The Who: The Ultimate Collection

You know there is a problem with the sound on a disk when:

1. It sounds good in the car with the windows down.
2. It sounds kind of grating with headphones on a decent portable.
3. It is brittle, metallic, and painful to listen to when you play it on a studio setup with Focusrite 24bit/192khz DAC's!

I agree completely with the reviewers who criticised the sound quality. This disk is insanely overcompressed, there is no sense of space between the instruments, and the highs are tinny and brittle.

This worked as an intro to the band, but I'm going to replace it with "Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy" and the remastered "Quadrophenia", which are supposed to have great sound.

The Who: The Ultimate CollectionFor those who like the music of The Who, it's hard to beat this set. It covers almost all of the band's hits that you've heard on the radio during their time, and perhaps some you don't remember hearing, but for Who fans, it is one of the best anthologies available on CDs. Enjoy!

though looking through some of these reviews i see the hardcore who fans bashing the tracklisting and sound quality. the truth is this is a good retrospective with all the hits and will be enough for most fans. so if your in the market for one who or are looking for a good starting point either way i recommend this cd

This collection will give you a real taste of one of rock's best bands ever. The power, the swagger, the grit, the excellent song writing, the carefully chosen instrumentation, it's all here. Listen to the soaring vocals on "I'm Free", the speed-acoustic intro to "Pinball Wizard"and you'll understand why the Who had all of what classic rock embodies. As collections go, this one is pretty comprehensive. There are a few ommissions. "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" could have been better represented. But all the great AOR and earlier AM hits are here in earnest. This is a super collection by arguably one of rock's best bands.

After reading earlier reviews of this compilation, I was worried that some of the songs might sound "altered" by the remastering process. I was pleased to listen and find no discernible difference between these versions and the others that preceded them. I had lost my "Who'better..." CD somehow, but this is an upgrade, giving you some later material like "Eminence Front". Package it with "The Kids are Alright", and you have a great collection of one of rock's best. Long live Rock!