-- Who - Odds & Sods | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 13.98 Amazon Price $ 13.98 Savings $ 0.00 | |  Release Date: 10 March, 1998, Mca
TRACK LISTING - I`m the Face
- Leaving Here
- Baby Don`t You Do It
- Summertime Blues
- Under My Thumb
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- My Way
- Faith in Something Bigger
- Glow Girl
- Little Billy
- Young Man Blues
- Cousin Kevin Model Child
- Love Ain`t for Keeping
- Time Is Passing
- Pure and Easy
- Too Much of Anything
- Long Live Rock
- Put the Money Down
- We Close Tonight
- Postcard
- Now I`m a Farmer
- Water
- Naked Eye
Usually ships in 24 hours | | | This re-issue is a must even if you have the original | | I bought the original Odds and Sods a number of years back and as a hard-core Who fan was not disappointed. The original contains several Who classics, most notably the spiritually-influenced "Faith in Something Bigger", the mature-sounding "Pure and Easy" and the great fun-tracks "Now I`m a Farmer" and "Little Billy", not forgetting a very early mod-song "I`m the Face". Initially I was a bit sceptical about the re-issue, imagining the previously unreleased of the 12 bonus tracks to be largely sub-standard fillers. How wrong I was. Some of these are straight from the top drawer and all of them are well worth a listen. Highlights for me are the Tommy reject, "Cousin Kevin Model Child", the hard R&B classic "Baby dont you do it" and the bouncy "Time is Passing" which also appeared on Townshends Who Came First Solo Album. This album is a must for anyone into top-class rock and the previously unreleased gems mandate the re-purchase by all serious Who connoiseurs. | | | | A Great Expansion to an Already Generous Album | Rarely can a band make a consistent, solid album purely out of unreleased material, rarities, outtakes, and all the other names for such precious finds, and this vastly expanded edition of "Odds and Sods" solidifies that ability. This album was originally recorded to curve the bootlegging process going on at the time, not only because The Who didn`t make money off bootlegs (that may have been the record company`s motivation though), but also because the group wanted fans to have more listenable versions; the late bassist John Entwistle said, "They release really bad bootlegs of these songs all the time...they`re really bad quality...We thought it was about time we released a bootleg of our own."
It`s a true blessing that "Odds and Sods" is so highly recognized and appreciated as a solid effort, because many of these songs rank among some of Pete Townshend`s most articulate songwriting and The Who`s best performances in the studio. And we all know the fate of unreleased songs that are released here and there over time, popping up on random "best of" compilations; they become lost in time and labeled as empty-hearted gestures to get people to buy those greatest hits albums. Indeed, some of these songs, some in different versions, later appeared as bonus tracks on the remastered editions of The Who`s classic albums (the best studio version of `Pure and Easy` appeared on the reissue of "Who`s Next" for example). But gathered together and focused on as "Odds and Sods," listeners can hear some glorious Who moments, packaged as one sturdy album.
The collection also does much to further prove the already well-established fact that The Who were major contributors in bridging 60s rock-pop to the more progressive harder rock of the 70s. For example there are tracks like the enjoyable naive quality of `I`m the Face` (a song recorded when The Who were known as The High Numbers), the poppy humor of `Little Billy,` the odd story of `Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand` (a different version than the one that originally appeared on "The Who Sell Out") and covers of the likes of `Summertime Blues,` `Leaving Here` and the cheeky `My Way.` But there are also more intricate, personal songs like `We Close Tonight` (based on one of Townshend`s schooldays relationships), and `Too Much of Anything` as well as compositions that are self-mocking autobiographies of The Who such as the ego-deflating `Faith in Something Bigger,` and the look at exhaustive touring `Postcard.` And to further round out the progression of this great band`s music, there are several tracks that came from The Who`s innovation in "rock operas"; `Glow Girl` and `Cousin Kevin Model Child` were early ideas for "Tommy," one of the very first rock operas, and important elements from the infamous, aborted "Lifehouse" album/film such as `Time is Passing,` `Put the Money Down` and most notably `Pure and Easy,` the "Odds and Sods" track that everyone remembers, demonstrating The Who`s desire to shed as much light on this unreleased material as that of their most memorable and well-known work. | | | | Even The Who`s Cast-Offs Are Worth a Listen | | As the title of the album clearly states, this is a hodge-podge collection of material which dates from 1964`s "I`m the Face" (when the band was known as The High Numbers) to 1974`s "Now I`m a Farmer" and "Naked Eye." Originally released on vinyl in January 1974 as a stopgap album between the release of Quadrophenia (late-1973) and The Who by Numbers (late-1974), the album contained only 11 tracks; this remastered edition more than doubles that to a total of 23 tracks. While this is not the place to begin your journey to the music of The Who, there is much here to enjoy and all of makes for fascinating listening. You get to hear the previously unreleased studio version of "Summertime Blues." There`s a cover of the Stone`s "Under My Thumb" with Pete on bass--John was on his honeymoon. "Cousin Kevin Model Child" allows you a chance to hear the original song that eventually morphed into "Cousin Kevin" on Tommy. "Pure and Easy" was first heard as a solo track on Townsend`s Who Came First. This is a terrific Who version that was originally intended for inclusion on Who`s Next. "Long Live Rock" is classic Who and should have been a monster single for the band. Instead, Entwhistle`s "Postcard"--an ode to touring on the road--was released and promptly went nowhere. Overall, this is a must-have for Who fanatics. For the casual listener, start with one of their many greatest hits packages. RECOMMENDED | | |
-- zzzz
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