Sweet 16 (early 1970's) - #2 The Who vs #6 Black Sabbath

Sweet 16 (early 1970's) - #2 The Who vs #6 Black Sabbath

  • Total voters
    47
YellowSnow

YellowSnow

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Swaye's Wigwam
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I feel like I am going to get buttfucked here.
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Deservedly so. Sabbath are the Godfathers of Metal. But the Who are one of the greatest and most influential rock acts of all time.
 
You could put just about any decent band from the 70s into the nirvana bracket and they would win IMO.
 
If Ozzy would finally dump that coattail riding bitch Sharon he could pull ahead late
 
My problem with the who is that I find some if their most well known, acclaimed stuff (my generation, most of Tommie but especially pinball wizard, behind blue eyes), to be unlistenable schlock. A shit ton of talent and some mind blowing performances especially live, but they're not a powerhouse band on my list.

Black Sabbath is different. I'm always happy to hear even their worst songs while Ozzie was with them.
 
My problem with the who is that I find some if their most well known, acclaimed stuff (my generation, most of Tommie but especially pinball wizard, behind blue eyes), to be unlistenable schlock. A shit ton of talent and some mind blowing performances especially live, but they're not a powerhouse band on my list.

Black Sabbath is different. I'm always happy to hear even their worst songs while Ozzie was with them.
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Chuck, let's take a moment here to run through each of your examples...

"My Generation" - I think it suffers from becoming overheard and cliché like any big hit of an era- e.g., "Satisfaction", "Like a Rolling Stones", BUT I don't think there's any schlock to it whatsoever. It was also one of the most revolutionary and ground breaking singles of all tim. Keep in mind that when it was released in 1965 it was by far the most aggressive guitar, drums and bass ever put to wax and as a result influenced all the harder rock and then proto metal of the later 1960s.

"Tommy" - The studio album has a bit of a corny theme that hasn't held up as well 50 years later; it's also a better sounding bit of music live and has much more power this way (see "Live at Leeds "Deluxe Edition". Still there's still some amazing music including "Pinball Wizzard" - yes, it's a little silly lyrically but the acoustic guitar opening here is still one of the greater intros in the history of rock music.

"Behind Blue Eyes" - Yes, a some schlock in the first half but the second half rocks about as hard as any record I've listened too. Moon's drum fills are fucking absurd here.

I think with Pete Townshend as a song writer, you have to put up with a certain amount of touchey-feeley, naval gazing BUT that same tendency provided so many terrific songs. Consider "Picture of Lilly" from 1967: I'm pretty sure this was the first song in rock history about BRB, JO and still one of the best on this topic.
 
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