1. Armenia City in the Sky
2. Heinz Baked Beans
3. Mary Anne with the Shakey Hand*
4. Odorono
5. Tattoo*
6. Our Love Was
7. I Can See for Miles
8. Can't Reach You
9. Medac
10. Relax
11. Silas Stingy
12. Sunrise
13. Rael (1 and 2)
A
We're in a nice period in the List where I'm already familiar with a lot of the albums, and can look forward to revisiting a lot of old favourites. The Who Sell Out is one of the only two Who albums I'd actually heard before commencing this project (the other being Who's Next, which I've never much cared for). And really, it's a brilliant album. Or rather, a brilliant side A of an album, and a fairly solid side B. I should probably point-out that the version available on Spotify is the '90s CD reissue, which includes a lot of bonus tracks. That's the version I'm familiar with, but in the interest of adhering as close to the original releases as possible, I'm only reviewing the original track order.
Even without the bonus tracks, though, this album is a blast. The concept is, frankly, brilliant - at the height of the movement towards authenticity and away from commercialism in music, the Who released an album stitched together from radio adverts and featuring songs plugging deodorant and pimple cream. The album cover is one of the most iconic in rock, featuring joke ads and the timeless image of Keith Moon sitting in a bathtub full of Heinz baked beans. This is the period where the Who declared themselves pop artists (as opposed to pop stars), and this album is dripping with irony about the commercialisation of music and the role of the musician. It's also structured as a pirate radio broadcast (hence the ads), and intended as a loving tribute to the medium that made the Who stars in the first place. The result is an album that, in concept, might be a little dated, but the humour of the proceedings (as well as the incredible strength of the songs) more than compensates.
As with My Generation, there's a wonderful variety to the music here. Opener "Armenia City in the Sky" is, oddly, not about the country of Armenia. It is however a storming psychedelic stomper that will stick in your head for days. "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" is a lovely, lilting pop number. "Tattoo" is a hilarious song about two boys getting tattoos to make themselves manlier, but musically it's almost impossible to pin down - a clear example of the Who innovating a new direction in rock. "Odorono" is a hilarious song about a woman undone in love due to the wrong choice of deodorant. And of course you have "I Can See for Miles", a thunderous psychedelic rocker featuring truly immortal drum work from Keith Moon, that manages to put down a lover completely without ever veering into misogyny.
The rest of the album can't really match these songs, and really after the infinite possibilities of side one side two is a bit of a let-down (although it does feature an early foray into the epic with the lengthy narrative "Rael", which I honestly can't follow). The radio format is largely abandoned, and the songs aren't as funny or catchy, though they're still good. But really, as with My Generation, that patchy, try anything quality is part of what made the Who at this point so endearing. This album is a treasure trove of unique, engaging songs, all tied together by the notion that these are different bands having their own songs played on the radio. It may not be perfect, but it's an amazing amount of fun.
Unfortunately after this the Who would become more serious, start producing rock operas, and wind-up creating the blueprint for overblown, pretentious rock. Which is a pity. I know some people might not think that, but as I said I don't even especially like Who's Next, so I doubt I'll be thrilled by Tommy. Then again the Who have won me over twice in a row now, so I'll remain optimistic. Even if they are directly responsible for ELP's Tarkus, they're also to be thanked for pioneering the medium that led to Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.
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