Who's Last

Who's Last
Live album by The Who
Released November, 1984 (US)
December 1984 (UK)
Recorded October 10–December 14, 1982
Genre Rock
Length 78:13
Label MCA
Producer Cy Langston
The Who chronology
The Singles
(1984)		 Who's Last
(1984)		 The Who Collection
(1985)
Singles from Who's Last
  1. "Twist and Shout (Live) / I Can't Explain (Live)"
    Released: November 1984
Alternative cover

Who's Last is the second live album by British band rock The Who, recorded in 1982 during what was then billed as the band's "farewell tour".[1] Thus, this album, released in 1984, was to be the band's "last" album.

Most of the album was taken from the band's 14 December 1982 show at Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, Ohio, which was their "last concert in the USA" (as Pete Townshend can be heard saying after "Won't Get Fooled Again") this time around. Four songs come from different sources (verified by meticulous comparison with soundboard and audience recordings and videos from that tour). "Behind Blue Eyes" is from the 10th October show at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford; "Magic Bus" and "Summertime Blues" are from the 20th October show at the Kingdome in Seattle; and "Substitute" is from the 27th October show at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

Notable by their absence from this recording, released by MCA two years after the tour, are songs from the band's two recent Warner Bros. Records albums, Face Dances and It's Hard, although they played "The Quiet One" (from Face Dances) and several songs from It's Hard every night on the tour.

Five songs from this tour were released as bonus tracks to the 1997 editions of Face Dances ("The Quiet One" from the Shea Stadium on 12 October 1982), and It's Hard ("It's Hard," "Eminence Front," "Dangerous" and Cry If You Want" from Toronto on 17 December 1982, the first three of which were later included on the 2007 release Live from Toronto.) While that album is from the same tour, it does not contain any of the performances on Who's Last.[2] A different version of "Twist and Shout", also originating from this tour, recorded at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on 16 December 1982, was released in the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B box set (however, it is mislabelled as being from the CNE Stadium in Toronto on 9th October, but the band did not play the song on that particular night).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
MusicHound1.5/5[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

Reviewing for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote of the album "it's a damn long way from Live at Leeds to Who's Last, and the distance between the two extremes is nothing short of stunning. Who's Last is so lifeless and lackluster that it's hard to believe the same band released both records. It may not be a graceful way to end the Who's career, but it's hard to imagine a better testament to why it was time for the band to come to an end."

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "My Generation" – 3:23
  2. "I Can't Explain" – 2:35
  3. "Substitute" – 2:57
  4. "Behind Blue Eyes" – 3:40
  5. "Baba O'Riley" – 5:37
Side two
  1. "Boris the Spider" (John Entwistle) – 2:41
  2. "Who Are You" – 6:35
  3. "Pinball Wizard" – 2:52
  4. "See Me Feel Me/Listening to You" – 4:41
Side three
  1. "Love Reign O'er Me" – 5:13
  2. "Long Live Rock" – 3:34
  3. "Reprise" – 1:38
  4. "Won't Get Fooled Again" – 11:21
Side four
  1. "Doctor Jimmy" – 4:56
  2. "Magic Bus" – 6:54
  3. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart) – 3:07
  4. "Twist and Shout" (Phil Medley, Bert Russell) – 3:59

Personnel

The Who
Additional musicians
Production
 Live Recording by Glyn Johns on the
 Record Plant NY Black Truck with David Hewitt<Black Truck Log ref>

References

  1. ↑ "Who's Last". The Who Official Band Website. 1 December 1984. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Who's Last". The Who Official Band Website. 1 December 1984. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  3. ↑ AllMusic review
  4. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 1227. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  5. ↑ "The Who: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
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