[.ca] Who Sell Out

Amazon.com essential recording:
The Who Sell Out's pirate-radio concept goes south in the album's second half--the Who ran out of time before they could write enough faux commercials--but it still remains in many ways their best and most entertaining album. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle supply song after great song, and along with Keith Moon play them with power and focus. The classic single "I Can See for Miles" is matched on at least a handful of tracks, including the opening psychedelic-pop blast of "Armenia City in the Sky" (written by Townshend pal Speedy Keen), the hilarious social-interaction tales "Odorono" and "Tattoo," and the majestic mini-opus "Rael." This remaster's bonus tracks are occasionally too much of a good thing, but the Tommy rough draft "Glow Girl" is brilliant. --Rickey Wright

British Invasion At Its Best:
The only way to describe this album is to combine the music of The Beatles with the humor of "Weird Al" Yankovic. The songs on this album are the same great Who rock tunes you're used to... but with a little bit of humor injected. They put this album together to make it sound like a pirate radio station, complete with fake commercials after some tracks. Who can resist "The Hall of the Mountain King", a rock instrumental of the classic song where the sound effects begin sounding positively evil with evil-sounding chuckles and screams, then fall into the "silly" category with burps and animal noises. Or "Tattoo", a song about brothers who want to "prove their manliness" by getting tattoos. Or "Odorono", a deodorant commerical song. Yes, deodorant. On the serious side, there are some of The Who's best songs, including Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand, I Can See For Miles, Silas Stingy, I Can See For Miles, Early Morning Cold Taxi and Armenia City In The Sky. One of the best albums I've ever heard.

A glimpse into the past:
To say that this is a great album is an understatement. What it is an example of is this: Back in the 60's when you bought an LP you really didn't know what you'd get, what new sounds you'd hear, what odd little things might happen on the way through the grooves. It was a fun experience and one that, sadly, generations since have missed. Like "Sgt Pepper," "Are you Experienced" and "Pet Sounds" there was an exploratory adventure going on between the artist(s) and the listener. That's just one of the things that made the 60's so very unique. the Who's creativity wasn't so concerned with commercial success as it was with being unfettered and bold and those qualities shine on this incredible album.

A Different View.:
Having read through a lot of reviews/comments about this album, I find the accepted view is, that it is a great album, comparable to their best and that this 'version' comes with some good, but not necessarily essential, bonus material. Oh, and there are even some people who don't like it. Well I actually count myself lucky that I only got this album recently because it means my view of it wasn't skewed by familiarity with its much shorter former incarnation. I actually played it as is, unaware that the additional tracks had not been part of the original release. My impression was one astonishment. Why was this album not widely trumpeted as one of the greatest works of the sixties? Why was "Tommy" considered a better album? I was mystified. A double album(as it must have been judging by its length)of this quality would surely be included in all those 'Best Album...' lists. The truly amazing thing is the way that, although it is not a 'concept album' the music fits together to create an incredible barrage of striking imagery that all coalesces perfectly to create a 'whole' that really is greater than the sum of its parts. One of the strengths of the album is the lack(!) of well known tracks(the only one I knew beforehand was 'I Can See For Miles' this gives the record a lovely 'balanced feel'. I find it very strange, now that I am aware of the original track listing, to think that the album was ever released without 'Early Morning Cold Taxi', the stunning instrumental showcase 'Hall of the Mountain King' and perhaps the gem of the whole album 'Girl's Eyes'(a perfect and sympathetic depiction of the fixated fan/band relationship). It isn't the easiest "Who" album to like(it took me a few plays before it started to 'click'), and in this form there is so much more to digest than before, but I would suggest it has the potential to be the most rewarding long term listen of all their albums.

Still a Masterpiece:
I bought this album when it first came out and before it ended up in bargain bins all over the country. I will never understand how it received such a poor response in America, but I suppose everyone was too preoccupied with Sergeant Pepper. Do yourself a favor and listen to this masterpiece with headphones. The engineering is excellent, and the thematic approach(one of the first "concept" albums)is absolutely brilliant. If you are my age it is still not too late to discover this music, and if you are young you have a great introduction to the early Who and British Pop aside from the Beatles and Stones and Kinks.

About as 'psychedellic' as they got...:
It's well-known that The Who absolutely DESPISED hippies, and the fact that they never came out with a defining flower power album can prove that. "Sell Out" is about as far as they took it when it came to the hippie movement. That being said...BLOODY HELL!! This album rocks. A definate edition to any Who fan's CD rack

• Armenia City in the Sky
• Heinz Baked Beans
• Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
• Odorono
• Tattoo
• Our Love Was
• I Can See for Miles
• I Can't Reach You
• Medac
• Relax
• Silas Stingy
• Sunrise
• Rael 1
• Rael 2
• Glittering Girl
• Melancholia
• Someone's Coming
• Jaguar
• Early Morning Cold Taxi
• Hall of the Mountain King
• Girl's Eyes
• Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand \oAlternative Version\c\oAlternate Take\c
• Glow Girl