The Who - 30 Years of Maximum R&B (BOX SET)

It's not that this is bad material (with some exceptions, like the horrible alternate "The Real Me" that should have stayed unreleased), just that there are a LOT of little mistakes and annoyances that really add up. One or two mistakes or annoyances would have been understandable and easy to ignore, but not when they keep happening over and over again. The constant seguing of the songs is by far the worst error. This technique only works well when the end of the first song and the beginning of the following one sound enough alike to phased in and out simultaneously. Many times there isn't even one single nanosecond of breathing space between songs. There are also a few songs which are a mix of studio and live versions, like "A Quick One" and "See Me, Feel Me." Other big errors are mislabelling "Sparks" (the live Woodstock version) as "Underture." They never did "Underture" live. The live "Bargain" on here is also shortened by about a minute; the full-length version of this particular live rendition is found on the rarities compilation 'Who's Missing,' which was released some years before this boxed set came along. There are also a number of errors in the booklet, like giving incorrect chart positions for some songs and reinforcing the common but incorrect belief that Keith Moon was born in 1947; he was born in 1946 but lied about his age so people would think he was younger.

Besides the constant seguing, the other most annoying thing on here is the inclusion of way too many songs from 'Sell Out,' a total of eight of the original thirteen. There's also too much material from 'Who's Next' and the original LAL. Giving more than three or four songs from each album is no longer just giving a little sample of each album represented, and it feels jarring hearing them all played out of order, with so many songs from those albums included. Maybe that's the reason why there were barely any songs from their sorely underrated Eighties catalogue, with only one song apiece from their final two studio albums and then the next two Eighties songs being really poorly representative of that period. They could have picked a better song from 'Who's Last,' as bland a live effort as it may be, in lieu of the live version of "Twist and Shout" they used, as well as a better song from the '89 triple-LP 'Join Together' over the endless live rendition of "I'm a Man." The final song, a '91 cover of the Elton John song "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)," is fun and peppy, but could have been included somewhere else if it had to be included at all. That is not the track you use to close a boxed set with; it should have been so obvious that the final track should have been a blistering live version of "WGFA" or "SMFM"!

Still, the material included here is by and large great, along with some cute Keith skits done for the BBC, interviews, onstage dialogue, and studio conversations held before songs. There are also a lot of songs that were unreleased before this boxed set came along, though since then most of them have been released as bonus tracks on the CD remasters. And some of the songs are still hard to find on CD, are only on vinyl, or are hard to find altogether, whatever the format they're available on, like the irresistably cute ditty "Dogs," "Call Me Lightning," and the High Numbers-era material like "Here 'Tis" and "Zoot Suit"; before this, only the High Numbers song "I'm the Face" was available on an official release. It's too bad they couldn't have cut some of the superfluous songs to make room for more rarities, like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" or some of the songs on the out-of-print 'Two's Missing.' Overall, the many mistakes and annoyances aren't enough to overlook the fact that it's still great material. I'm lucky I found a used copy of this, complete with the booklet, for only $35 in a used record store!

Disc: 1

1. Pete Dialogue (Live)
2. I'm The Face - The Who (As The High Numbers)
3. Here 'Tis - The Who (As The High Numbers)
4. Zoot Suit - The Who (As The High Numbers)
5. Leaving Here - The Who (As The High Numbers)
6. I Can't Explain
7. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
8. Daddy Rolling Stone
9. My Generation
10. The Kids Are Alright
11. The Ox
12. A Legal Matter
13. Pete Dialogue
14. Substitute (Live)
15. I'm A Boy
16. Disguises
17. Happy Jack Jingle
18. Happy Jack
19. Boris The Spider
20. So Sad About Us
21. A Quick One, While He's Away
22. Pictures Of Lily
23. Early Morning Cold Taxi
24. Coke 2
25. (This Could Be) The Last Time
26. I Can't Reach You
27. Girl's Eyes
28. Bag O'Nails
29. Call Me Lightning

Disc: 2

1. Rotosound Strings
2. I Can See For Miles
3. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
4. Armenia City In The Sky
5. Tattoo
6. Our Love Was
7. Rael 1
8. Rael 2
9. Track Records/Premier Drums
10. Sunrise
11. Russell Harty Dialogue
12. Jaguar
13. Melancholia
14. Fortune Teller
15. Magic Bus
16. Little Billy
17. Dogs
18. Overture
19. Acid Queen
20. Abbie Hoffman Incident (Live)
21. Underture (Live)
22. Pinball Wizard
23. I'm Free
24. See Me Feel Me (Live)
25. Heaven & Hell
26. Pete Dialogue (Live)
27. Young Man Blues
28. Summertime Blues

Disc: 3

1. Shakin' All Over
2. Baba O'Riley
3. Bargain (Live)
4. Pure & Easy
5. Song Is Over
6. Studio Dialogue
7. Behind Blue Eyes
8. Won't Get Fooled Again
9. The Seeker (Edited Version)
10. Bony Moronie (Live)
11. Let's See Action
12. Join Together
13. Relay
14. The Real Me
15. 5.15 (Single Version)
16. Bell Boy
17. Love Reign O'er Me

Disc: 4

1. Long Live Rock
2. Life With The Moons
3. Naked Eye (Live)
4. University Challenge
5. Slip Kid
6. Poetry Cornered
7. Dreaming From The Waist (Live)
8. Blue Red & Grey
9. Life With The Moons 2
10. Squeeze Box
11. My Wife (Live)
12. Who Are You (Single Version)
13. Music Must Change
14. Sister Disco
15. Guitar & Pen
16. You Better You Bet
17. Eminence Front
18. Twist And Shout (Live)
19. I'm A Man (Live)
20. Pete Dialogue (Live)
21. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)


Thirty Years Of Maximum R& Parte 01

Thirty Years Of Maximum R& Parte 02