The Who - Baba O'Riley
The Who are the #5 band in the 'Fab Five' greatest rock bands of all time. They are definitely the most contested band on the list as some may argue they aren't worthy. I was humming and hawing over the final pick (the one I was debating between will be part of the honourable mentions later) when I watched The Who Live at the Isle of Wight and was instantly convinced that they belonged with the other four. I also chose them because they have always been my personal favourite of the classic rock bands, so a bit of bias there.
The Who started out as a garage rock band and were one of the first bands to completely destroy their equipment at the end of every show. Hits syuch as "My Generation", "The Seeker", and "I Can't Explain" had them in the same conversations as #1 and #2, The Beatles and The Stones. They then morphed into a band that made rock operas, one of the very first of their kind, with the two classics Tommy and Quadrophenia. They then made the leap to arena rock superstardom with Who's Next which featured the hits "Baba O'Riley", "Won't Get Fooled Again", and "Behind Blue Eyes". Later in their career they continued to put out successful albums although they came much less frequently. And oh yeah, they fucking headlined fucking Woodstock for fuck's sake!
At that concert at The Isle of Wight they played for a crowd of 600,000 and rocked the fuck out. Lead by, once again, the incredible songwriting duo of singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend, the two displayed their knacks for showmanship such as Roger's great banter and microphone twirling and Pete's infamous windmill guitar playing. Wildman drummer Keith Moon is such a goof but also one of the greatest of all time. He died way too soon like so many from that era, found with 32 pills in his stomach. John Entwistle often dressed in a skeleton jumpsuit and was solid as a rock on bass, also chirping in for some of the funnier singing by the band (see "Boris The Spider"). And yes, I got into this band WAAAAAAYYYY before fucking CSI sort of ruined their classics.
I saw The Who live a few years ago and, despite the fact that only Daltrey and Townshend are still alive, they were insanely good. They played all their best hits as well as some new material from Endless Wire. Daltrey sounded great and nailed the howl on "Won't get Fooled Again".
"Baba O'Riley" is my favourite Who song because of the unique keyboard line with the piano, the great singing by both Daltrey and Townshend, and the epic fiddle closing part. I actually consider it up there with my absolute favourite songs of all time. Period. The more obscure Who song I have chosen is "The Real Me" from the somewhat overlooked brilliant rock opera, Quadrophenia. Here it is:
At that concert at The Isle of Wight they played for a crowd of 600,000 and rocked the fuck out. Lead by, once again, the incredible songwriting duo of singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend, the two displayed their knacks for showmanship such as Roger's great banter and microphone twirling and Pete's infamous windmill guitar playing. Wildman drummer Keith Moon is such a goof but also one of the greatest of all time. He died way too soon like so many from that era, found with 32 pills in his stomach. John Entwistle often dressed in a skeleton jumpsuit and was solid as a rock on bass, also chirping in for some of the funnier singing by the band (see "Boris The Spider"). And yes, I got into this band WAAAAAAYYYY before fucking CSI sort of ruined their classics.
I saw The Who live a few years ago and, despite the fact that only Daltrey and Townshend are still alive, they were insanely good. They played all their best hits as well as some new material from Endless Wire. Daltrey sounded great and nailed the howl on "Won't get Fooled Again".
"Baba O'Riley" is my favourite Who song because of the unique keyboard line with the piano, the great singing by both Daltrey and Townshend, and the epic fiddle closing part. I actually consider it up there with my absolute favourite songs of all time. Period. The more obscure Who song I have chosen is "The Real Me" from the somewhat overlooked brilliant rock opera, Quadrophenia. Here it is:
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