“Our Love was Is” has some fine choral work of “la, la, la” simplicity and graceful harmony and mixing, which is another part of the Who’s sound. “Tattoo” is one of those gems of guitar playing from Peter Townshend, one which shows flawless mastery of rock and roll chording. The barely-beneath-the-surface humor of the lyric and whole Who attitude is reflected stroke for stroke in the music. “Marianne With the Shakey Hands,” has a Spanish beat and guitar strum. And, there are the lyrics: “If you ever want to disappear, just take off and think of this: Armenia City in the Sky.” These are not extended breaks completely outside the structure of the song (which is the mark of a group trying to be experimental with too little real substance,) but tight and intelligently thought out placements. Within that framework, the Who set various electronic miniatures, including passages of guitar feedback and distortions, variations on a theremin and a tonal puddle from an organ. Some of the songs themselves incorporate stories of products, for instance Peter Townshend‘s bitterly funny “Odorono.” It is the tale of young chick singer who has a successful performance, meets the handsome man backstage where the following ensues: “But his expression changed,/She had seen,/As he went to kiss her face./It ended there, he claimed a late appointment,/She quickly turned to hide her disappointment./She ripped her glittering gown,/couldn’t face another show, no,/Her deodorant had let her down/She should have used Odorono.” The others include segues between the songs which are either real singing house ads from Radio London, or the Who’s versions of commercials for other products. They take various forms the cover is the first. The first thing you are going to see are the commercial plugs and Radio London spots. The cover, of course, is amazingly funny: deodorant, pimple cream, baked beans and the Charles Atlas course, each shot perfectly suited to the character of the person in the group. This album is fantastic, it has an exquisite sense of humor (songs of the humbly homespun) and consummate musicianship.
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