The Who’s 1971 album, Who’s Next, considered by many to be the greatest rock studio album of all time, with such classic rock favorites as “Baba O’Riley,” “Behind Blue Eyes” and the anthemic closing track, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” has finally been released as its primary composer, Pete Townshend, originally intended. A lavish, multi-format Super Deluxe Edition of the album, which evolved from Townshend’s visionary Life House project, arrived on September 15, 2023, as a 10-CD + Blu-ray set, Who’s Next/Life House, on UMR. (It’s available to order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.) Portions of the collection are be available as limited edition 4-LP and 3-LP sets, and other formats. The Super Deluxe Edition features 155 tracks of which 89 are previously unreleased (plus 57 others feature fresh remixes), all remastered from the original tapes. Listen to several of the revelatory tracks below.
Included for the first time are two newly mixed and complete 1971 concerts: The Who’s performance at London’s Young Vic Theatre and their legendary date at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium. The set will delight longtime Who fans with its long-sought, complete picture of Townshend’s incredibly prescient songwriting, while captivating a new audience with his visionary description of a future that has, in many ways, come true. It features all of his songs, in their many stages of development, from the abandoned Life House project, started In 1969 as a follow-up to The Who’s rock opera, Tommy. These include “Time is Passing,” the “Baba O’Riley” predecessor “Teenage Wasteland,” and “Pure and Easy.”
From the July 18 announcement: Who’s Next/Life House sets out Townshend’s extraordinary vision of a world beset by climatic catastrophe and pollution, leading to a curtailing of personal freedom that will be all too familiar to the pandemic generation. Decades ahead of his time, he details how the population is then seduced and sedated by access to an entertainment “Grid,” piped into every home via the use of virtual reality experience suits.
Townshend offered some details of the elaborate set on a Nov. 14, 2021 Instagram post. Watch it below
The unfulfilled project, which Townshend conceived as one part film script and one part blueprint for a live musical experiment, brought him to the edge of a breakdown. But, as he writes, “some wonderful music came from the project, and the idea has always held me in thrall, partly because so many of the strands of the fiction seem to be coming true.”
Listeners can hear, for the first time, how that concept folded into Who’s Next, widely regarded as not only one of the greatest albums in rock, but a seminal moment in music history. Here, The Who’s instinctive, scintillating cohesion reached new peaks, Townshend’s brilliant creativity as one of rock’s great auteurs brought thrillingly to life by Roger Daltrey’s ferocious vocals, John Entwistle’s visceral, fluid basslines and Keith Moon’s fiery potency on the drums. “Baba” and “WGFA” are so ingrained in listeners’ heads—in part, due to the tight playlists of classic rock stations—that they often overshadow the depth of the original’s other seven tracks which include such favorites as “Getting In Tune,” “The Song Is Over,” “Bargain,” and Entwistle’s “My Wife.”
The Super Deluxe edition of Who’s Next/Life House contains 10 CDs, all remastered from the original tapes by longtime Who engineer Jon Astley, plus a Blu-ray Audio disc with newly created Atmos & 5.1 surround mixes of Who’s Next and 14 bonus tracks by in-demand artist and producer Steven Wilson.
Related: Our review of the Super Deluxe Edition
Highlights of the 155-track format include Townshend’s demos for Life House; The Who’s 1971 session recordings at the Record Plant in New York; sessions at Olympic Studios in southwest London from 1970-1972; and the two, newly mixed and complete 1971 concerts from London’s Young Vic Theatre and San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium.
On the original album, the Townshend track, “Love Ain’t For Keeping,” appears in a brisk 2:10. On the new collection, the muscular Take 14 from the Record Plant spans nearly five minutes. Listen to them side-by-side.
The box set also contains a 100-page hardback book with Townshend’s introduction and new sleeve notes by Who experts and compilers Andy Neil and Matt Kent. Also included is Life House – The Graphic Novel, a newly commissioned, 170-page hardback book overseen by Townshend that tells the story behind the project. Completing the set are a 20” x 30” poster of a Who gig in Sunderland, England, on May 7, 1970; a 25.5” x 34.25” poster of a date at Denver Coliseum, Denver, CO on December 10, 1971; a 20-page concert program from the Rainbow Theatre in London on November 4, 1971; a 16-page program from the band’s October/November 1971 tour of the U.K.; a collectible four pin button set; and an 8” x 10” color photo of The Who with printed autographs.
The album is also available as limited edition 4-LP and 3-LP sets, featuring, respectively, the first-ever complete release of the San Francisco concert from 1971 and vinyl replicas of Townshend’s original Life House. The original Who’s Next album is also available as a 1-LP half-speed remaster completed at Abbey Road Studios, and in other exclusive single vinyl versions.
The complete track listing appears below the Amazon links. When you buy something using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting Best Classic Bands.
Related: Our Album Rewind of Who’s Next
10-CD + Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition: Atmos/5.1 Mix/Stereo, Life House Graphic Novel (172 Pages) I UPC: 00602435873077 * Previously released with new remix ** Previously unreleased tracks
CD ONE: WHO’S NEXT (Remastered)
Baba O’Riley
Bargain
Love Ain’t For Keeping
My Wife
The Song Is Over
Getting In Tune
Going Mobile
Behind Blue Eyes
Won’t Get Fooled Again
CD TWO: PETE TOWNSHEND’S LIFE HOUSE DEMOS 1970 – 1971 – PART 1
Teenage Wasteland (Demo)*
Too Much (Demo) *
Going Mobile (Demo)*
There’s A Fortune in Those Hills (Demo)*
Love Ain’t For Keeping (Demo)*
Bargain (Demo)*
Greyhound Girl (Demo)*
Mary (Alternate Mix) (Demo)**
Behind Blue Eyes (Demo)*
Time Is Passing (Demo)*
Finally, Over (Demo)**
Baba O’Riley (Original Demo)**
CD THREE: PETE TOWNSHEND’S LIFE HOUSE DEMOS 1970 – 1971 – PART 2
Pure And Easy (Home Studio Mix) (Demo)*
Getting In Tune (Alternate Mix) (Demo)**
Nothing Is Everything (Let’s See Action) (Demo)*
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Demo)*
Baba O’Riley (Demo)*
Song Is Over (2021 Remix) (Demo)**
Pure And Easy (Olympic Studios Mix) (Demo)**
Mary (Original Mix) (Demo)*
Baba O’Riley (First Editing Demo)**
Song Is Over (Original Demo)*
CD FOUR: RECORD PLANT, NYC SESSIONS MARCH 1971
Don’t Do It (aka Baby Don’t You Do It) [Take 2, Unedited, March 16, 1971]**
Won’t Get Fooled Again [Take 13, March 16, 1971]*
Behind Blue Eyes (Version 1) [Take 15, March 16, 1971]**
Love Ain’t For Keeping [Take 14, March 17, 1971]*
The Note (aka Pure and Easy) [Take 21, March 17, 1971]*
I’m In Tune (aka Getting in Tune) [Take 6, March 18, 1971*
Behind Blue Eyes (Version 2) [Take 10, March 18, 1971}*
CD FIVE: OLYMPIC SOUND STUDIOS, LONDON SESSIONS 1970-72
Pure And Easy*
I Don’t Know Myself [B-side with Unreleased Count-in]
Time Is Passing [Stereo Mix]**
Too Much of Anything [Original 1971 Vocal]**
Naked Eye [1971 Remake]**
Bargain (Early Mix)**
Love Ain’t For Keeping (Unedited Mix)**
My Wife (Unedited Mix)**
Getting In Tune (Take 1 with Jam)**
Going Mobile (Alternate Mix)**
Song Is Over (Backing Track) [with Nicky Hopkins]**
When I Was a Boy**
Let’s See Action (Unedited Mix)**
Relay (Unedited Mix) [Alternate Vocal]**
Put The Money Down [Remix with Original Vocal]*
Join Together [Unedited Remix]**
CD SIX: SINGLES & SESSIONS 1970-72
The Seeker (Original Single Mix)
Here For More [Original Single Mix]
Heaven And Hell [New Stereo Mix]**
Water [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Unedited Mix]**
I Don’t Know Myself [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Unedited Mix]**
Naked Eye [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Unedited Mix]**
Postcard [Eel Pie Sound Studio – Original 1970 Mix]**
Now I’m A Farmer [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Remix]**
The Seeker (Unedited Version)**
Water (IBC Version)**
I Don’t Know Myself (IBC Version)**
Let’s See Action (Original Single Mix)
When I Was a Boy (Original Single Mix)
Join Together (Original Single Mix)
Relay (Original Single Mix)
Waspman (Original Single Mix)
Long Live Rock (Original Olympic Mix)
CD SEVEN: LIVE AT THE YOUNG VIC, LONDON – APRIL 26, 1971
Love Ain’t for Keeping*
Pure And Easy*
Young Man Blues*
Time Is Passing*
Behind Blue Eyes*
I Don’t Even Know Myself*
Too Much of Anything*
Getting In Tune*
Bargain*
CD EIGHT: LIVE AT THE YOUNG VIC, LONDON – APRIL 26, 1971
Pinball Wizard**
See Me, Feel Me**
Baby Don’t You Do It*
Water*
My Generation*
(I’m A) Road Runner*
Naked Eye*
Bony Moronie*
Won’t Get Fooled Again*
CD NINE: LIVE AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 12, 1971
Introduction**
I Can’t Explain*
Substitute*
Summertime Blues**
My Wife*
Baba O’Riley**
Behind Blue Eyes*
Bargain*
Won’t Get Fooled Again**
Baby Don’t You Do It*
Magic Bus**
CD TEN: LIVE AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 12, 1971
Introduction To Tommy**
Overture**
Amazing Journey**
Sparks**
Pinball Wizard**
See Me Feel Me**
My Generation**
Naked Eye*
Going Down*
BLU-RAY AUDIO: Steven Wilson Atmos Mix (48kHz 24-bit)** Steven Wilson 5.1 Mix (48kHz 24-bit)** Steven Wilson Stereo Mix (96kHz 24-bit)* Original 1971 Stereo Mix (96kHz 24-bit)
Baba O’Riley
Bargain
Love Ain’t For Keeping
My Wife
The Song Is Over
Getting In Tune
Going Mobile
Behind Blue Eyes
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Bonus Tracks: Steven Wilson Atmos Mix (48kHz 24-bit) Steven Wilson 5.1 Mix (48kHz 24-bit)
The Seeker (Unedited Version)**
Here For More*
Now I’m A Farmer**
I Don’t Know Myself (Eel Pie Sound Version)**
Water (IBC Version)**
Naked Eye (Olympic Sound Version)**
Pure And Easy**
Too Much of Anything**
Let’s See Action**
When I Was a Boy**
Join Together (Unedited Version)**
Put The Money Down**
Relay (Unedited Version)**
Long Live Rock**
The Super Deluxe Edition has been in the works for quite some time. Townshend posted a series of videos from his home studio back in November 2021.
View this post on Instagram
4 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationThe who are easily one of my favorite bands, and who’s next is in my top 10 recordings of all time as is live at Leeds truly phenomenal music, but this seems almost overkill. I’m sure it’s got some great stuff but I personally can’t digest all that I’m happy with the expanded version of Whos next,that I have now.
Shame there isn’t music only edition with 10 cd’s and blu-ray. I don’t need graphic novels etc. Much too expensive at the moment!
One of the greatest LP’s of all time, but one of the worst covers! What are they doing? LOL
JJK… Funny, many consider the iconic album cover one of the most creative——and certainly one of the most memorable——of all-time. (Including me.)