6) The Who

Vocals: Roger Daltery
Guitar: Pete Townshend
Bass: John Entwistle
Drums: Keith Moon

The Who is one of the very few bands in which people can identify every member. They are an eclectic group of individuals each promoting their own style. The member that most people would initially associate The Who with is Peter Townshend. He is best known for his windmill guitar playing and his creative songwriting. At vocals there is Roger Daltrey and he is best recognized for his fantastic voice and his stage presence. At drums there is Keith Moon, possibly the most notorious drummer of any band, his crazy antics and lightning quick drumming are what make him so well known. Finally there is the quiet member John Entwistle. He is the bassist, who is very calm and collected and just lets his incredible talent do the talking. This incredible group of individuals took on Rock and R&B and created some of the greatest music anyone has ever heard. Their stage presence was just phenomenal, and will always be remembered as the band that started the now common wrecking their instruments at the end of the show. They busted on the seen with the album “My Generation” and released “I Can’t Explain” as their first single. Soon after “I Can’t Explain” they released a rock anthem which would be taken on by every young generation with “My Generation.” The song feels like a complete assault with thunderous drumming by the great Keith Moon. This was only a start for much better things to come. Their third album which was a concept album “The Who Sells Out” showed Townshend’s extremely original ideas. When listening you get the feeling that you are listening to a radio station rather than an album. This album would lead to the concept album of ALL concept albums “Tommy.” Some may recognize “Tommy” more as the Broadway play rather than the astonishing rock opera by The Who. The story of a deaf, dumb, and blind kid proved that Townshend could write a full fledged rock opera which wasn’t just a story with so-so music but a rock opera with fantastic music to back it up. Next “The Who” would come with what I feel is their strongest album “Who’s Next.” Sometimes when listening to this album I wonder if I’m listening to a greatest hits album instead of just one of the many Who albums. The album contains some songs like “Baba O’Reilly,” “Bargain,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” After the success of “Who’s Next” Townshend and crew went back to the rock opera and released “Quadrophenia.” This album is probably stronger musically than “Tommy.” It goes over the story of a boy named Jimmy going through the issues of being a mod during the 60’s. In 1978 the almighty Keith Moon released his final album with The Who, “Who Are You.” Unfortunately he died due to a drug overdose. The Who went on to recruit a new drummer for future albums but the sound was never quite the same without the man who seemed to be not quite human. This group of mods went on to take the world by storm and in my opinion should be remembered as the Loudest rock band in the world.