The Who will celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Who By Numbers with an expansive new super deluxe edition featuring 92 previously unreleased audio tracks, a restored concert film, new mixes by Pete Townshend and a 100-page hardback book. Unlike The Who’s three previous albums, ‘Tommy’, ‘Who’s Next’ and ‘Quadrophenia’, ‘Who By Numbers’ is stripped down, back-to-the-basics rock and roll. There are no themes, no operettas, no stories running through multiple songs.
Instrumentally, it’s comparatively bare-bones; most of the songs are just guitar, bass and drums, played to perfection. Lyrically, the album as a whole is as good as anything Pete Townshend has written, though much more understated, thematically. Even the album cover, John Entwhistle’s connect-the-dots drawing, is almost child-like in its simplicity.
Due for release on October 30th, the reissue revisits the band’s introspective 1975 seventh studio album across a 5CD/1 Blu-ray boxset, alongside separate 3LP, 2CD and coloured-vinyl editions.
Originally released in October 1975, The Who By Numbers marked a notable shift in Pete Townshend’s songwriting, trading the grand narratives of Tommy and Quadrophenia for a more personal and often vulnerable collection of songs. The album reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 8 in the US, and spawned the hit single “Squeeze Box”.
Reflecting on the record in the new set’s accompanying book, Townshend says: “The Who By Numbers” is a tricky album to talk about. It’s the only one where I allowed songs that were so personal to be used by The Who.”
Roger Daltrey adds: “In some ways, The Who By Numbers is my favourite [Who] album. For me, songs like ‘Imagine A Man’, ‘How Many Friends’ and ‘However Much I Booze’ expose our vulnerabilities, and the album is wonderful for that.”
You can hear the previously unheard “Imagine A Man (Pete Vocal, Early Mix)”
Among the archive highlights are eleven Townshend demos, studio tracking sessions from Ramport and Shepperton Studios, alternate vocals, guide tracks, early mixes and a selection of newly created acoustic “stripped” mixes.
The box’s live material focuses on a fascinating period in The Who’s history. Disc Five presents the most complete release to date of the band’s June 12th, 1976 performance at Swansea’s Vetch Field, recorded during the Who Put The Boot In tour and notable as Keith Moon’s last major show before a British audience.
The Blu-ray also includes video of The Who’s December 6th, 1975 concert at the Metropolitan Stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. Attended by nearly 77,000 fans, the show set a record at the time for the largest indoor rock concert audience and has now been restored from original 2-inch videotape. The performance stands as one of the few surviving visual documents of The Who’s final major tour before Moon’s death in 1978.
As well as newly remastered versions of the original album, the Blu-ray contains brand-new Atmos, 5.1 surround and stereo mixes overseen by Townshend.
The release is accompanied by a 100-page hardback book featuring rare photographs, memorabilia and new liner notes by Townshend and longtime Who archivist Andy Neill.
The Fat Angel Sings 