The Who has set Sept. 15 for the long-awaited box set of “Who’s Next,” paired with the remains of its genesis, Pete Townshend’s aborted “Life House” project.
The Super Deluxe edition of “Who’s Next | Life House” comes loaded on 10 CDs, remastered by longtime Who engineer Jon Astley.
An additional Blu-ray Audio disc contains new Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes of “Who’s Next” by audio wizard Steven Wilson. (The bad news: If you want the Blu-ray, you’ll have to buy the CD box set.)
The CD box set contains 155 tracks, 89 are previously unreleased. There are 57 new remixes.
The box set includes Townshend’s demos for “Life House”; the Who’s 1971 session recordings at the Record Plant; sessions at Olympic Studios (London) from 1970-1972; and 1971 concerts from London’s Young Vic Theatre and San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium.
Townshend writes in his introduction to the set, “some wonderful music came from the (‘Life House’) project, and the idea has always held me in thrall, partly because so many of the strands of the fiction seem to be coming true.”
In addition to the rock opera, Townshend envisioned a sci-fi movie of “Life House”:
“After the success of ‘Tommy,’ providing the Who with a very powerful and uplifting concert piece as well as a hit album, I tried to create an audacious music project that would replace it musically for stage and album.”
But, he admits, “the fiction and the experiment were both flawed, and neither were properly realized.”
Townshend released the CD box set “Lifehouse Chronicles” in 2011. (Lifehouse/Life House was commonly presented as one word before the new release.)
The full-boat “Who’s Next | Life House” set also includes “vinyl replicas” of Townshend’s “Life House” acetates. Goodies include a 100-page hardback book, a lengthy graphic novel and concert knickknacks. The box set will street for about $300.
Parts of the project also will be available as breakouts: four-LP (“Who’s Next” and San Francisco show, $100) and three-LP (album and “Life House” demos, $90).
A half-speed vinyl version of “Who’s Next” is available solo, for about $40.
Also look for a two-CD version with the newly remastered album and highlights from the 10-CD box. And a single CD of the classic rock album.
This being the Who, there are various merch configurations involving T-shirts and colored vinyl. Presales so far appear limited to the Who’s web site.
The Who released a seven-disc version of “The Who Sell Out” in 2021.
Here is the lineup for the box set of “Who’s Next | Life House”:
CD 1: Who’s Next (remastered)
CD 2: Life House Demos 1970-1971, part 1
CD 3: Life House Demos 1970-1971, part 2
CD 4: Record Plant, New York sessions, March 1971
CD 5: OIympic Sound Studios, London sessions 1970-1972
CD 6: Singles & Sessions 1970-1972
CD 7: Live at the Young Vic, London 1971, part 1
CD 8: Live at the Young Vic, London 1971, part 2
CD 9: Live at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco 1971, part 1
CD 10: Live at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco 1971, part 2
Blu-ray Audio: Who’s Next and 14 bonus tracks. Steven Wilson mixes Atmos / 5.1 mix / stereo