The Who: Ranking Their Albums From Worst To Best

6. Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival (1996)

Recorded in 1970, but not released until 1996 this one rivals 'Live at Leeds' as being the best live album by the band. It's definitely worth a listen due to having the whole of 'Tommy' live, right as it was being played at it's peak of popularity. The whole album is a typically excellent Who performance from this period, although it can't quite reach the heights of Leeds, with some of the earlier songs not being quite as well performed. The 'Tommy' section is a definite highlight, despite a couple of omissions. The highlights are probably an absolutely brilliant performance of 'Go to the Mirror, helped along by the crowd and 'The Acid Queen' sung with gusto by Townshend. A personal favorite is the absolutely insane 'Sparks' with Keith's drumming being at it's absolute finest.It's a great performance of the album, rivaling the studio version. While some of the songs also played on Leeds don't match the colossal heights of that effort, it's nice to get some fairly rare material on here. 'Water' is helped along by a roaring vocal performance from 'Daltrey', with 'I Don't Know Myself' benefiting from some cheeky drumming from Keith on the quieter sections. The best is the simple mesmerising performance of 'Naked Eye' at the end, caught brilliantly on the excellent concert movie. Best Song: 'Naked Eye' on the concert film although 'Go to the Mirror' sounds best on the album.