The Who - Maximum As & Bs - The Complete Singles (RE-POST)

The Who - Maximum As & Bs  - The Complete Singles - 2017

from AMG

Given the sheer number of Who compilations over the years -- including The Who Hits 50!, a career-capping retrospective that appeared just three years prior to this 2017 box -- it may be easy to cast a cynical eye upon Maximum A's & B's, which it doesn't deserve. For one, there hasn't been a large-scale Who box set since 1994's Thirty Years of Maximum R&B -- most of the comps have been simple hits collections -- and, secondly, the Who benefit from having attention being drawn to their singles. At the dawn of their career, the Who mastered 7" blasts of pop art and even when Pete Townshend toiled over rock operas, he couldn't resist the pull of a 45, releasing non-LP singles as late as 1972 and hiding excellent songs on B-sides along the way. The Who continued to release singles over three-plus decades, using them as calling cards for reunions or samplers of latter-day live albums, and Maximum A's & B's collects them all, give or take a couple of variations in international markets. Its very comprehensiveness can be something of an Achilles Heel, particularly in the late '80s and '90s when the group were cranking out singles from fine but forgettable live albums, but putting the flops and B-sides alongside the weary warhorses winds up reviving the entirety of the Who's catalog. These oddities provide a bracing jolt of context: when they were Mods, they were grooving with the "Batman" theme -- later revived by the Jam in this arrangement -- saluted the Stones once Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were imprisoned, and invented Brit-pop with the flop "Dogs." After Tommy, some of Townshend's best songs found no room on albums -- "The Seeker," "Don't Know Myself," "Let's See Action," "Join Together," and "The Relay" never found a home -- as did a performance as phenomenal as a live 1972 B-side "Baby Don't You Do It," which has never been reissued prior to this collection. But perhaps the real revelation of Maximum A's & B's is how the 21st century reunion wound up producing bittersweet tunes that serve as an effective elegiac coda to their career. Usually, this latter-day material seems like an afterthought, but thanks to the weight of this box, it's given its proper space and helps illustrate just how remarkable the entirety of the Who's career is. 

Disc: 1
01. Zoot Suit
02. I'm the Face
03. I Can't Explain
04. Bald Headed Woman
05. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
06. Daddy Rolling Stone
07. My Generation
08. Shout and Shimmy
09. Circles (AKA 'Instant Party')
10. Instant Party Mixture
11. A Legal Matter
12. The Kids Are Aright
13. The Ox
14. La - La
15. The Good's Gone

Disc: 2
01. Substitute
02. Circles
03. Waltz For A Pig
04. I'm A Boy
05. In The City
06. Disguises
07. Batman
08. Bucket T
09. Barbara Ann
10. Happy Jack
11. I've Been Away
12. Pictures Of Lily
13. Doctor, Doctor
14. The Last Time
15. Under My Thumb
16. I Can See For Miles
17. Someone's Coming
18. Dogs
19. Call Me Lightning
20. Magic Bus
21. Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Disc: 3
01. Pinball Wizard
02. Dogs Part Two
03. The Seeker
04. Here For More
05. Summertime Blues
06. Heaven And Hell
07. See Me Feel Me / Listening To You
08. Overture From Tommy
09. Christmas
10. I'm Free
11. Won't Get Fooled Again
12. Don't Know Myself
13. Let's See Action
14. When I Was A Boy
15. Join Together
16. Baby Don't You Do It
17. Relay
18. Wasp Man

Disc: 4
01. 5:15
02. Water
03. Listening To You / See Me Feel Me (Soundtrack Version)
04. Overture (Soundtrack Version)
05. Squeeze Box
06. Success Story
07. Who Are You
08. Had Enough
09. Long Live Rock
10. My Wife (Live)
11. 5:15 (Soundtrack Version)
12. I'm One (Soundtrack Version)
13. You Better You Bet
14. The Quiet One
15. Don't Let Go The Coat
16. You

Disc: 5
01. Athena
02. A Man Is A Man
03. Eminence Front
04. It's Your Turn
05. Twist And Shout (Live)
06. I Can't Explain (Live)
07. Bony Maronie (Live)
08. Join Together (Live)
09. I Can See For Miles (Live)
10. Behind Blue Eyes (Live)
11. Real Good Looking Boy
12. Old Red Wine
13. Sound Round
14. Pick Up The Peace
15. Endless Wire
16. We Got a Hit
17. They Make My Dream Come True
18. Mirror Door
19. I Can't Explain (2014 Stereo remix)

+@320 with complet art-cover