I've come around to the view that THE WHO were the greatest rock and roll band of all-time. The only line-up that compares to them was Zeppelin, but Zeppelin were not as good song-writers, having borrowed a lot of their stuff. By 1973 Zeppelin had reached their peak, with Plant's voice being shot and Page strung out on heroin. The Beatles wrote a lot of fluff. Only the Stones were comparably great song-writers, but like Zeppelin, they fizzled out by the early 70s and lost their creative edge. With Entwistle and Moon you had the GOAT bassist and arguably the 2nd or 3rd best drummer after Ringo and Bonzo. Pete Townsend was probably the most gifted lyrical guitarist ever, along with David Gilmore. Daltrey does not get the credit he deserves as as a singer, but his voice was powerful and perfect for the Who. In contrast to Plant, he was able to maintain his range throughout his career.

If you want to know what "rock and roll" is, listen and watch THE WHO perform "The Kids Are Alright."

Love the Who. Saw them in the 80s at Alpine Valley, IIRC.

5:15 is in my top 10.

Hawaii Rube

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Saw that show, too; I believe it was on their first post-“farewell” tour. Memorable for me if not but for the accidental triggering of the opening sequencer to “Baba O’Reilly” as they went into the intermission.

AFA the best? Maybe, but they’re definitely up there.

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Not a mult.

Terrible.

The Who is good, but not close to greatest of all time

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

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I got no issues with someone saying they are the greatest band of all time. I mean, obviously the Grateful Dead is the correct answer to that question, but The Who is a valid answer too.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They are a lot closer than you might think. Top ten for sure.


Even Bill Walton is laughing at this.

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Grateful Red would know that is the only correct answer.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Quadrophenia in my top 20 for favorite album, maybe top 15. It's outstanding. Best of all time is a bold statement but as far as rock bands
go, one could easily make a top 10 case for them.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I didn't say greatest band of all-time, but best rock and roll band. The Greatful Dead had some great rock songs, none better than Touch of Grey, but they did not fit so squarely into the rock category as THE WHO. The Dead were a category of music unto themselves.

Vedder wrote in an article for Rolling Stone for THE WHO's 50th year anniversary that he thought THE WHO, "quite possibly remain the greatest live band ever." Yes, they were.

I mentioned "The Kids Are Alright". They did a great version of this song in their later years at the Albert Hall, which you can see on YouTube, when Entwhistle was still alive. It's pure nirvana. "A Quick One" is another amazing song that they did live, especially the ending.

Not a fan of the guitar and drum smashing.

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Ringo as one of the 3 greatest drummers of all time???

Fuck, he wasn't even the best drummer the Beatles had.

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I'd put the Stones over the Who

Plus didn't Pete Townsend get caught looking at kiddy porn?

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The Who is interesting to me. Half their song I think are amazing and the other half meh.

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Elections have consequences.

This is how I see it, too.

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He claimed the porn was for a research project.

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A variation of "I was only pretending to be retarded" defense I see

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I thought Townsend was vindicated on that. Jury still out?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think everyone just stopped caring.

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This was my takeaway as well.

And I don't care enough to find out.

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Clearly more research won't help anyone in the story.

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Bingo.

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http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pete-tow ... rn-arrest/

Well it turns out he was trying to pull an Adam Laroche just not in Thai brothels but kiddy porn sites..

Cleared of charges!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4fhqCSdLQ

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Townsend gets it. Need a Good Guy with Kiddy Porn to stop Bad Guys with Kiddy Porn

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They get my vote as GOAT, especially as a live act. Like Ray Davies, Pete wrote a lot of very British themed songs. Many were duds, but many are timeless, beautiful, monstrous classics.

The Stones are right there. More prolific, more bluesy, not nearly as bombastic.

The Beatles get their own wing in the museum.

The Kinks are my sympathetic favorites. The unsung heroes of the top four British Invasion bands. Ray still writes beautiful songs. Punk to pop to rock anthems.

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I love The Kinks. So fucking great.

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For this version, Townsend made a mini-opera out of "The Kids Are All Right", adding to the already superb arrangement. That's master musicianship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-jyTRO3_cQ

Mic drop after 4:00 onwards. And they were in their mid 50s.

Ringo was a magician on drums for the Beatles catalog. I quite like his drumming. How about "Paperback Writer"?

Paul was no slouch on bass, either.

The Who are great but maybe in the top 2nd echelon of all time greats. Or near the bottom of the 1st tier. But THE WHO had a great stretch where for a time there they were the best RR band on the planet.

Agree on the Kinks. Freaking geniuses. Most under rated band from that British Invasion era. They should get more pub than THE WHO. Just look at their span. They had big hits in the 60s , 70s, and 80s. The only other band to do that are The Stones. Come Dancing is now considered a 80s musical icon hit.

I would rate the Stones in the top echelon, and the Kinks and Who in the 2nd top echelon. Never liked the Beatles.

Don't forget the Moody Blues too.