Some true Who grit is exposed on "Live At Leeds" especially Young Man Blues and My Generation. I do love I Can See For Miles, but I think it was a song for the times where it had to be airplay (radio) friendly hence the not so heavy or urgent sound, maybe...

Cannot wait to watch this one great Song so many good who songs love you love your analysis as always

The Who have a number of great eras to appreciate, but my favorite comes from 1971 Live at Leeds. No synth or high production, just raw power, and no other band played with such power and excellence. Young Man Blues, Amazing Journey/Sparks, Magic Bus, or my favorite My Generation - like a runaway freight train, the powerful bangers keep coming, with some of Pete's best work backed by John's driving base lines and Keith's machine gun fills. Incredible!!!

my teenage years!! peace and love from Canada

Before Led Zeppelin, the Who were the hard edged British Rock band. And they jammed! ✌️❤️🎶

Had to watch... I'm seeing "The Who" (Pete & Roger) tonight. Looking forward to it. Been a fan for years.

Foreshadowing Tommy. Amazing cut. far ahead of its time. Moon was astounding. Imagine how this played on AM radio. Sounds even better today in stereo.

This is a very early track that they played live throughout their career. It was typically one of the opening songs of the set.

Thanks for your brilliant intelligent and passionate analyses. Fantastic job. I agree with others that the Who's live albums from 1970-1971 are probably the best live music ever recorded. There is Live at Leeds and Live at the Isle of Wight. So many great tracks to choose from but my particular favourites are their covers of Young Man Blues, Summertime Blues and Shakin all over. Please also look at Steve Winwood when in the Spencer Davis Group performing Keep on Running and Gimme some Lovin. I think you will be blown away. There is a brilliant live recording of the latter from Finland.

Now yer talkin'. "I Can See For Miles" is more than in stereo - it's in _3D._ And _Sgt Pepper_ wasn't the progenitor of the London Psychedelic scene, it was a product of the scene. It had already popped off in 1965-1966 & The Who were already expanding their sound by then. Pete's fertile imagination is the key, not any direct "Beatles influence" - it was the other way around.

when I was a kid it was their stuff from the early to mid 70s that was on the radio all the time like that whole album, who's next where they are all standing around something that looks a lot like the Space Odyssey 2001 slab ( the movie was relatively still kind of recent at the time and it was a huge deal). but when I started hearing stuff by The Who from when they were earlier I also loved it immediately, including this song. it really gave me the feeling of being elevated and maybe flying above the landscape and being To See For Miles and Miles and Miles all the way to the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower and also could magically see through any bullshit people were trying to pull off an interpersonal relationships, laugh. loved it. there are so many great ones from back then. just look up there early collection called Eaty Meaty Big and Bouncy, which became a huge album in its own right. the first one to grab me even more than this one was called pictures of lily. it's just such a beautiful but raw and kinetic song and the subject matter is about a somewhat serious topic but it's totally hilarious. also another favorite that I even heard on the radio sometimes from then was Boris the spider. it's really ahead of its time. it's so strange with this really super low bass line.

Spot on!

This song was promoted by Townshend as the “dirtiest, hardest, nastiest, and loudest record ever made.” Paul McCartney read that and then changed his song, Helter Skelter, from being an acoustic number turning it into a song that is credited as being the birth of Heavy Metal.

When McCartney heard ICSFM he decided to write Helter Skelter (1968) to show what is a "the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, et cetera"...

The Who are one of my favorite bands - awesome with a deep catalog so keep exploring. This one probably does not make their top 20 songs. Also, I think the recording and production were not quite there yet. I'd suggest next: "Love Reign O'er Me", "Pinball Wizard", and "Who Are You". For a look to the 80's, "Eminence Front".

Love reign o'er me from quadrophenia

Pete thought that this was one of his best songs. He was very disappointed that it never reached top 5 in the USA.

Yes it’s artwork you don’t have to interpret it in some kind of exact precise linear way it can mean many different things that’s what a great artist like it has many different meetings can be applied many different ways

Great reaction. This was a song that was ahead of it's time: psychedelic in sound (before that was a trend). But unlike other psychedelic tracks, it's not trippy and meandering -- it's focused, tight, angry and powerful.

definitely early psychedelic rock great reaction

You speak of attitude. As I might have said before, The Who were punk a decade before there WAS punk.

This song and Eight Miles High by the Byrds were THE psychedelic FM radio songs at the time.

This fits into the psychedelic rock mode of the late 60’s. OMG…. You just said it was more psychedelic! 😁. Great minds think alike and all that. ✌️

I saw The Who when this was a hit. They were not that popular and the 5,000 seat arena was half empty. They blew the roof off the place. I saw them four more times as years went by. They deserve their super-star status. Love your reactions.

The only way to see the Who is live. You miss so much of the performance with audio only. The Kinks also need to be heard and seen for the complete package. Many good videos with excellent lyrics & music come at you from Ray Davies & company for so many years. "You Really Got Me", "Tired of Waiting for You", "Sunny Afternoon" , for invasion tunes and hundreds more over the years. They a had a very successful period in the 80tys, all over the radio & MTV. Moody Blues, Yes, give King Crimson's 1969 21st Century Schizoid Man album a listen if you want a range of reactions. Steve Winwood's voice, he sounded like Ray Charles when he was 15 years. Still does at 74. He wrote "Can’t Find My Way Home", at a young age. His writing will give you plenty of fine music and sounds. Think of the Super group Blind Faith, the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and more. He played with many legends as an equal or as a Hero in his long career! Enough for now! Amelas one

This was the Who's highest charting single, their only top ten hit. They were mostly a live and an album oriented group.

The Who has their own sound. Nobody sounds like The Who. Most underappreciated band in Rock N Roll. The Stones are called the bad boys of Rock N Roll, but The Who holds that title on stage and off. Many bands have copied The Who's signature moves and always will. Try "I'm Free", "Bargain".

I take it as seeing through the chaos of the time, who was pulling the strings and the lies being fed to the masses.. Great reaction, as usual.

I think you're missing the point a little. 'I can see for miles' doesn't go full pelt because it's a masterclass in pace and the art of knowing when to go full on and when to pull back - those pause moments beautifully, starkly filled out by Moon's drumming.

This is another good one from the Who. To me it exhibits a bit of growth but they didn't really take off until Tommy - a couple years later. These days people refer to almost anything as psychedelic. I can report that it was not considered psychedelic at the time. It's really just a straight rock song. It has the Who swagger. Thanks for the reaction. Note; There really weren't that many songs that were truly psychedelic. It meant breaking free of rock/pop boundaries. Just VERY difficult to do. THAT is why so many musicians admire the Beatles - they were able to pull it off. Following is a list of psychedelic songs from back then - I left out the Beatles and the Stones American: Green Tambourine - Lemon Pipers Incense and Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night - the Electric Prunes Groovin’ - Rascals Alone Again - Love Pictures of Matchstick Men - Status Quo Crimson and Clover - Tommy James and the Shondels Eight Miles High - Byrds Time Has Come Today - The Chambers Brothers Good Vibrations - Beach Boys British: Ichycoo Park - Smal Faces Knights in White Satin - Moody Blues Wear Your Love Like Heaven - Donovan Sky Pilot - the Animals White Room - Cream

Try on the Byrds “Eight Miles High” for a similar sonic landscape

brilliant

One feature that I love about the track that you didn't mention in your analysis is the amazing harmonies in the choruses. While some of the chords hit in the harmonies are expected, there are also some very unusual ones in there which take some figuring out (even for someone like me with near perfect pitch). It just adds that little bot of extra interest to the track IMO.

Early Who is a hoot (Whoot?) Try Boris the Spider!

I didn’t take it as “seeing through someone’s facade” I took it as dude has super powers. On a clear day he can see the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower

The Who are sort of a paradox. Early stuff, like this and My Generation, had a big influence on the energy and attitude Punk, but their operatic 70's music was exactly what the Punks were reacting against. I love it all, but in historical context the early stuff probably had more influence for a longer time.

Gem

Very psychedelic. Reminiscent of the Haight/Ashbury days in San Francisco. After all, The Who performed at Woodstock.

Nice reaction, thanks man. The oldies are great fun listening. Pictures of Lilly by THE WHO is one of my favorites. The lyrics are so funny. It's about a guy in his puberty looking at pictures of a beautiful lady. Lilly oh Lilly....Lilly ooohhh Lilly 🤣🤣 Also a verry nice mean guitar playing by Pete Townshend. Great song, hope you will react to it. Take care and hello from the Netherlands 👊👍😁

This was pretty heavy for AM radio at the time which is where we heard songs for the first time. You knew this band had something special.

It was my understanding that it was about their managers. But to hide the true meaning, he threw in the line about seeing you holding lots of other guys. But it's Keith Moon the drummer who gets the best lick in during the instrumental passage in the middle. Townsend thought he had written a Number 1 hit, and when it failed to top the charts he slammed the British record buying public in the press. At the time I thought it was their best up to that point in their career. Just before Tommy.

Considered the heaviest song ever until Paul McCartney topped it with "Helter Skelter", perhaps the first metal track (some antiquarians dispute that).

The Who Sell out is a loose concept album where the tracks are interspersed with what sounds like commercias as you would then get on UK pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline or Radio London . Disapproved of by the government but the kids loved them and listened constantly spurning the BBC.. However as you listen on further to T W S.O these " ads ' are often piss takes of the real thing mockingly voiced over by Keith Moon. It is a very different concept album from Sgt Pepper which was still all the rage at this time

Pinball Wizard is a great one and was big hit.

You are such a good reactor, and you bring some refreshing energy to this side of content creation. I would really like to see your reaction of Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing! AND do a follow-up video with the "Alchemy live" version of the song, as it is my humble opinion that its one of the best live performances of all time!

Let the song play till the end then talk about it !!!!!!

Weird thing..I've listened to the who my entire life and I just now am wondering why an English band, (or English person) would write the lyric, "miles" , instead of kilometers. I've never been to England but I was under the impression that they used the metric system. Its kinda fun to think about why. Mabey to appeal to a larger market, America, or mabey just it fit the poetic verse better.

I thought this came fro the Tommy rock opera album.

This was 2yrs after my generation and part of Pete's songwriting evolution.

This was Townshend's masterpiece that greatly disappointed by only reaching No. 9 on the UK charts and made Pete turn away from singles to rock opera, big theme projects.

I don't understand how you think it didn't have a sense of power and urgency? To me the song is very menacing and powerful and is propelled by Keth Moons drums.

You. Red to check out stuff from quadrophenia - their other masterpiece

Hey buddy you need to react to Tommy or Quadrophenia as a whole to get a feal for how talented The Who really were even watch the kids are alright

"Magic Bus"

Please, please, please react to Young Man Blues live from the Isle of Wight! Seeing and hearing the power, and fierce intensity is essential to appreciating The Who as one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever. I will likely get a beat down for saying this but As a live band I personally prefer them over such icons as The Stones and Zep

On The Who Sell Out Peter is formulating Tommy with many songs focused on the 5 senses. For me this song is a close contender to have been on the Tommy LP.

Check out Jimi Hendrex

One of the best songs on the Who's very best album. Pretty sure it's just about a girl.

Syed…please react to the live version of Won’t Get Fooled Again from 1978. It’s pretty epic. Make sure it’s the right one !