot of thoughts on this album, which is a shame since it feels like it's supposed to be thought-provoking. To some extent, I'm glad it never went full ironic advertising and that it was mostly kept to the start. Ultimately, none of the songs really blew me away, though I do understand the concept of the album. Might be a victim of being from 1967 and I've heard later songs that explores the genre in ways that interest me more (including from The Who!).
I appreciate what they were going for but it just wasn't that fun to listen to
The only track I really enjoyed on here was Sunrise; the rest ranged from tedious to outright irritating. To say that this is far from The Who's best work would be an understatement.
Quirky concept. I appreciate the lore but couldn’t get through enough.
Some of the (?) most repellant artwork by any classic band ever made. Delightful album though! Really the only time The Who balanced the airier/lighter melodies with vigorous performances (and Moon underpinning it all) that didn’t veer into saccharine, precious territory.
5/10
A collection of all of The Who's worst impulses. Almost unlistenable.
It is still the who, but I want to give it a 0
An album that does absolutely nothing for me...
This was a journey. It was okay.
Incredibly meta and constantly breaks the 4th wall. It's ridiculous and on the nose. Why it's on this list? I have no idea. It doesn't do anything that The Who weren't already known for. The critics who think this is their greatest album does make me laugh though, just like the image of Robert Daltry sitting in a bathtub of beans. It's milquetoast, 4/10.
Чрезмерная писклявость и какая-то театрализованность. Не понравилось
Buena banda, pero un disco conceptual, travieso, en modo sátira. Seguramente innovador y transgresor en su momento, pero no me terminé de enganchar.
Kind of a mixed album. It’s a concept album and it’s a little weird to listen to now. There’s really only one song I’d note, I Can See For Miles, which is a classic. The rest of the album doesn’t sound at all like that track - it’s kind of jangly 60’s pop instead of garage rock.