The Who - Roger Daltrey Albums

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: "Daltrey" [Polydor (UK), Polydor (Germany), MCA (USA), CBS/Sony (Japan)], "Roger Daltrey" [Polydor (Spain)], "Rock Legends: Roger Daltrey" [Polydor (UK)]

CDs Sampled: Polydor (UK), Repertoire (Germany - 1st remaster), UK (Castle - 2nd remastered), USA (Hip-O - 2nd remastered)

Non-album Tracks: "There is Love" (b side of "Thinking" – all countries. Also released as a bonus track on the Repertoire CD)

LP Comments: Original Polydor (Japan) pressings sound the best. The MCA (USA) pressings sound decent, but suffer from poor vinyl quality.

CD Comments: Unfortunately, the CD versions don't sound that good. The 1995 Polydor (UK) is a little thin sounding (not enough sound to fill the CD) and the Repertoire & Castle remastered CD suffers from remastering which is overly too bright and harsh, rendering it virtually unlistenable (Note: the Repertoire & Castle CDs use the same mastering).

Summary: The best choice for this album is the Polydor (Japan) LP. If you don't have a turntable and want the album, then you might try the original UK Polydor CD. It is very clean sounding, but lacks the power of the LP versions.

Other Comments: This album would be a great candidate for remixing and remastering.

Track Listing: LP & Polydor CD: One Man Band, Way Of The World, You Are Yourself, Thinking, You & Me, It's A Hard Life, Giving It All Away, Story So Far, When The Music Stops, Reasons, One Man Band (Reprise)

Repertoire & Castle CDs: One Man Band, Way Of The World, You Are Yourself, Thinking, You & Me, It's A Hard Life, Giving It All Away, Story So Far, When The Music Stops, Reasons, One Man Band (Reprise), There Is Love

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: Polydor (UK, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay), MCA (USA, Canada), Taiwan (Liming)

CDs Sampled: Repertoire (Germany - remastered), Castle (UK - remastered), Hip-O (USA - remastered

Non-album Tracks: None on vinyl. However, the CD has bonus tracks of: "You Put Something Better Inside Of Me", "Dear John", "Oceans Away" (alternate version from Best Bits).

LP Comments: The Polydor (Japan) uses better quality vinyl and has slightly better sound quality. The MCA (USA) sounds very good, but is noisy due to inferior vinyl. The Polydor (South Africa) might equal the Japan LP with surprisingly good qualities.

CD Comments: The mastering on the CDs is very bright and harsh making them difficult to listen to.

Summary: This is a great album, but sadly, sound quality issues between poor vinyl quality or a CDs with too much compression make it difficult to find a good source.

Other Comments: On the Repertoire (Germany) CD, the 1st two of the CD bonus tracks were put on by mistake, as "You Put Something Better Inside Of Me" was the "b" side of the UK single of "One Of The Boys" (however, this version is the "Best Bits" version), and the "Dear John" was from the UK (and European) single, "Written On The Wind". These tracks are associated with Roger's 1977 solo album, One Of The Boys (not this album). An attempt to correct this mistake was made on the Castle (UK) & Hip-O (USA) CDs, leaving "Dear John" and "Oceans Away" as the bonus tracks. The liner notes explain that "Dear John" was an unused track from this album's sessions, even though it was a "b" side associated with "Written On The Wind" from "One Of The Boys".

LP: Come And Get Your Love, Hearts Right, Oceans Away, Proud, World Over, Near To Surrender, Feeling, Walking The Dog, Milk Train, I Was Born To Sing Your Song

CD (Repertoire): Come And Get Your Love, Hearts Right, Oceans Away, Proud, World Over, Near To Surrender, Feeling, Walking The Dog, Milk Train, I Was Born To Sing Your Song, You Put Something Better Inside of Me, Dear John, Oceans Away (Alt. version)

CD (Castle & Hip-O): Come And Get Your Love, Hearts Right, Oceans Away, Proud, World Over, Near To Surrender, Feeling, Walking The Dog, Milk Train, I Was Born To Sing Your Song, Dear John, Oceans Away (Alt. version)

LPs (vinyl) Sampled: A&M (UK, USA, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Greece, Israel, Japan (1st Pressing), Japan (2nd Pressing), New Zealand, Spain, Uruguay), H (Taiwan)

CDs Sampled: A&M (Japan - 1987), A&M (Japan - 2003, 2004), RWCD (Russia), Voiceprint (UK), RRAW (UK)

LP Comments: I find the A&M (Japan) <1st> pressing to sound the best. The A&M (UK) sounds very good too - sort of in-between the Japan LP & (2003, 2004) Japan CD.

CD Comments: (Original Release) The A&M (Japan -1987) seems to come from a tape source at least one generation removed from the master. The sound quality is very clean and there's lots of dynamic range making the CD very "musical" and nice to listen to. However, there is audible hiss during the more quiet passages and the tone is ever-so-slightly on the bright side. The RWCD (Russia) CD versions I've listened to say "remastered", but the sound is a bit on the thinner side - not really up-to-par with the A&M (Japan) or the LP versions. The A&M (Japan - 2003, 2004) seems to come from a better source than the 1987 release as the sound quality is greatly improved.

CD Comments: (The Real Lisztomania) This version comes from a recently (2001/2002) unearthed master tape, which was not used for the original "Lisztomania" release (the record company rejected this version). The mixes (and content) are different on this CD (compare track listings below). Unfortunately, an ambitious undertaking was somewhat wasted on a poor mastering job. Roger Daltrey's vocals on "Orpheus Song" sound as if they are underwater. "Love's Dream" (1st version) and "Peace At Last" are too sterile sounding and the 2nd version of "Love's Dream" sounds as if there is a steam radiator hissing steadily in the background. The box set is limited to 1,000. I'd only recommend this for die-hard Roger Daltrey collectors or Rick Wakeman fans. Note: This version of the album does not include, "Funerailles". Note #2: The volume level of this CD is very low compared to the others. In 2018, "The Real Lisztomania" was remastered (improved sound). (The cover art also replaces Roger Daltrey with Rick Wakeman.)

Summary: The A&M (Japan) LP is the best version that I've heard to-date. I give it an edge over the A&M CD (Japan - 2003) due to an overall warmer sound quality.

Other Comments: It took me about 5 years to track down the Japanese A&M (1987) CD. Apparently they were also pressed in limited quantities.

Track Listing (Original version): (Roger Daltrey lead vocal songs in green) Rienzi/Chopsticks Fantasia, Love's Dream, Dante Period, Orpheus Song, Hell, Hibernation, Excelsior Song, Master Race, Rape, Pillage & Clap, Funerailles, Free Song, Peace At Last

Track Listing (The Real Lisztomania 2002): (Roger Daltrey lead vocal songs in green) The Scene, The Metronome, The Country Sword Dance, Free Song, The Freudian Dream, Dante Period, Orpheus Song, For The Chop, Hell , Wagner's Dream, The Dream Of Hell, The Inferno Ride, Master Race, The Ride Of Thor, Excelsior Song, The Guardian Virgins, Rape, Pillage And Clap, Love's Dream, The Suffering, Peace At Last, Love's Dream (This is a very rare mix of Roger Daltrey and solo piano that was never used)

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