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The Who By Numbers - Page 2:

Album: The Who by Numbers

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: Polydor (UK), MCA (USA), Polydor (Germany), RCA (Italy), Polydor (Philippines), Polydor (Holland), Sony (Japan)

CDs (original mix) Sampled: Polydor (Germany), MCA (USA), Polydor (Japan)

CDs (remix) Sampled: Polydor (Germany), MCA (USA), Polydor (Japan)

LP Comments: Without question, the Sony (Japan) is superior to the others. Polydor (Germany) and (UK) are tied for 2nd place.

CD (original mix) comments: The Polydor (Germany) sounds great. The Polydor (Japan) has a little too much bass. The MCA (USA) sounds poor.

CD (remix) comments: The Polydor (Germany) is the CD of choice. The Polydor (Japan) has too much bass. After the sound problems (too bright, too harsh) with "Quadrophenia" and "My Generation: The Very Best Of The Who", MCA was able to "tone it down" a bit for this CD and "Who Are You", but some of the harshness still exists and the sound is hard on the ears. Neither of the <above> Polydor releases has this effect.

Summary: The remix of this album is great and if you're a fan of this album, seek out the Polydor (Germany) copy. If you like the original mix, the Sony (Japan) LP copy is very special, with the Polydor (Germany) CD in 2nd place.

Compare for yourself! Below are 30 second WAV samples of "Slip Kid" from the various pressings of "The Who By Numbers" as described above. 1975 Japan LP   1985 USA CD   1988 Canada CD   1989 Germany CD   1996 Japan CD (Original Mix)   1996 USA CD  (Remix)  1996 Germany CD (Remix)   1999 Japan CD (Remix)   Note: Sound comparisons are only as good as your ears and the equipment you are listening to the music with.

The Who By Numbers - Version Comparisons (MP3): Slip Kid: Pete Townshend Demo   Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 1976 Version   Live 2015 Version    However Much I Booze: Pete Townshend Demo   Original Mix   Remix Version   Live Version  Squeeze Box: Pete Townshend Demo   Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 1976 Version   Live 1982 Version   Dreaming From The Waist: Pete Townshend Demo   Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 1976 Version  Imagine A Man: Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 1994 Roger Daltrey Version   Live 2019 The Who Version  Success Story: John Entwistle Instrumental Demo   Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 1998 John Entwistle Band Version  They Are All In Love: Original Mix   Remix Version   Blue Red & Grey: Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 2005 Pete Townshend Banjo Version   Live 2006 Pete Townshend Version   Live 2011 Roger Daltrey Version   How Many Friends: Original Mix   Remix Version   Live 2017 Roger Daltrey Version  In A Hand Or A Face: Original Mix   Remix Version   Waspman Comparison  Note: Remix versions and live 1976 versions of "Squeeze Box" and "Dreaming From The Waist" engineered by Revolution Studios Manchester, UK

About: The Who By Numbers   I find some irony that this album is amongst the favorites of so many Who fans and probably one of my least favorite.   The Polydor Germany pressing of the 1996 remixed/remastered version is probably the best sounding of all of them. The same odd frequency shift which adversely affected 1996 USA pressings of Quadrophenia also affected this album and Who Are You...   The album has a lot of great music. "Slip Kid" (can someone tell me what a "Slip Kid" actually is???), "However Much I Booze", "Squeeze Box" (love the demo), "Success Story", "Dreaming From The Waist", "Blue Red & Grey" (when are they going to release the band version???), "How Many Friends", "In Hand or Face" (a rewrite of "Waspman"?). All great songs. (I liked Roger's "Imagine a Man" live from 1994 better.)   So what's wrong?   A few things. Overall - the music is dark and has a negative vibe to it (the band was fighting during its recording). Second, I don't like the mix or the mastering. The mastering has a compressed feel to it - the drums are buried in the mix and overall there's no benefit from an overall wide stereo sound field. Compare the same tracks to their live bonus tracks. Before I heard the live version of "Dreaming From The Waist” - I was never a fan of the song (and now I am).   If I had the opportunity to revisit this album - I would like to remix it to sound more like the band does live - it would have a completely different feel to it - a "Holy wow! I had no idea the music could sound this way!" However, from what I understand now, is that the drums weren’t mic’d very well during the album’s recording. With only a “partial” drum sound, there’s only so far you can take the mix before “exposing” the poorly recorded drums. A shame.   This is relatively short album – I would have loved to see the disc full of bonus material: Live tracks, Pete Townshend demos, anything.   My favorite album cover of “The Who By Numbers” is the rare Austria LP pressing. The factory made a "mistake" and printed it in black. It's very cool. I tracked down a copy in Vienna in 2002. Coincidentally there was a record show the following week. So... I told the store to hold it and I picked it up in person.   Vienna was beautiful - but freezing cold! I would love to go back there again - but not in December!

Track Listings:

Original Mix: Slip Kid, However Much I Booze, Squeeze Box, Dreaming From The Waist, Imagine A Man, Success Story, They Are All In Love, Blue Red And Grey, How Many Friends, In A Hand Or A Face.

Remix: Slip Kid, However Much I Booze, Squeeze Box, Dreaming From The Waist, Imagine A Man, Success Story, They Are All In Love, Blue Red And Grey, How Many Friends, In A Hand Or A Face, Squeeze Box (live-previously unreleased), Behind Blue Eyes (live-previously unreleased), Dreaming From The Waist (live).

Super Deluxe Edition (2026):

Disc 1 (Original Album Remastered):Slip Kid, However Much I Booze, Squeeze Box, Dreaming From The Waist, Imagine A Man, Success Story, They Are All In Love, Blue Red And Grey, How Many Friends, In A Hand Or A Face.

Disc 2 (Pete Townshend Demos): Keep Me Turning (Version 1), Slip Kid (Version 1), Squeeze Box, Blue Red And Grey, Dreaming From The Waist, How Many Friends, Keep Me Turning (Version 2), Imagine A Man, Slip Kid (Version 2), Round And Round,  There Ain’t No Way Out

Disc 3 (Tracking Sessions: Ramport & Shepperton Studios): Ramport Jam (Excerpt), She Loves Everyone, Control Myself, There Ain’t No Way Out, Goin’ To Frisco/Round And Round, Hi-Heel Sneakers, Pete And Keith “The Artiste”, How Many Friends, Imagine A Man, They Are All In Love, She Loves Everyone (Retake), Squeeze Box, Instrumental, I’m Dreaming, Every Minute, Instrumental 2 (Rough Mix), The Who By Numbers US Radio Spot #1 

Disc 4 (Early Mixes & Guide Vocals): Slip Kid (Alternate Roger Vocal), However Much I Booze (Alternate Pete Vocal), Squeeze Box (Alternate Roger Vocal), Dreaming From The Waist (Pete Vocal), Imagine A Man (Pete Vocal), Success Story (John Vocal), They Are All In Love (Alternate Pete Vocal), Blue Red And Grey (Unedited Version), How Many Friends (Pete Vocal), In A Hand Or A Face (Early Mix), They Are All In Love (Alternate Roger Vocal), Squeeze Box (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026), Imagine A Man (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026), They Are All In Love (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026), How Many Friends (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026), The Who By Numbers US Radio Spot #2 (Radio Commercial), Keith Moon And John Entwistle Preview (The Who by Numbers With John Peel, BBC 1975), However Much I Booze (Live At The Summit, Houston, USA, 20 November 1975), Slip Kid (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA, 11 March 1976)

Disc 5 (Live At The Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976): My Wife, Baba O’Riley, Squeeze Box, Behind Blue Eyes, Dreaming From The Waist, Amazing Journey, Sparks,The Acid Queen, Fiddle About, Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, Tommy’s Holiday Camp, We’re Not Gonna Take It / See Me, Feel Me, Summertime Blues, My Generation/Join Together/My Generation Blues, Won’t Get Fooled Again 

Disc 6 (Blu Ray):

Mixes of Original Album:

Pete Townshend Atmos Mix, Pete Townshend 5.1 Mix, 2026 Stereo Mix

Live At The Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan, 6 December 1975 (Video):

I Can’t Explain, Substitute, My Wife, Baba O’Riley, Squeeze Box, Behind Blue Eyes, Dreaming From The Waist, Boris The Spider, Magic Bus, Amazing Journey / Sparks, The Acid Queen, Fiddle About, Pinball Wizard, I’m Free,Tommy’s Holiday Camp, We’re Not Gonna Take It / See Me, Feel Me, Summertime Blues, My Generation/Join Together/Road Runner/My Generation Blues, Won’t Get Fooled Again

Deluxe Edition (2026):

Disc 1 (Original Album Remastered):Slip Kid, However Much I Booze, Squeeze Box, Dreaming From The Waist, Imagine A Man, Success Story, They Are All In Love, Blue Red And Grey, How Many Friends, In A Hand Or A Face.

Disc 2 (Sessions, Demos & Mixes): Slip Kid (Demo), However Much I Booze (Alternate Pete Vocal) Squeeze Box (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026),Control Myself (Tracking Session), Imagine A Man (Pete Voca), Success Story (John Vocal), They Are All In Love (Alternate Roger Vocal), Blue Red And Grey (Unedited Version), How Many Friends (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026), Round And Round (Demo), Squeeze Box (Live At Swansea), Dreaming From The Waist (Live At Swansea)