Who Came First - PETE TOWNSHEND***

Pure & Easy/Evolution/Forever's No Time At All/Nothing Is Everything (Let's See Action)/Time Is Passing/ Heartache (There's A Heartache Following Me)/Sheraton Gibson/Content/Parvardigar

With Who Came First the title says it all as clearly all the best Townshend compositions were used up on The Who group albums. The Lifehouse project might have been a lost masterpiece. (US:69 UK:30)

“His voice becomes annoying after a couple of tracks. Overall, there is little here to appeal to hard core underground rock taste. It's pretty much in line with the sound of all his solo albums, with no hidden gems. The album puts just about all it's got right up front, with side one the far better of the two.”

“Most of this is mediocre stuff, not bad, but it just doesn't evoke a single emotion in me. Obviously The Who did come first, at least whilst choosing songs for this record.”

“Semi-compiled from previously released compilations devoted to Pete's avatar Meher Baba. Who Came First is a great homespun solo album from the Who's main mover. We get some Who leftovers including the excellent Lifehouse centrepiece Pure & Easy, covers, poetry adapted to music, and guest appearances by Ronnie Lane and Billy Nichols. In spite of the variety the album retains a tight low key cohesiveness, and sports a number of charming, underrated tunes.”

“A nice album that is surprisingly calm and mostly acoustic. Pete may not be the greatest singer in the world, but he knows how to write sweet friendly ballads.”

“This was a wonderful side project for Pete Townshend. A gem of an album not long after the miraculous Who's Next. Townshend puts together a quiet album full of more introspective and religious songs, along with a few pieces that didn't make the cut for a Who release.”

“Pete takes a break from the rather chaotic Who sessions to knock out this homemade album with all kinds of Meher Baba influences that he was always going on about. Who Came First mixes a batch of unrelated tunes, some rejected by the Who, with some surprising covers and some terrific material that Pete wrote for the Lifehouse project and fuses them into a little gem of a record.”