Sometimes it has to be done.

Last night was beautiful. Nebraska summers rarely host the type of weather that invites you to sit outside, but we have had a short run cool weather lately. So, what did I do? I went inside (the ac is on because of the allergies the girls suffer) and listened to rock and roll music. Not with headphones and not in a considerate fashion. My neighbors would likely attest to that. No, I put on The Who and played it LOUD. I forgot how visceral that experience can be. The Who is the perfect band for this for a variety of reasons. You have virtuoso players on guitar (Pete), bass (John), and drums (Keith) and a voice that was made for rock music (Roger). I started out with hit and miss selections like The Seeker-I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Beatles, I asked Timothy Leary but he couldn't help me either. They call me the Seeker. Great song. Even better when you play it loud! I moved on to We're Not Gonna Take It from Tommy. Again, the vocal harmonies are so striking as is the inferior recording quality of that album. But at the volume I was listening all sins were forgiven. The pump was primed and I moved on to Who's Next. The whole album. When Keith comes in on Behind Blue Eyes it still gives me goosebumps. Gettin' in Tune has such affecting lyrics and Pete's synth writing on both Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again is ageless. There's not much more to be said about The Who or this album that hasn't already been written by greats such as Dave Marsh, but the experience of listening to loud music at full volume is one I highly recommend. It ended soon enough when the girls came home from getting ice cream. By that time I was back to singles like Relay, but what a great couple of hours!