The 5 Best Who Albums Of All Time - And Why

The Who are without a doubt one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time. In Pete Townshend they had one of the finest songwriters of all time, and those four, seemingly completely disparate elements of Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Pete Townshend, combined to make one awesome sound! That sound can be heard throughout 11 studio albums (8 of those with Moon) as well as a number of live and compilation albums. Surprisingly few for a band of their era and over such along career, but then there were some lengthy sabbaticals! But which ones are the best? For the purposes of this article, I'm focussing just on the original studio albums as I present what I regard to be the 5 best Who albums of all time: -
1. Who's Next (1971)
This seminal album rose from the ashes of Townshend's abandoned Lifehouse project. The album contains a bunch of rock classics along with the earliest intelligent use of synthesizers. It features 8 minutes and 32 seconds of rock perfection in Won't Get Fooled Again!
Best tracks: Won't Get Fooled Again, Baba O'Riley & Behind Blue Eyes
2. Quadrophenia (1973)
What became the soundtrack to the ultimate Mod movie is loaded with absolute classic songs. We even discover that Keith Moon can actually sing on Bell Boy!
Best tracks: 5:15, Love Reign O'er Me & Doctor Jimmy
3. Tommy (1969)
The production on the original "rock opera" sadly fails to reach the material's potential and I'd love to hear what it would have sounded like with Glyn Johns at the helm. But the passion and skill of the performance and the sheer brilliance of the songwriting still shine through on this classic album which has now had so many incarnations that it has almost taken on a life of its own!
Best tracks: Pinball Wizard, 1921 & I'm Free.
4. My Generation (1965)
The Who announce their arrival with the angriest, noisiest and most exciting debut album of any band of that era. This is punk borne out of the blues, meeting extreme power pop!
Best tracks: My Generation, The Kids Are Alright & A Legal Matter
5. Sell Out (1967)
This concept album is a tribute to the pirate radio stations, with the tracks interspersed with mock radio jingles. The songwriting and performance venture into new psychedelic realms with some of the group's finest work.
Best tracks: I Can See For Miles, Odorono & Relax

Whether you agree with my choices for the 5 best Who albums of all time or not, there's no disputing that they were one of the greatest bands to ever beat the hell out of their guitars and drums!