Four Classic Albums From The Who Slated for SHM-CD Release
New versions of ‘My Generation,’ ‘A Quick One,’ ‘The Who Sell Out,’ and ‘Tommy’ are slated for reissue in high-quality, SHM-CD format.
Four classic albums from The Who are receiving a high-quality SHM-CD release this year. Editions of 1965’s My Generation, 1966’s A Quick One, 1967 The Who Sell Out, and 1969’s Tommy are all available for pre-order now, featuring a host of bonus tracks and superior sound quality,
“SHM” is an acronym for “Super High Material,” meaning that these editions are made from a purer, higher-quality material than traditional polycarbonate, one that’s developed specifically for LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. The top-shelf material means that more precise etchings can be made in each disc, resulting in a “cleaner, brighter, and fuller” mix that affects each and every note captured by a microphone. Each SHM-CD is specially manufactured on a bespoke assembly line in Japan, and pressed in small batches. Despite their unique specifications, they can still be played on any sound system or CD player.
The Who’s debut album, My Generation was recorded at IBC Studios in London and released in December 1965 by Brunswick Records. The band dropped the record on the heels of two charting singles, “I Can’t Explain” and the title track, but later described the release as something of a rush job. My Generation peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts and failed to chart in the US. In 2009, the Library of Congress inducted the US edition into the National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant.”
They followed up their first LP with A Quick One, a 1966 record that marked the only Who album to not primarily feature Pete Townshend’s songwriting. Bassist John Entwistle wrote “Boris the Spider” (which Jimi Hendrix once called his favorite Who song) after an evening out with the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman. The nine-minute album closer, “A Quick One, While He’s Away,” was one of the group’s first dalliances with full-on rock opera. The album reached No. 4 in the UK.
Just a year later, the Who returned with the cheekily-titled The Who Sell Out, which was structured as a mock pirate radio broadcast interspersed with fake commercials and jingles. Inspired by formats like the late, great mod station Radio London, the record spawned the Who’s highest-charting US single, “I Can See for Miles.” In 1969, Tommy arrived, heavily inspired by Townshend’s work with Indian spiritual figure Meher Baba. Completed over the course of six months, the album tells the story of Tommy Walker, a boy who becomes deaf, dumb, and blind after witnessing a murder and who eventually rises to become a messianic figure. Tommy peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 4 in the US, sold over two million copies in the US alone, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
