Product Description

Only three albums into its recording career, the Who had already begun to distance itself from its proletarian R&B beginnings. Here, songwriter Pete Townshend follows up on the rock-opera idea he had introduced on A QUICK ONE with the extended, multi-part composition "Rael" and would later expand upon with TOMMY. The band had also begun exploring the form of the concept album. The songs are connected by bits of fakeradio commercials and brass fanfares, and there's a little of everything thrown into the mix. All-out rockers like the vengeful "I Can See For Miles" vie for the listener's attention with the romantic declarations of "Our Love Was" and thesoft, folky "Maryanne With The Shaky Hand" on this impressively eclectic album.

Track Listing

1. Armenia City In The Sky
2. Heinz Baked Beans
3. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
4. Odorono
5. Tattoo
6. Our Love Was
7. I Can See For Miles
8. I Can't Reach You
9. Medac
10. Relax
11. Silas Stingy
12. Sunrise
13. Rael 1
14. Rael 2
15. Glittering Girl
16. Melancholia
17. Someone's Coming
18. Jaguar
19. Early Morning Cold Taxi
20. Hall Of The Mountain King
21. Girl's Eyes
22. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
23. Glow Girl

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2817 in Music
• Released on: 1997-03-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Who Sell Out's pirate-radio concept goes south in the album's second half--the Who ran out of time before they could write enough faux commercials--but it still remains in many ways their best and most entertaining album. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle supply song after great song, and along with Keith Moon play them with power and focus. The classic single "I Can See for Miles" is matched on at least a handful of tracks, including the opening psychedelic-pop blast of "Armenia City in the Sky" (written by Townshend pal Speedy Keen), the hilarious social-interaction tales "Odorono" and "Tattoo", and the majestic mini-opus "Rael". This remaster's bonus tracks are occasionally too much of a good thing, but the Tommy rough draft "Glow Girl" is brilliant. --Rickey Wright

From Amazon.com
The Who Sell Out's pirate-radio concept goes south in the album's second half--the Who ran out of time before they could write enough faux commercials--but it still remains in many ways their best and most entertaining album. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle supply song after great song, and along with Keith Moon play them with power and focus. The classic single "I Can See for Miles" is matched on at least a handful of tracks, including the opening psychedelic-pop blast of "Armenia City in the Sky" (written by Townshend pal Speedy Keen), the hilarious social-interaction tales "Odorono" and "Tattoo," and the majestic mini-opus "Rael." This remaster's bonus tracks are occasionally too much of a good thing, but the Tommy rough draft "Glow Girl" is brilliant. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

A Newcomer's View.
Having read through a lot of reviews/comments about this album, I find the accepted view to be, that it is a great album, comparable to their best and that this 'version' comes with some good, but not necessarily essential, bonus material.
Oh, and there are even some people who don't like it.

Well I actually count myself lucky that I came to this album only recently because it means my view of it wasn't skewed by familiarity with its much shorter former incarnation. I actually played it as is, unaware that the additional tracks had not been part of the original release.

My impression was one astonishment. Why was this album not widely trumpeted as one of the greatest works of the sixties? Why was "Tommy" considered a better album? I was mystified. A double album(as it must have been judging by its length)of this quality would surely be included in all those 'Best Album...' lists.
The truly amazing thing is the way that, although it is not a 'concept album' the music fits together to create an incredible barrage of striking imagery that all coalesces perfectly to create a 'whole' that really is greater than the sum of its parts. One of the strengths of the album is the lack(!) of well known tracks(the only one I knew beforehand was 'I Can See For Miles') this gives the record a lovely 'balanced feel'.

I find it very strange, now that I am aware of the original track listing, to think that the album was ever released without 'Early Morning Cold Taxi', the stunning instrumental showcase 'Hall of the Mountain King' and perhaps the gem of the whole album 'Girl's Eyes'(a perfect and sympathetic depiction of the fixated fan/band relationship).

It isn't the easiest "Who" album to like(it took me a few plays before it started to 'click'), and in this form there is so much more to digest than before, but I would suggest it has the potential to be the most rewarding long term listen of all their albums.

another masterpiece
first off, this album is not too easy to get into. on the first few listens you might dismiss it and let it gather dust on your shelf. this happened to me until some friends endorsed it and i decided to go back to it and give it another few tries. well, i found it growing and growing on me and now i couldnt live without it. this is a celebration of the glorious pop culture of the early 60's. like that time, its full of fun and magic. the songs flow into each other beautifully with the help of some fun jingles. turn up loud and enjoy! what about the songs? - they're all great and criminally underrated. highlights are: the opening track, odorono, our love was (pure perfect pop; as good as, if not better than any early lennon/mccartney stuff) i can see for miles, etc etc...they also did a great thing on this album - inbetween the glorious pop records they stuck a hard rocking cynical track (i can see for miles)and the exquisite classical "sunrise". this is pete's "blackbird". so you have to give this album time, because it does have a different sound to most stuff, but it is definately worth it.

Disappointing...
I don't like this album. The queasy, psychedelic pop within is not my cup of tea at all. I was expecting some raunchy, maximum R&B, but the only track that delivers is 'I Can See For Miles'. The jingles are quite funny and i like the concept, but there is no substance here. I saw The Who live this time last year, they were brilliant. But non of their recordings live up to their stage presence (it also came as no surprise to me that non of the material on this album was played). I think that The Beatles, Stones, Kinks and Small Faces all live up to the hype, where as The Who's recordings have aged terribly and seem dated, stagnant and quite frankly exceedingly boring. Of course there's the odd gem, but that's what greatest hits are for. You'd be hard pressed to whittle The Beatles back catalog down to an album that would accurately display their brilliance. It would be very easy to do that with The Who.