Pete Townshend is clearly playing here to the school of thought that says
Who's Next is better than
The Who Sell Out. And it goes beyond the way he "reinvestigates" the oscillating synth riff of "Baba O'Riley" in the first few seconds of the Who's first album in 24 years. This is Serious Music for Serious People — rock as art, like damn near everything he's done since all the hype surrounding
Tommy guaranteed he'd never write another line as brilliant as
I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth. And that was before he found inspiration in
The Passion of the Christ. There's no sign of the loopy genius who wrote "A Quick One While He's Away" in this bloated mini-opera. Even when he has poor Roger Daltrey celebrating Mike Post TV themes or makes God a Marty Robbins fan, the mood is deadly serious. The only laughs are unintentional. The only kicks are scissor kicks. And even those are by the numbers.
Mojo magazine praised this album as the band's best since
Quadrophenia. But what's that really saying? That it's better than
Who Are You? Who cares?
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