The Who by Numbers

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Template:Album infobox

The Who By Numbers (1975) is an album by British rock band The Who. It peaked at the number 7 position on the United Kingdom album charts and number 8 on the Billboard album charts in the United States.

Without the massive structure and ambition of the band's better known works Tommy and Quadrophenia, Pete Townshend's songwriting stands on its own in the sparse and dark The Who By Numbers. Gone are the synthesizers and the massive layers of overdubs. In their places are excruciating descriptions of Townshend's alcoholism, lust and self-loathing, as well as the dark side of creeping middle-age and the fear of irrelevance. On "They Are All In Love," Townshend laments: "Hey goodbye all you punks, stay young and stay high/Hand me my checkbook while I crawl off to die." The sheer vulnerability of the writer, whether or not he ever intended for these songs to become the foundation for an album, endears him to the listener. From the hopeless refrain of "However Much I Booze" ("There ain't no way out") to the paranoid question, "How many friends have I really got?," Townshend connects with Everyman by identifying his demons and realizing that, despite them all, he is still standing.

The most recognizable hit from the record - "Squeeze Box" - stands in contrast to the rest in its playfulness. John Entwistle's contribution, "Success Story", displays nearly as despairing and cynical a view of stardom as the rest of the record. In all this, how do we take "Blue, Red And Grey's" claim, "I like every minute of the day"?

See also: 1975 in music.

1 Track listing
2 Personnel
3 Personnel - Production
4 External links

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Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend unless stated otherwise.

"Slip Kid" – 4:31
"However Much I Booze" – 5:02
"Squeeze Box" – 2:42
"Dreaming From the Waist" – 4:07
"Imagine a Man" – 4:04
"Success Story" (Entwistle) – 3:22
"They Are All in Love" – 3:02
"Blue, Red and Grey" – 2:49
"How Many Friends" – 4:06
"In a Hand or a Face" – 3:25

The bonus tracks on the 1996 reissue were recorded live at Swansea Football Ground on June 16, 1976. These particular recordings appear on many Who bootlegs.

"Squeeze Box" – 3:13
"Behind Blue Eyes" – 4:39
"Dreaming From the Waist" – 4:57

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