The Who “Who’s Next” released 50 years ago today, August 14th, 1971. Who’s Next was The Who’s fifth studio LP and is considered their best; it’s also ranked one of the best rock albums of the 70′s and of all-time. It went to # 1 in the UK and to # 4 in the US and has some of The Who’s most well-known and iconic songs including “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Behind Blue Eyes.” Most of the songs were intended to be part of another Who rock opera, “Lifehouse,” but that project was abandoned for a bunch of reasons (I started reading a book about that project awhile ago but it got waaayyy to bogged down in a million techy details so I’ve set it aside). “Won’t Get Fooled Again” was the first single from Who’s Next; it went to #9 in the UK and #15 in the US. It closes the album, was to close Lifehouse and is the finale to most of The Who’s concerts (it was the last song Keith Moon ever performed before his death). “Baba O’Riley” aka “Teenage Wasteland” was the second single but was only released in a few European countries, not in the US or the UK. Despite that, it’s arguably the best-known Who song (tied perhaps with “Won’t Get Fooled Again”) and continues to be a teenage anthem to this day (my teenager and his friends all know it and can sing along, like I could in the 80′s and other teens could in the 90′s, etc. etc.) While Roger Daltry sings most of the song, Pete Townshend sings a portion, his voice straining to reach the high notes of “teenage wasteland” making it seem extra-desperate. It too was supposed to part of “Lifehouse” and its title references Meher Baba, Townsend’s guru, and Terry Riley, his musical mentor. The final single from Who’s Next was “Behind Blue Eyes” which went to #34 in the US (they did not release it in the UK). It’s another classic Who track that also was intended for “Lifehouse.” I also really like “Love Ain’t For Keeping,” a nice light and bouncy, hard acoustic love song and the anthemic and harmonizing “Getting in Tune.”