My Generation CD

A remastered and greatly expanded version of THE WHO SINGS MY GENERATION was released in 2002 as MY GENERATION: DELUXE EDITION.

The Who: Roger Daltrey (vocals); Pete Townshend (vocals, guitar); John Entwistle (bass, background vocals); Keith Moon (drums).
Originally released on Decca (74664) in April 1966.
Includes original release liner notes.
This 2-CD deluxe edition of MY GENERATION includes previously unreleased bonus tracks plus alternate and full-length versions of the original recordings.
The Who: Roger Daltrey (vocals); Pete Townshend (guitar, background vocals); John Entwistle (bass, background vocals); Keith Moon (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Jimmy Page (guitar); Perry Ford, Nicky Hopkins (piano); The Ivy League (background vocals).
Recorded at IBC Studios and Pye Studios, London, England.
Originally released on Decca (4664).
Includes liner notes by Mike Shaw, Shel Talmy and Andy Neill.
This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.
The Who: Roger Daltrey (vocals); Pete Townshend (guitar, background vocals); John Entwistle (bass, background vocals); Keith Moon (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Jimmy Page (guitar); Perry Ford, Nicky Hopkins (piano); The Ivy League (background vocals).
Recorded at IBC Studios and Pye Studios, London, England. Originally released on Decca (4664). Includes liner notes by Mike Shaw, Shel Talmy and Andy Neill.
This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.
As many Who fans know, disputes between the Who and producer Shel Talmy held back the release of a CD version of My Generation taken from the best available original sources for quite some time. Eventually the dispute was resolved, and 2002 saw the release of the deluxe edition of this classic album, expanded into a two-CD work with the addition of no less than 17 extra tracks. So is it time to celebrate and finally throw away that scratchy old My Generation LP, whichever version of that you have? Unfortunately, not quite. Pluses first: the sound, remixed in stereo by Talmy, is very good indeed, very clear and punchy without sacrificing the enormous power the band brought to the sessions, sometimes revealing parts with a clarity never before heard. This also, finally, adds some seminal non-LP tracks also recorded in 1965 (most notably their debut single, "I Can't Explain"), as well as a bunch of R&B cover outtakes that previously surfaced on the 1980s comps Who's Missing and Two's Missing. There are also slightly longer versions of a few tracks; an instrumental track for "My Generation" and an "a cappella version" of "Anytime You Want Me"; and one genuine previously unheard song, "Instant Party Mixture," a weird and not good takeoff on Dion's "Runaround Sue" that was recorded in early 1966 as a possible B-side. So what's to carp about? Well, some overdubs used in the original version of the LP have been lost, and their loss is not just something that audiophiles or unhealthily completist record collectors will notice. Specifically, on "My Generation," Pete Townshend's guitar is virtually missing from the instrumental break, and the group's backup vocals at the song's climax are likewise mostly missing. Other little omissions crop up too, and though this compilation makes up for that a bit with "monaural versions with guitar overdubs" of "My Generation" and "A Legal Matter," it's no small loss. Also, unbelievably, although "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" is here (and misspelled on the cover), it's an alternate version with different vocals from a French EP. It's fine to include that, but the classic single version itself, a tremendously exciting and important record, isn't present at all, and no one could reasonably claim there shouldn't have been room for both. Too, the version of "Leaving Here" is an alternate, and while that's fine to have as a marginally interesting addition, the version that first showed up on WhRolling Stone (9/19/02, p.108) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...The Deluxe addition adds more black lighting to the original - torched-Motown covers; more JB; the brisk sass of 'Daddy Rolling Stone' an Otis Blackwell bullet rescued from a '65 B side - and doubles as a thundering monument to the late John Entwistle..."
Q (12/02, p.69) - Included in Q Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002."
Q (9/02, p.129) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Finds the original dozen cuts joined by 18 more, including the group's first 45's....Now we can understand how, in 1965, The Who were suddenly ranked behind the Beatles and the Stones..."
Uncut (10/02, p.107) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...a distinctive and exciting record in its time, and remains so in this reissued version..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.73) - Ranked #8 in Mojo's "Best Reissues of 2002"