The Who - The Who Hits 50 (Remastered, 180 Gram) (2 LP)

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2014 release, the definitive collection of hits by The Who, spanning their entire 50 year career. There is no more significant a milestone in Rock Music than the 50th Anniversary. Alongside the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, The Who complete the holy trinity of British Rock bands that have the honor of celebrating that landmark. Through the decades, The Who redefined rock music as we know it and their influence continues in all areas of popular culture to this day. WHO HITS 50! Is the definitive collection of the band's greatest tracks from their very first recordings as the High Numbers right up to the present day with the brand new track 'Be Lucky.'

The Who need no excuse to release a new compilation -- since 1994, a new collection has appeared roughly at the rate of one every three years -- but the band's 50th anniversary does provide the opportunity for a splashy new compilation, the first since 2009's Greatest Hits. Snappily titled The Who Hits 50!, by virtue of spanning two full CDs the set does cast a wider net than either Greatest Hits or 2004's Then & Now, beginning with the stiff R&B of the High Numbers' "Zoot Suit" and concluding with the brand-new "Be Lucky," a delirious revival of Pete Townshend's purple, overwritten '80s midlife crisis. In between those two songs come 40 tracks, including some genuine surprises -- the bonkers mod anthem "Dogs" and its Beach Boys-aping flip "Call Me Lightning," the band's cover of the Stones' "The Last Time," the first appearance of "Relay" in a comp in ages, John Entwistle's paranoid "Trick of the Light" -- but for the most part, this serves up the same songs that have popped up again and again on Who compilations over the years. This may be predictable but as a collection of basics, either for fair-weather fans or newcomers, it does its job well and it has nice artwork to boot. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Rock

Tracklist