Eagle Vision has released a series of DVDs under the Classic Albums banner that analyses and explores some of the most important rock albums of the 20th Century. Falling into that category is one of the most powerful and exciting albums released by The Who: Who's Next. Produced by a group that has a catalog of energetic and well crafted albums, this 1971 record is a giant step forward for the band, both in Pete Townshend's song writing ability and the group's musical ability. This DVD, originally released in 2000, looks at the whole disc through interviews with the band themselves, the sound engineer who recorded the album, and others associated with the recording. Though casual fans of the disc will probably be bored by the minutia and technical details of the album's creation, those who want to learn all they can about this seminal record will be thrilled.

After a very brief overview of the band's history, the disc really starts getting detailed right after Tommy, the Who's first 'rock opera'. This was the record that launched them into super-stardom, but also left them with a problem: how do they top that? The answer was Lifehouse, a very ambitious multi-media project that was Pete Townshend's brain child. He has the idea for a new opera, but one where the audience's feedback would be just as important as the songs themselves. It would end up being released as a movie, a soundtrack album, and a live concert. Pete had a good idea of what this creation was going to be about, but no one else seemed to understand it (as the other band members and associates of the band willingly admit.) After renting out a theater and playing songs for a hand picked audience, rewriting the music, and repeating the process over and over, the project stagnated and it was obvious it wasn't going anywhere.

Taking the best of the music that had been written, the band was eventually convinced to go into the studio and record it. The result was Who's Next, and while there are only glimpses of Pete's original concept apparent in the record, it is an amazing accomplishment that has stood the test of time.

This DVD has a lot of interesting things that die-hard Who fans, like myself, will find exciting. I've read a lot about the aborted Lifehouse project, but it was great seeing Pete Townshend explain the concept and process in his own words. Hearing Roger and John, along with several other people involved with it state that they never fully understood what Pete was getting at was a bit humorous.

While the anecdotes are interesting, the real mouth watering section of this disc is when they are in the studio with the original multi-track tapes of the recording sessions. The sound engineer relates how some of the songs were recorded, which members were playing at the same time and which tracks were overdubbed, and then plays the individual tracks. He then layers one track over the other until he has all of the elements incorporated. It was great to hear just John's bass or Keith's drumming during some of the songs. There are details and nuances to there performances that get lost in the mix that fans can hear for the first time.

Another high point in the disc was when Pete demonstrated and described how he created the synthesizer track for Won't Get Fooled Again in his home studio. This was the first time (arguably) a synthesizer had really come to the front of a song and been part of the rhythm track. The multilayered feel of the track adds a lot to the song and the fact that it wasn't looped when it was recorded was amazing.

The only real complaint that I have with this disc is that it's only an hour long. They glossed over some of the songs, such as the Entwistle-penned My Wife, and some vintage interview clips would have been a welcome addition. Even with these critiques, this is a very nice look at an extraordinary album.

Audio:

The stereo soundtrack is very nice. The music comes through loud and clear with nice dynamic range and the dialog is easy to discern. I'm also glad they didn't create a 5.1 mix for this disc. It wasn't needed and would have distracted from content of the disc. There are no subtitles.

Video:

The full frame was also very satisfactory. With the show only running an hour, there is plenty of room on the disc for this show, and no compression artifacts are present. The color looks fine and the contrast is good. A nice looking DVD.

Extras:

Unfortunately there are no extras on this disc. I would have really enjoyed outtakes from the various interviews that were conducted to create this program, but alas there are none.

Final Thoughts:

This disc is only aimed at big fans of The Who and their album Who's Next. There's a lot of information about the creation of this fantastic record that many causal fans will find yawn inspiring, but those who are interesting in the history and genesis of this seminal LP will really enjoy this look behind the scenes. For those people this DVD is Highly Recommended.