The Who: Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica); Pete Townshend (guitar, background vocals); John Entwistle (bass instrument, background vocals); Keith Moon (drums).

Recording information: Leeds University, Leeds, England (02/14/1970).

On the surface, the Who's LIVE AT LEEDS seems like it should be nothing more than a stopgap recording. Released a year after TOMMY, as guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend was getting bogged down in the abortive LIFEHOUSE concept, LIVE AT LEEDS is simply the (mostly) non-TOMMY portion of the Who's standard live set of the era, packaged in a bootleg-like manila cover with a faded rubber-stamp logo.

The thing is, Townshend and company were at the blinding height of their powers in 1970, and LIVE AT LEEDS makes a far stronger case for the Who as the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band than the Rolling Stones' contemporaneous live document, GET YER YA-YA'S OUT. Not quite so much a band as three powerhouse musicians playing solos simultaneously, while Roger Daltrey screams to make himself heard over the din, the Who never lapsed into aimless jamming for its own sake. Even on the 14-minute-plus encore of "My Generation," drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle hold down the song's pile-driving groove nonstop. The vast majority of live rock albums are either pointless or awful; LIVE AT LEEDS is the exception in every way.

What the critics say...

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.136) - Ranked #170 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time"
Rolling Stone (7/9/70, p.40) - "...a tour-de-force of the rock and roll imagination....The album is a document, as it ought to be..."
Rolling Stone (4/6/95, p.62) - "...the newly remastered LIVE AT LEEDS comes across as a great live show that happens to include some singles-quality material..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/17/95, p.59) - "...Few bands ever moved a mountain of sound around with this much dexterity and power. If you ever wondered what made these guys a big deal, here's where to find out..." - Rating: A+
Village Voice (2/20/96) - Ranked #6 on the Reissues list of Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.