Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Out In The Street
2. I Don't Mind
3. The Good's Gone
4. La-La-La Lies
5. Much Too Much
6. My Generation
7. The Kids Are Alright
8. Please, Please, Please
9. It's Not True
10. I'm A Man
11. A Legal Matter
12. The Ox
13. Circles
14. I Can't Explain
15. Bald Headed Woman
16. Daddy Rolling Stone

Disc 2:

1. Leaving Here (Alternate)
2. Lubie (Come Back Home)
3. Shout And Shimmy
4. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
5. Motoring
6. Anyitme You Want Me
7. Anyhow, Anywhere, Anyway (Alternate)
8. Instant Party Mixture
9. I Don't Mind (Full Length Version)
10. The Good's Gone (Full Length Version)
11. My Generation (Instrumental Version)
12. Anytime You Want Me (A Cappella Version)
13. A Legal Matter
14. My Generation

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15498 in Music
• Brand: MCA
• Released on: 2002-08-27
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .37 pounds

Album Description
It's kind of odd that the Who's first album would be the last to be reissued in deluxe fashion, but, given the prominent role the late John Entwistle plays on it (his instrumental 'The Ox' was and is a sonic marvel), it's kind of fitting, too. But the real reason it took so long for the Who camp to release this is that they added so much to it! Disc one presents the original album mixed in stereo for the first time by original producer Shel Talmy, plus single sides like 'Bald Headed Woman' and Daddy Rolling Stone.' Disc Two is a collector's dream, with more loads of first-time stereo-in fact, 28 out of the 30 tracks here are in stereo! Previously unreleased, full-length versions of 'The Good's Gone' and 'I Don't Mind,' an unreleased instrumental version of 'My Generation' and an unspeakably rare, French EP-only alternate version of 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' the highlights. Three sets of liner notes analyze

Amazon.com
The roaring, raging quartet heard on Who's Next, Live at Leeds, and Quadrophenia is scarcely discernable on much of this, their first album. But the Mod-fueled, American R&B-inspired sense of ambitious pop that powers A Quick One, Sell Out, and even Tommy isn't so hard to find here. This reissue not only expands the original with a bonus-disc treasure trove of 17 outtakes and rarities (including the Pete Townshend-penned, previously unissued "Instant Party Mixture"), but has been remixed from the original 1964-'66 session tapes by producer Shel Talmy and released in true stereo for the first time. Anchored by early Who/Townshend anthems "My Generation" (also included in an instrumental version), "I Can't Explain," and "The Kids Are Alright," disc one's original LP set veers somewhat schizophrenically from Townshend's nascent power-guitar thrashing on the anthems and Roger Daltrey's ill-advised James Brown and Bo Diddley impressions on "Please, Please, Please" and "I'm a Man," respectively, to the surf-inspired John Entwistle-Keith Moon instrumental showcase, "The Ox." Not surprisingly, it's the Townshend originals (like "It's Not True," "Legal Matter," and the proto-psychedelic "Circles") that point to what the band would become in a few short years. The bonus material on disc two leans equally heavily on covers, but also contains its share of signposts to the future Who, including a rare, alternate version of "Anyhow, Anyway, Anywhere." Also included is a new booklet with many rare photos and a history of the album's recording by Andy Neill (coauthor of Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978). --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Great album, but the remix needs an explanation
After years of EQ-adjusted CD releases and bootleg discs that claimed to be "from the mono masters," we're finally treated to a CD that's been culled from the earliest possible sources. While the sound quality is superb and the packaging is lavish (the Who's management must have seen the "Instant Party" bootleg!), they should have packaged a track-by-track explanation of what you're hearing. These are the songs as they exist on the three-track masters, blemishes included, and without any overdubs.

This may seem an odd choice, given the large amount of variation between the songs as they're presented here, and how they were presented on the original LP and CD releases. But there IS a reason... upon hearing the original three-track masters, it was discovered that many elements were recorded directly to the finished mono mix. Therefore, isolated tracks of these "add-ons" didn't exist to be put into this stereo remix. Such elements include the guitar overdubs on "My Generation" and "A Legal Matter", the vocal harmony in the second verse of "Much Too Much" and, most noticeably, the doubletracked vocal in "La-La-La Lies" which covered up the error that is now laid bare on this CD. Note: I've read that the french horn on "Circles" was not an overdub, but is still not present on this stereo remaster. This is the biggest reason I've deducted a star from my rating (and the fact that both discs clock in at under an hour.)

The extra tracks are incredible! They fill in a gap that could previously only be filled by tracking down copies of "Who's Missing", "Two's Missing" and the "Rarities" albums. The standouts here are "Instant Party Mixture" and the alternate vocal version of "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere." Interestingly enough, the common version of the latter track is not present, because of the same overdub issue I mentioned above. The vocal line we're more accustomed to hearing was an overdub, and does not exist today in an isolated form. The vocal line you hear on this CD was the original, and has only been officially released once - by accident - on a 1966 French EP. All previous CD releases of this track have been on bootlegs, and have all sounded hideous. This sounds like it was recorded yesterday.

This set is alternately cohesive and chaotic. It captures the raw studio essence of The Who in 1965, but comes off as sounding unfinished. It's a proud testimonial to how the '60s British music machine worked - it wasn't recorded perfectly because the record wasn't expected to have a shelf life of more than a month. Recording was done in a quick and dirty fashion, and that hampered the ability to perfectly remix it. They did the absolute best with what they had to work with, and it's well worth the money... and the years of waiting.

The Beginning of Things to Come
If you put it down to a time, a band, an album... The Who's MY GENERATION is the first punk album ever recorded: With heavy pounding on what had to be the most tortured drum kit at the time (on stage the group would shock audiences by smashing their instruments and demolishing amps and speakers), angry lyrics are screamed and stuttered over guitar feedback and power chords. Even the album's cover, with the band's four grim faces set in front of Big Ben rising into an overcast sky, leaves you with the impression that these guys are a cocky group of foul-mouthed wiseasses--especially the stiff-jawed blond one, who looks like he'd rather be shaking down a store owner for protection money, or simply just kicking someone's teeth out (and, according to more than a few of the band's biographers, Roger Daltrey often would use his fists to end differences, with Pete Townshend as well as others).

This was 1965 and very few then would've had the courage or the foresight to put this kind of sound to wax. Sure, the Kinks also got together with producer Shel Talmy a year before to pioneer a heavier "rock" sound with "You Really Got Me," but they weren't taking it any further; it was easy confusing that song with its followup, "All Day and All of the Night," because they were basically the same thing with different lyrics. And as is always the case, it's the total package of talent with promotion, image with attitude.

It also took real guts for a rising pop group in 1965 to make an album--let alone a debut album!--where 3/4 of the tracks are original compositions. Except for Dylan and the Beatles, nobody at the time was able to get away with doing this. The original UK album version contains three covers, James Brown's "I Don't Mind," and "Please, Please, Please," as well as Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man;" the US version dropped "I'm a Man" for the proto-psychedelic "Instant Party (Circles)"--yet another original! Pete Townshend was taking a big gamble with this record.

In addition to the awesome title track, MY GENERATION also includes "The Kids Are Alright." Somewhat defining the group's early sound, "The Kids Are Alright" bacame a staple number on the Who's numerous compilations, and would provide the title to Jeff Stein's 1979 documentary on the band.

Of the other numbers here, things start off with "Out In the Streets," a weird hybrid of R&B styles with droning guitar feedback. Meanwhile, both "The Good's Gone" and "Much Too Much" sound as if Keith Moon is barely able to control himself with the drumsticks as Townshend displays his prowess with power chords. Daltrey, naturally, just seems pissed off.

Two other notable tracks are "La La La Lies" and "The Ox." The former obviously owing much to Martha Reeves & the Vandellas' "Heatwave" (a song the Who covered on their next album, A QUICK ONE), while the latter is a sort of group effort instrumental composition, written by Townshend, Moon and Entwistle with famous session man Nicky Hopkins.

A brilliant and exceptionally aggressive album that layed the foundations for most things coming to rock music.

The Who, a Rapid Surge of Adrenaline
I chose this CD as my 300th review for many reasons.

My Generation, that one song itself is one of, if not the best example of The Whos highly charged loud, fast, rebellious music.

Keith Moons drums pulsate and punctuate the lyrics and rhythm. When listening to My Generation, my pulse fluctuates to the beat, the adrenaline rush runs through my veins and summons my feet to dance.

Keith Moon has been dead thirty years this September. The last big bam in rock. Keith Moon, a.k.a. Moon the Loon remains the epitome of rock bad boys. Leaving a generation in mourning, yet hasn't ceased influencing future drummers.

Time has been good to this CD. It's still up there with the best of rock. A celebration of freedom, youth and their generation.