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As many Who fans know, disputes between the Who and producer Shel Talmy held back the release of a CD version of My Generation taken from the best available original sources for quite some time. Eventually the dispute was resolved, and 2002 saw the release of the deluxe edition of this classic album, expanded into a two-CD work with the addition of no less than 17 extra tracks. So is it time to celebrate and finally throw away that scratchy old My Generation LP, whichever version of that you have? Unfortunately, not quite. Pluses first: The sound, remixed in stereo by Talmy, is very good indeed, very clear and punchy without sacrificing the enormous power the band brought to the sessions, sometimes revealing parts with a clarity never before heard. This also, finally, adds some seminal non-LP tracks also recorded in 1965 (most notably their debut single, "I Can't Explain"), as well as a bunch of R&amp;B cover outtakes that previously surfaced on the 1980s comps Who's Missing and Two's Missing.There are also slightly longer versions of a few tracks; an instrumental track for "My Generation" and an "a cappella version" of "Anytime You Want Me"; and one genuine previously unheard song, "Instant Party Mixture," a weird and not good takeoff on Dion's "Runaround Sue" that was recorded in early 1966 as a possible B-side. So what's to carp about? Well, some overdubs used in the original version of the LP have been lost, and their loss is not just something that audiophiles or unhealthily completist record collectors will notice. Specifically, on "My Generation," Pete Townshend's guitar is virtually missing from the instrumental break, and the group's backup vocals at the song's climax are likewise mostly missing. Other little omissions crop up too, and though this compilation makes up for that a bit with "monaural versions with guitar overdubs" of "My Generation" and "A Legal Matter," it's no small loss. Also, unbelievably, although "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" is here (and misspelled on the cover), it's an alternate version with different vocals from a French EP. It's fine to include that, but the classic single version itself, a tremendously exciting and important record, isn't present at all, and no one could reasonably claim there shouldn't have been room for both. Too, the version of "Leaving Here" is an alternate, and while that's fine to have as a marginally interesting addition, the version that first showed up on Who's Missing is, um, missing.These shortcomings are not unimportant. If a group and label are going to bill something as the ultimate package of classic album-plus-bonus tracks, it should have everything you want to hear. This deluxe edition doesn't. This doesn't, of course, mean that it doesn't contain much great music, particularly the My Generation album itself, a tour de force of British mod music maturing from R&amp;B rave-ups into melodic power pop with riveting instrumental and lyrical hooks. It is also good to hear the nice early R&amp;B cover B-sides "Daddy Rolling Stone" and "Anytime You Want Me," and while the R&amp;B-oriented outtakes of Motown songs like "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" aren't so good, as historical documentation they're important. The sessions are also documented nicely in a booklet of liner notes. But no doubt we'll have to wait for the SACD or DVD or some such configuration to correct some of these flaws and separate us from more of our hard-earned cash.&mdash; Richie Unterberger<hr/>The Who got bigger, brainier, better and generally tougher as they grew. But they were never as fiercely raw as they were on their first album, My Generation. In 36 minutes, they tore through the conventions of British rock 'n' roll until they found a place they could call their own. Five decades after its release, the album stands as one of rock music's greatest debuts.For its 50th anniversary, My Generation has been expanded to a five-CD Super Deluxe Edition that adds new mixes, B-sides, singles, alternate takes and demos. And over the course of more than 75 tracks, the set sketches out a template the Who would build from and break down several times during their career, pulling in everything from R&B rave-ups and chiming pop to scorching rock 'n' roll and proto-punk anarchy.While much of this material has surfaced on other collections, including previous anniversary editions of My Generation, the set attempts to wrangle most of the period's songs into one place. A few strays from earlier editions, mostly different alternate versions, are missing, but the Super Deluxe Edition is the most representative collection of a pivotal year in the life of the Who, starting with the "I Can't Explain" single from early 1965.The center of it all is the My Generation LP, included here in a newly remastered mono mix and a stereo mix of the album from 2014 that was previously available only on iTunes. Both versions heighten the guitars and pulsing rhythm section that drive songs like "The Kids Are Alright," "A Legal Matter" and the classic title tune. The bonus tracks here -- shuffled between mono and stereo mixes, and including some of the singles and B-sides released before and after the album came out -- serve as jagged bookends to the LP's dozen tracks.It's a vivid portrait of the Who's first several months as professional recording artists. All these years later, the explosive clash of garage-rock R&B and serrated pop from this period that later helped form their identity sounds like a launching point of things to come -- from Roger Daltrey's throaty vocals to Pete Townshend's whipping guitar attacks to that thing Keith Moon did on the drums where he was never quite on the beat but powered the rhythm all the same.The weakest disc here, the one dedicated to almost a dozen Townshend demos from the era, provide the sketches (and, in one case, just a fragment) for the full-band takes. They're interesting as starting points, but they don't approach the force of the released versions. (Three of the songs are brand new to Who fans; Townshend discovered the stashed-away demo tapes in 2015.)And that's why My Generation matters the most. As the band grew and got more popular, Townshend took control as its chief songwriter and architect. This Super Deluxe Edition of the Who's debut is all about the band -- before the rock operas, fringe jackets and trashed hotels -- in all of its raging glory.&mdash; Michael Gallucci

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