Reissue fails to capture live Who

When the Who first became the Who, the group was little more than an amphetamine-charged James Brown cover band. The guys billed their music as "Maximum R&B," playing old soul and rock and roll standards at high speed and high volume, and their Mod followers ate it up. By the mid-1960s, the Who had already cemented its reputation as a premier live band, a group that derived its energy from playing in front of a crowd.\nSo when it came time to record their debut album, the four guys -- singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon -- faced a singular challenge: how would they recreate their lightning-in-a-bottle live show on vinyl? As it turns out, they were unable to do so. My Generation was indeed a standout debut for one of the most important groups in rock history, but, as Daltrey told a reporter in 1971, "It wasn't like we were on stage… That album was recorded very quickly and very cheaply, and it wasn't really what we were all about."\nThe deluxe-edition reissue of the album reflects those limitations of the studio. The set contains the original album -- including the landmark title single as well as other Who classics like "The Kids Are Alright" and "A Legal Matter" -- plus 17 bonus tracks. Thrown on the reissue are "I Can't Explain," the band's first single as the Who, as well as alternate takes of "Leaving Here" and "Anyhow, Anywhere, Anyway."\nThe package is also chocked full of examples of Maximum R&B -- James Brown's "Please, Please, Please," "Shout and Shimmy" and "I Don't Mind," Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man," Otis Blackwell's "Daddy Rolling Stone," and Martha and the Vandellas "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave," to name a few. All in all, My Generation makes for a solid reissue. The only problem is that it's a reissue of a flawed album, one that failed to capture the essence of the Who when it was first released.