John Atkins (4) (1961–)

While I gave this book five stars, I caution those not fond of The Who away from this book. This is essentially a work of academia, and borders on the intellectual more often than being a casual read. That having been said, the analysis given to the albums was both thorough and thoughtful. It is about time The Who's work was held to such scrutiny.

[a:John Atkins|477540|John F. Atkins|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] takes the time show more to give The Who their due, and unlike [a:Dave Marsh|103219|Dave Marsh|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg] he gives equal weight to their post-78 recordings as he does those prior. His criticism is cutting, but not undeserved, and the bittersweet career of the band is outlined in a clear manner.

This book was fascinating, and I truly enjoyed it. There were recordings mentioned that I had not yet heard of, and the index in the back is very much appreciated. This book will prove interesting to fans of The Who, and more expressly, fans of Townshend's work. While [a:John Atkins|477540|John F. Atkins|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] does his best to give each member of the band equal focus, the focus tends to turn towards Townshend out of sheer necessity. show less