Noel Gallagher picks his favourite album by The Who
By the end of the 1960s, The Who were slowly shedding their traditional Mod skin. After blowing up rock and roll to gargantuan proportions with songs like ‘My Generation’, the next phase of their career saw Pete Townshend writing elaborate productions on every one of their albums, crafting the first rock operas like Tommy and Quadrophenia. Although the stories contained some of the greatest tracks in rock history, they didn’t resonate with a young Noel Gallagher.
When working through some of his favourite artists as a kid, Gallagher often listened to compilations of people’s best material. After being asked about his influences from mainstream rock music, Gallagher was unashamed about his fascination with compilations, saying in a documentary on Definitely Maybe, “For bands starting out, they’re only playing what’s in their record collections. Now, they may have had a more eclectic record collection than you, but my collection consists of Beatles, Bowie, T Rex, and lots of greatest hits”.
One of the staples of Gallagher’s record collection was The Who’s The Ultimate Collection, containing some essential tracks cherrypicked from their classic period. When asked about some of his favourites for The Quietus, Gallagher thought it was totally appropriate to use the greatest hits as a guide, remarking, “Now, some people give you shit for picking a best of over a studio album, but The Who are totally one of those bands. I do not dig any of their albums. The only album that isn’t a hits collection I can sit through from start to finish is Live At Leeds”.
While Tommy might be linked to its main storyline, this collection brings together every facet of The Who’s career under one roof, including their first singles like ‘I Can’t Explain’ and the landmark productions happening on songs like ‘The Real Me’ and ‘Bargain’. Even a handful of songs never found their way onto a studio album included on the record, such as the stand-alone singles like ‘Join Together’ and ‘The Seeker’.
Although Gallagher never dug into the group’s original studio album lineup, he insists that they still had a pivotal role in making him a musician, continuing, “On their studio albums, there is always some half-arsed concept hung on a few good tunes. But, The Ultimate Collection is … fucking hell. If you’re of a certain age and play guitar-based music, they’re up there with The Beatles to me”.
Getting some of the best material from a greatest-hits record was also practical for Gallagher growing up. Being a penniless kid from Manchester in the early days, most of the records that he could afford were best-ofs, being exposed to some of the best material from artists like David Bowie through the medium.
Although any “greatest hits” packages might be considered taking the easy way out by some snobbish music connoisseurs, those packages are often the gateway drugs that turn listeners into fans on one album alone. The Who has far more depth than just a traditional single, but sometimes it takes a great song like ‘My Generation’ to appreciate something like Quadrophenia later on.
