The Who - Maximum R&B Live

Repackaged compendium with bonus disc

Though nothing from the main feature, slightly expanded from the 90s VHS release, hasn’t been seen before, this collection of live clips of The Who’s first quarter century provides a convenient one-stop overview. The early monochrome footage of So Sad About Us and Anyway Anyhow Anywhere manages to be both cute and dynamic, while the more bombastic songs from Monterey, the Isle Of Wight and Charlton’s football ground deliver the group’s awesome power in spades.

As expected, some sequences are better filmed than others, but it’s when the cameras zoom in on John Entwistle that it becomes clear how his dextrous bass playing (sometimes overlooked on record) was, in its own way, as maniacal as anything his more agile bandmates were up to.

The additional disc comprises an entire 1981 show from Rockpalast in Germany, the more sedentary Kenney Jones filling the drum stool vacated by Keith Moon. But if Baba O’Reilly or 5:15 are lacking the fire of old, the gig at least gives us a chance to reappraise material from that year’s Face Dances album (Another Tricky Day, Don’t Let Go The Coat) which has rarely been played since.

Universal | 0602517836556 (2-DVD)

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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