Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Collection

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

this is super if you are a Who fan, all their great songs can be found here. Sit back and remember the old days..

Hardcore Dylanmaniacs (the so-called Dylanologists) tend to claim that Zimmerman's TEN OF SWORDS, released in 1985, is superior to the artist's official box set BIOGRAPH, which came out just months later, when really each has too many virtues and faults to make the call very easily. The same holds true with the Who's two-CD singles anthology INSTANT PARTY and its official counterpart ULTIMATE COLLECTION, just released today. I docked the latter a notch for not including the non-LP singles "Dogs," "Relay" and "When I Was a Boy" (especially when there was enough space left over on both discs for all of these), but it is still some sixty-plus dollars cheaper than the other set. While one might miss the group's quirky B sides from the 1960s, the consistent string of A sides on the first disc (excepting "Dogs," but including all three singles spun off of TOMMY) make for great listening. The second disc is more erratic: "Long Live Rock" is an overrated Chuck Berry rewrite; "The Real Me" sounds awkwardly excerpted from QUADROPHENIA, where it is better heard; and the minor album track "Sister Disco" is what people buy compilations to avoid. Still, from the group's declining years, this collection salvages "Who Are You" and, with less urgency, "You Better You Bet" and "Eminence Front." And while WHO BY NUMBERS (especially with its live bonus tracks) is fine too, the presence of its spun-off single "Squeeze Box" here invites fond comparisons to the group's early singles. Overall, Universal Music could have done better, but in turns of selection (and also remastered sound), this compilation finally supplants MEATY BEATY BIG & BOUNCY.

this is as good as music can get.this compilation represents the best value for money as almost all their hits like i can see for miles,pinball wizard,5.15,wont get fooled again, happy jack are featured .it would be difficult to get a better compilation of this great band at this price so please go and get it and enjoy the music.very very recommended along with live at leeds from this band.

The Who's The Ultimate Collection is a great overview to The Who's history which came out in June of 2002. This set showed us what great musicians guitarist Pete townshend, drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle were and how great vocalist Roger Daltrey got over the years. This was the first collection where they remastered the original mixes of The Who's tracks for a compilation. The obvious classics are here like I Can't Explain, My Generation, Substitute, Boris the Spider, Happy Jack, I Can See For Miles, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard, Won't Get Fooled Again, Who Are You and You Better You Bet among others. The 1996 My Generation Best Of were remixes and left some important tracks off like I'm Free, Summertime Blues, Behind Blue Eyes, My Wife, Love Reign O'er Me, Sister Disco and Eminence Front. I first had the US edition then sold it once I picked up the Britiish edition which had a different cover and five bonus tracks of Had Enough, Don't Let Go the Coat, The Quiet One(one of the late John Entwistle's post-My Wife tracks) and the rock radio staples Another Tricky Day and Athena(a hit for The Who in 1982). This disc went Gold upon release in June of 2002 and went Top 40 and is the best start point to get into The Who.

This review is from: The Who: The Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)
I bought this compilation to give my teenage daughter an introduction to The Who. Huge mistake, as the remastered sound is atrocious. The remastered songs sounded as if they had hired a Chimpanzee as the sound engineer. I know what happened as I use to work in the music industry. What likely happened is that the person mastering it has damaged hearing from working in the music business their whole life. Somebody like Pete Townsend who has serious hearing problems - as do many record producers and engineers. Without getting too technical, they keep turning up the recording level until they can hear the highs. They also overcompress the tracks to help them hear the subtle and quieter parts of the songs. It sounds right to them, but drives music fans with good hearing to near suicide. Alot of people gave this compilation a 5 star rating. I am not suggesting that all of those people have serious hearing problems. Though, anybody who thinks this album sounds good does have one of the following problems(IMO): 1)has serious hearing problems as mentioned 2)they are listening to the CD on a boombox, cheap home system or standard car CD player 3)is completely delusional. At first I thought there was something seriously wrong with my system. I then played 3 tracks in 3 different players. In my system worth around $25,000.00, it was completely unlistenable. It only got worse as I turned the volume up. I love The Who and was actually upset to hear these songs messed up so badly. I then put the CD into my harman/kardon IPOD dock - (worth around $400). It sounded alot better at lower levels. The more I turned it up, the more shrill and distorted it got. Then I played it in my 1999 Toyota Corolla's stock CD player. This is where it sounded the best. I dare say it even sounded good. It makes total sense as the cheaper the system, the less ability to play the highs and the bass as originally recorded. By having the remastered CD levels so high, coupled with the over compression makes up for the cheap factory deck's shortfalls. I have all of the Who's catalogue on CD. None have been remastered. So I listened to the same three songs on the same players. The results were the exact opposite. They sounded good on my home stereo. They sounded quite good on low and higher volumes on the harman/kardan dock. The Toyota Corolla's cheap factory deck made it sound under recorded and lifeless. Without question, the remastered version sounded better on the cheap deck. My conclusion: Great compilation for a road trip in a vehicle with a cheap CD player. Otherwise, as per my solution, the shredder has never sounded better.

I hadn't really listened to the Who much before, but now I'm converted. This is a quality album. I highly recommed it.

This is aimed at two types of people who may be looking at this album: people who have heard nothing of The Who and want to see what all the fuss is about, and people who have tried some of The Who and enjoyed what they heard.
For the first type of person:
The Who are known for having an unusual amount of 'best of' albums. Personally, I reccomend this one. It's a great introduction to a great band. All the members are considered some of the greatest musicians in their respective fields, particularly Entwistle (bass) and Moon (drums). All hits (and a few misses from the post-Moon era) are accounted for. Some fan favorites are missing, but this is not a fan-album. It's a good overview of the Who's eclectic catalogue. I also like that it is chronological, it's interesting to hear the sound progress.

For the second type of person (the one i'm more interested in) who likes what they know of the 'orrible 'oo so far, please don't buy this album. It's a waste of your money.
The Who have five masterpieces: "Tommy", "Quadrophenia", "The Who Sell Out", "Live at Leed's" and "Who's Next".
The first three are all concept albums. They have a story (or in the case of Sell Out a theme) that is lost when only the hits are plucked out. It's impossible to understand the cathartic power and energy of "See me, Feel Me" and "Love Reign O'er Me" without listening to the albums as a whole. They are the final moments of two stories (Tommy and Quadrophenia, respectively). On these albums Townshend was able to combine art and rock without sacrificing any of the music's raw power. After you have listened to these albums you'll understand, it's impossible to pick a favorite song from them because all the songs belong together, as one entity. They stand on their own, to be sure, but are not as impressive. Only one song from Sell Out was included here and none from Leed's, the definitive live Rock album. I would reccomend starting with "Tommy" or Who's Next", their most commercialy succesful and influential albums. Honestly it doesn't matter which of the five you start with, because you'll want to own them all. After "Tommy" The Who became an 'album' band rather than a 'singles' band, and a collection of singles really doesn't do them justice, especially in the case of the aforementioned concept albums.

I don't write a lot of reviews, but only one more was needed to kick Infadel off the page...
Don't diss my boys unless you're willing to back it up with a valid opinion.

The Who's The Ultimate Collection is a great overview to The Who's history which came out in June of 2002 here in the US but was delayed until the fall of 2002 in the UK and the rest of the world. This 2-CD set showed us what great musicians guitarist Pete Townshend, drummer the late Keith Moon and bassist the late John Entwistle were and how great vocalist Roger Daltrey got over the years. This was the first best-of collection where they remastered the original mixes of The Who's tracks for a compilation(1996's My Generation used remixes). The obvious classics are here like I Can't Explain, My Generation, Substitute, I'm a Boy, Boris the Spider, Happy Jack, I Can See For Miles, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard, Baba O' Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again, Join Together, Squeeze Box, Who Are You and You Better You Bet among others. The 1996 My Generation Best Of were remixes and left some important tracks off like I'm Free, Summertime Blues, Behind Blue Eyes, My Wife, Behind Blue Eyes, Love Reign O'er Me, Sister Disco and Eminence Front. I first had the US edition and then sold it once I picked up the Britiish edition which has a different cover photo of The Who circa 1971 and five bonus tracks of Had Enough(one of Entwistle's best Who tracks ever from 1978's Who Are You), Don't Let Go the Coat, The Quiet One(another one of the late John Entwistle's classic post-My Wife tracks) and the rock radio staples Another Tricky Day and Athena(a US Top 30 hit for The Who in 1982). The US edition of this disc went Gold upon release in June of 2002 and went Top 40 and is the best start point to get into The Who.

these are two discs of the finest music money can buy.all their big hits like i can see for miles,wont get fooled again,pinball wizard and 5.15 are featured here.this is one compilation which should be there in your cd collection along with live at leeds from the same band.five stars.

The Who's The Ultimate Collection is a great overview to The Who's history which came out in June of 2002 here in the US but was delayed until the fall of 2002 in the UK and the rest of the world. This 2-CD set showed us what great musicians guitarist Pete Townshend, drummer the late Keith Moon and bassist the late John Entwistle were and how great vocalist Roger Daltrey got over the years. This was the first best-of collection where they remastered the original mixes of The Who's tracks for a compilation(1996's My Generation used remixes). The obvious classics are here like I Can't Explain, My Generation, Substitute, I'm a Boy, Boris the Spider, Happy Jack, I Can See For Miles, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard, Baba O' Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again, Join Together, Squeeze Box, Who Are You and You Better You Bet among others. The 1996 My Generation Best Of were remixes and left some important tracks off like I'm Free, Summertime Blues, Behind Blue Eyes, My Wife, Behind Blue Eyes, Love Reign O'er Me, Sister Disco and Eminence Front. I first had the US edition and then sold it once I picked up the Britiish edition which has a different cover photo of The Who circa 1971 and five bonus tracks of Had Enough(one of Entwistle's best Who tracks ever from 1978's Who Are You), Don't Let Go the Coat, The Quiet One(another one of the late John Entwistle's classic post-My Wife tracks) and the rock radio staples Another Tricky Day and Athena(a US Top 30 hit for The Who in 1982). The US edition of this disc went Gold upon release in June of 2002 and went Top 40 and is the best start point to get into The Who.