“The Who Sell Out” is back on sale. New! Improved! Or at least greatly expanded.
The band’s groundbreaking third album returns in April via a rerelease campaign fronted by a deluxe seven-disc box set.
1967’s “The Who Sell Out,” is a blast, full of fun and fire, with no fewer than a half dozen killer songs. A vocal minority of critics and fans consider the album the band’s best.
Some go further. The critic Dave Marsh has called it the best rock album of the 1960s.
“The Who Sell Out” ranks No. 42 on PsychSight’s list of the top 50 psychedelic albums.
The concept album — using the term loosely but correctly — served as a farewell to the Orrible Who’s youth, a time of balls-to-the-wall pop singles and goofy novelty numbers.
Release label Geffen accurately bills the album as a “bold depiction of the period in which it was made, the tail-end of the ‘swinging ’60s’ meets pop art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop.”
The “Deluxe Remastered Edition” features the album in both mono and stereo mixes. These do not appear to be new. (The album previously was released in at least three mixes.)
The swarm of bonus tracks brings “14 previously unheard Pete Townshend demos, studio sessions, outtakes, unheard jingles and more.” Many of the bonus tracks will be familiar to those who bought previous expanded versions, although all of the CDs contain at least a few unreleased recordings.
Most of discs 3 (“Studio Sessions 1967/68”) and 5 (“Pete Townshend Original Demos”) are made up of unreleased tracks. The digital edition has even more goodies. There is, alas, no 5.1 mix on offer, nor is there a Blu-ray/high-res rendering.
Many of the bonus tracks have no direct connection with the “Sell Out” project, such as the uncut stereo version of “Magic Bus” and covers of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time” and “Under My Thumb.” Who collector faves “Dogs,” “Jaguar” and “Early Morning Cold Taxi” are repeated here. (Owners of the 2009 two-CD set will want to compare and contrast.)
Fans of “Sell Out” will get a peek inside with early takes of “Relax,” “Rael” and “I Can See for Miles.” There also are alternate versions of the album’s faux AM radio commercials, such as “Odorono” and “Heinz Baked Beans.”
There are two bonus 7-inch discs, one with an early mono mix of “I Can See for Miles” and another with a mono “Magic Bus.”
The new box set is heavily art-directed, featuring nine posters, replica ephemera, and an 80-page hard-bound book with rare photos and new liner notes by Townshend.
The set is preselling for about $140. It’s due April 23.
Also on offer are a two-CD version incorporating the big set’s discs 1 and 2, and a double-disc vinyl album with the album and selected bonus tracks in stereo. The Who web site is selling a vinyl mono version with one disc in “Odorono red” and other in “baked beans orange.”
My favorite Who album evah!!
Remember buying this when it first came out and taking it to my girlfreinds house. We put it on the turntable in their big wooden entertainment center, got her Mom in and convinced her we had picked up a British radio station. At least for a while!
IMHO, The Who’s best album.
“What’s for tea, daugher?”