The Who - Selected Discography 1965-2011 [FLAC]

The Who - Selected Discography 1965-2011 [FLAC]





The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals, keyboards) and John Entwistle (bass, brass, vocals), and joined shortly after by Keith Moon (drums, vocals). They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction. The Who have sold about 100 million records, and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as 17 top ten albums, with 18 Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone.

The Who rose to fame in the UK with a series of top ten hit singles, boosted in part by pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, beginning in January 1965 with "I Can't Explain". The albums My Generation (1965), A Quick One (1966) and The Who Sell Out (1967) followed, with the first two reaching the UK top five. They first hit the US Top 40 in 1967 with "Happy Jack" and hit the top ten later that year with "I Can See for Miles". Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Monterey Pop, Woodstock and Isle of Wight music festivals. The 1969 release of Tommy was the first in a series of top ten albums in the US, followed by Live at Leeds (1970), Who's Next (1971), Quadrophenia (1973), The Who by Numbers (1975), Who Are You (1978) and The Kids Are Alright (1979).

Keith Moon died at the age of 32 on 7th, September 1978, after which the band released two studio albums, the UK and US top five Face Dances (1981) and the US top ten It's Hard (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones from The Small Faces/The Faces, before disbanding in 1983. They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour at The Royal Hall with guest stars Billy Idol, Elton John and Shirley Bassey in 1989 and the Quadrophenia tours of 1996, 1997, and 2012. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material, but their plans were temporarily stalled by Entwistle's death at the age of 57 in 2002. Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who and in 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the UK and US.

The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility; the display describes them as "Prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World's Greatest Rock Band." TIME magazine wrote in 1979 that "No other group has ever pushed rock so far, or asked so much from it." Rolling Stone magazine wrote: "Along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Who complete the holy trinity of British rock." They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988 and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. In 2008 surviving members Townshend and Daltrey were honoured at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors. That same year VH1 Rock Honors paid tribute to The Who where Jack Black of Tenacious D called them "the greatest band of all time."

Few bands in the history of rock & roll were riddled with as many contradictions as the Who. All four members had wildly different personalities, as their notoriously intense live performances demonstrated. The group was a whirlwind of activity, as the wild Keith Moon fell over his drum kit and Pete Townshend leaped into the air with his guitar, spinning his right hand in exaggerated windmills. Vocalist Roger Daltrey strutted across the stage with a thuggish menace, as bassist John Entwistle stood silent, functioning as the eye of the hurricane. These divergent personalities frequently clashed, but these frictions also resulted in a decade's worth of remarkable music -- it took some five years to find their audience, but at the tail end of the 1960s they suddenly achieved a level of popularity rivaling the Rolling Stones, both as a live act and in album sales.

As one of the key figures of the British Invasion and the mod movement of the mid-'60s, the Who were a dynamic and undeniably powerful sonic force. They often sounded like they were exploding conventional rock and R&B structures with Townshend's furious guitar chords, Entwistle's hyperactive basslines, and Moon's vigorous, seemingly chaotic drumming. Unlike most rock bands, the Who based their rhythm on Townshend's guitar, letting Moon and Entwistle improvise wildly over his foundation, while Daltrey belted out his vocals. This was the sound the Who thrived on in concert, but on record they were a different proposition, as Townshend pushed the group toward new sonic territory. He soon became regarded as one of the finest British songwriters of his era, rivaling John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, as songs like "The Kids Are Alright" and "My Generation" became teenage anthems, and his rock opera, Tommy, earned him respect from mainstream music critics.

Townshend continually pushed the band toward more ambitious territory, incorporating white noise, pop art, and conceptual extended musical pieces into the group's style. The remainder of the Who, especially Entwistle and Daltrey, weren't always eager to follow him in his musical explorations, especially after the success of his first rock opera, Tommy. Instead, they wanted to stick to their hard rock roots, playing brutally loud, macho music instead of Townshend's textured song suites and vulnerable pop songs. Eventually, this resulted in the group abandoning their adventurous spirit in the mid-'70s, as they settled into their role as arena rockers. the Who continued on this path even after the death of Moon in 1978, and even after they disbanded in the early '80s, as they reunited numerous times in the late '80s and '90s to tour America. The group's relentless pursuit of the dollar was largely due to Entwistle and Daltrey, who never found successful solo careers, but it had the unfortunate side effect of tarnishing their reputation for many longtime fans. However, there's little argument that at their peak the Who were one of the most innovative and powerful bands in rock history.


1965 - The Who Sings My Generation
1966 - A Quick One (Happy Jack) [1995 Remaster]
1967 - The Who Sell Out [1995 Remaster]
1968 - Direct Hits [2007 Japan Mini-LP Replica CD Remaster]
1968 - Magic Bus
1969 - Tommy [1996 Remaster]
1970 - Live at Leeds [1995 Remaster]
1971 - Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
1971 - Who's Next [1995 Remaster]
1973 - Quadrophenia [1996 Remaster]
1974 - Odds & Sods [1998 Remaster]
1975 - The Who by Numbers [1996 Remaster]
1975 - Tommy (Original Soundtrack Recording) [2011 Japan Mini-LP DSD SHM-CD Remaster]
1978 - Who Are You [1996 Remaster]
1979 - Quadrophenia (Music from the Soundtrack of the Who Film) [2000 Remaster]
1979 - The Kids Are Alright (Original Soundtrack)
1981 - Face Dances [1997 Remaster]
1982 - It's Hard [1997 Remaster]
2000 - BBC Sessions
2002 - My Generation [Deluxe Edition]
2002 - The Ultimate Collection
2006 - Endless Wire
2011 - Who's Missing/Two's Missing [Japan Mini-LP DSD SHM-CD Remaster]


Full artwork for each album is included. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!