Unless you're talking about a fine wine, using "matured" in a sentence makes you sound pretentious. You didn't even offer a real opinion on the maturation of The Who, you just said 'it's interesting'.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Fine, they went from being a mod group to becoming increasingly philosophical as they explored the possibilities of the rock opera, taking much more influence from progressive rock and punk rock in time. Even after they reached their peak in popularity (which I believe to be somewhere in between Who's Next and Who Are You) they continued to grow intellectually as a group, and you see this even in their 2006 album Endless Wire. That doesn't mean they've gotten worse, it means they have gotten less accessible. How's that for an opinion?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Still sounds rather pretentious to me.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

What Who era did you prefer the most?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not sure about the era, but Quadrophenia is my favorite album, mainly because that is what got me interested in the group. The earlier albums are really fun to listen to, especially when listening to the songs that were based on the most absurd stories (like "Pictures of Lily.") Tommy had the appeal of dealing with the serious issues of violence and trauma, plus even if one was never traumatized the character of Tommy is relatable to those who feel isolated from the world. I think their high point began with Who's Next because it was based on a concept which continued to develop in later albums, the concept of music, specifically one note, being a driving force of the universe. I think to an extent this is true, since music can unify. Most albums after that (with the exception of Quadrophenia) continue to develop this idea, as well as starting to view their lives with more cynicism. I find some relatable songs on The Who by Numbers and Who Are You. I cannot relate to many of the songs on later albums, although "Eminence Front" is a particularly great song for its description of superficial behavior. Listening to Endless Wire is a better experience if you understand its loose plot.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Also, I forgot to mention "Dangerous" from It's Hard.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It's interesting to do this with bands that have been around awhile. It's the same with lots of art forms, I think.

by Anonymous 11 years ago