The Who Album: “Join Together”

First off, I saw The Who at Giants Stadium in NJ on this tour, and I had a great time. I had never seen the band before (I wasn't even 10 when Moon died), so I thought they really rocked. But bear in mind, this is not your father's Who. The emphasis on this tour (and on this album) is on the horns, not Pete's guitar. And speaking of that, Pete plays mostly acoustic, with a young guitarist by the name of Steve 'Boltz' Bolton playing lead. He is very good, but he is not Pete, and that is a shame. When you listen to The Who, you expect to hear Pete's guitar work, not a session man (unless your listening to I Can't Explain, then you get Jimmy Page, but that's another story). As for the song selections, it's great to hear the boys doing Tommy in it's entirety (mostly-Underture and Welcome are missing-don't know why), and disc two has a great selection of obvious and not so obvious inclusions (don't know when was the last time they did Trick of the Light from Who Are You). As for the playing, this was a very strange period in Who history, so it's a good document of that. This really shold've been, in effect, a solo tour of Pete's (in support for his "Iron Man" project), but since he felt that more people would pay to see The Who than Pete solo, he brought Roger and John along with his current solo band. Later tours up to John's death would lose the horn section and backing vocals, and focus more on Pete's playing. This was still good, just not exactly what you might expect from a Who live album. Check it out if your interested.

The Who were at the same crossroads, latter 1978, that Led Zeppelin would be almost exactly two years later... the drummer, and a founding member, dead. Two ways to handle it: Hang up the shingle and go home, as Zep did...or make the best of a bad situation and carry on. I'm glad Pete Townsend & Co. chose the latter. I'm really going to step out on a limb here, folks. I don't think either one of these bands sounded very good live! I don't know who did more overdubbing on the studio albums...Jimmy Page ( Zeppelin ) or Pete Townsend with The Who. All I know is that neither band could quite pull it off, with only three instruments and one lead singer onstage. The Who rectified the problem during their 1989 tour by bringing an entourage with them.

Does the brass detract from their classic sound? How about those three backing vocalists? Each individual Who fan will have to decide...I for one find that this is the only Who live album I can get excited about listening to. This recording has another shining star, too: Townsend, Daltrey and Entwhistle knew they could never replace Keith Moon...but they did the next best thing. Enter Simon Phillips, drummer extraordinaire! This man is still playing today, having filled the drum chair for Toto for almost twenty years. He was as full of energy and chops in 1989 as he is today! His contribution on this recording is faithful to Moon's original parts, while putting his embellishments and unique signature on every song.

If you'd rather hear the lean, sparse but unadulterated quartet of the original Who performing live, then stay with Live at Leeds or The Isle of Wight recordings. But if a full-sounding ensemble fleshing out Who classics is your preference, give this one a try ( if you can find a copy reasonably priced! ).

This is the definitive Live Who disc (or double disc) and is in fact possibly the best album the band has done. Unlike many live efforts, this transcends the studio rather than being a pale reflection of it or some crappy sounding bootleg tape. The joy, the energy and the talent of the performers all shine through.

That's actually what I called this recording, when I learned the Who would tour, but with Townshend's current band, Deep End.

Needless to say, the band rocked its way through "Tommy" and a number of old hits, and it must have been a hell of a show to see (I sadly missed the Foxboro, MA show in '89).

The lineup was different this time for a number of reasons: Townshend was suffering from tinnitus and so Steve Bolton was hired to handle lead guitar (which I thought was good, but a bit more flash than Townshend's). There were the backup singers, extra percussion, extra this and that, and it made for a fuller sound. I rather liked the band doing "Tommy" on this, rather than the all-star lineup you see in the video.

All around, a good solid performance, though perhaps not what purists would like to have heard.

Its the best! simply the best of The Who!