The Who

Received critical wisdom may point to Tommy or Who's Next for proof of their deserved place in the upper tiers of rock legend, but the Who never again sounded as enthralling or as in thrall to the simple joy of making glorious noise as when their barely post-pubescent, speed-fuelled selves made My Generation in 1965. This seductive two-disc package marks the first time a CD edition of the album has been mastered from its original tapes, which were held in the clutches of egomaniacal producer Shel Talmy for decades. Inasmuch as the mod movement was about the hedonistic impulse to recklessly attack each moment as though it were your last, My Generation is one of the most evocative mod artifacts ever made - a careering maelstrom of borrowed American R&B and rock influences doing battle with the detonative traits that were all the Who's own. The bloat of late '60s "progression" would set in before too long, but this is the timeless moment when the North London four were wide-eyed, loose-limbed and capable of bulldozing all comers.