THE WHO — Live At Leeds (review)

THE WHO — Live At Leeds album cover Live album · 1970 · Proto-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
This review is of the 2001 deluxe edition of the album. If it were of previous versions, I'd have probably knocked half star off. Whilst it is a legendary loud and noisy album, the first disc of the 2001 edition (which more or less conveys the content of the expanded 1995 edition, with the Tommy track moved to the Tommy performance) is actually a bit hit and miss. When it's good, it's fantastic, but there are little niggles here and there that stop me getting into it. First off, all the between-songs banter has been preserved, and whilst this does give an honest look at what the live performance was like it also occasionally drags on for too long - the worse instance of this is the intro to A Quick One While He's Away, which is absolutely interminable (and, when the band start sniggering about underage girls being "seduced" by old men, really kind of disturbing in retrospect). Also, when the band try to play some of their lighter, gentler, airier studio material, their naturally raucous stage presence means it doesn't quite come across right.

However, the absolute top reason to acquire the 2001 deluxe remaster is the full performance of Tommy presented on the second disc - truly what most Who concert-goers were turning out to see at that point in time - and that's where you get your money's worth. Songs which seemed limp and lifeless to my ears on the studio disc are invested with a thunderous, all conquering-power that makes this my preferred version of the Who's most famous rock opera. Two and a half stars for disc 1, three and a half stars for the Tommy disc, three stars overall.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Thorn Metalcore
TIDE HAS TURNED
Buy this album from MMA partners
Write The Story, Change The Plot Metalcore
AETHERIALITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tea Time & Fault Metalcore
AETHERIALITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
The God Particle US Power Metal
ATTACKER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Mortality Technical Death Metal
REPLICANT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Tide Has Turned - "Slave to Misery" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 7 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - "Letdown" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 7 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - "Break Away" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 7 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - Far From Reality (Official Lyric Video)
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 7 hours ago
Tide Has Turned - "Cave In" (Official Music Video) | BVTV Music
TIDE HAS TURNED
Bosh66· 7 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed