The Who Album: “Who's Last”

Wow, What can you say about the oribal ooo!

This could have been a great record except for the fact that the Mix is bad.

It's still a rocker and a fun listen though. This is a recording of the Who's "Last" tour in 1982 before they went on vacation for 3 years, Coming up for air only at 1985's imfamous Live Aid and then played a few shows here and there. It never was the same after Keith died, but hey Kenny was solid. The problem with this recording is Johns Bass and Kenny's Drums are buried under the assault of a Schecter Telecaster through a wall of 100 watt Hiwatt and Mesa Boogie amplifiers with a treble boost and chorus! Now, I love Pete more than anyone alive but Without that monster bass something is lost. Further without Moon's Madness it also seems more watered down and contrived almost like a normal rock band. But one of the hardest things to swallow was the fact that the last song on the last album was a Beatles song, "Twist and Shout"? I remember in '82 just scrathing my head, and thinking that somehow Pete was laughing and just saying ta' hell with it!

That being said , On the worst night The Who is still the greatest Rock-N-Roll band ever! and it still shows through. If this was a new band and I had nothing to compare it to I would say This is one of the greatest bands bla bla bla.... But taking this record and comparing to Live at Leeds or some of the great recordings in '71 and with, and well....it just sounds like a differant band.

I FIRST SAW A VIDEO OF THIS TOUR FROM MONTREAL CANADA AS A HBO SPECIAL BACK IN 1982. I LOVED THE SHOW. THIS RECORDING AS FAR AS I KNOW IS THE ONLY OFFICIAL LIVE SHOW ON CD OF THAT TOUR.IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, I THINK IT IS WELL WORTH PICKING THIS CD UP. THE SET LIST IS GREAT AND YEA, KENNY JONES IS NOT KEITH MOON BUT, HE DID DO A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH THE WHO ON THIS TOUR.I REALLY WISH THAT PETE TOWNSHEND WOULD RE-RELEASE THIS CD AND MAYBE REMIX IT USING TODAYS TECHNOLOGY BUT, IT IS A GREAT CD NONE THE LESS.

I saw The Who's Farewell Tour concert on MTV in 1982 and really enjoyed it. Our local radio station replayed the concert in its entirety; I recorded it and listened to it over and over. Fast forward about 30 years and I finally bought the used album, Who's Last. The songs are still good! I agree with other reviewers that the mixing is lame; the overall sound seems kind of numb. Roger sings great, John's bass does make it through the bad mixing, and Kenny's drums are rather good (nobody can redo Keith Moon, so no fault to Kenny). Pete's guitar sounds like he bought it at the dollar store, but he definitely plays the shit out of it. I particularly like the extra effort they put into Magic Bus and Boris The Spider. Too bad they didn't include Naked Eye; that song kicked ass in the MTV concert. This album is no Live At Leeds, but The Who do the fans and themselves justice in most of the songs. It's worth buying just to time travel back to 1982 to listen to a great concert.