Overview

Who Are You was recorded when punk rock was popular. This is not reflected in the album's music, which incorporates elements of progressive rock and, according to biographer Tony Fletcher, it was produced in such a way as to appeal to commercial rock radio at the time.^[4]

The album showcased some of Townshend's most complicated arrangements, with multiple layers of synthesizer and strings. Many of the songs also revisited themes from Townshend's long-contemplated Lifehouse project, featuring lyrics about songwriting and music as a metaphor for life, as indicated by titles like "Guitar and Pen", "New Song", "Music Must Change", and "Sister Disco".^[5] The latter two, along with "Who Are You", ultimately appeared on Lifehouse Chronicles, Townshend's later actualization of the project. Several of the song's lyrics also reflect Townshend's uncertainty about the Who's continued relevance in the wake of punk rock,^[6] and his dissatisfaction with the music industry.^[7]

There was a three-year hiatus between Who Are You and the Who's previous studio album, The Who by Numbers (1975). The band was drifting apart during this period, as band members were working on various solo projects with Moon and Townshend driving deeper into drug and alcohol abuse. The initial sessions at Ramport Studios, produced by Glyn Johns and Jon Astley, were lackadaisical; Jon Astley recalled that "no one wanted to work", and the members looked forward more to drinking and reminiscing at six in the evening.^[4] Astley felt that he and Johns pushed Moon too hard to play a simpler style, while Johns believed that Moon had "lost confidence in his ability" and would deliberately go out of his way to resist his suggestions.^[6]

Moon's health was especially an object of concern, as his drumming skills had noticeably deteriorated and his performances for most of the sessions were substandard. He was unable to play in 6/8 time on the track "Music Must Change", so the drums were removed completely from the track, and replaced with the sound of footsteps and a few cymbal crashes. Bassist John Entwistle remarked that Moon "couldn't think of anything to play."^[8] Townshend writes in his memoir Who I Am that he offered to remove "Music Must Change" from the album due to Moon's struggles. Moon retorted, "I am still the best... Keith Moon-type drummer in the world!".^[9]

On another occasion, Astley recalled, "I was doing a drum track, and he hadn't learned the song. I actually had to stand up and conduct. He said, 'Can you give me a cue when you get to the middle part?' [...] He hadn't done his homework."^[10] Entwistle similarly described Moon as "really out of condition", and "disgusted with himself" as a result.^[11] Townshend wrote, "Musically his drumming was getting so uneven that recording was almost impossible, so much so that work on the Who Are You album had ground to a halt."^[7]

The recording was further delayed when lead singer Roger Daltrey underwent throat surgery, and when during a lengthy Christmas break, Townshend sliced his hand in a window during an argument with his parents. Former Zombies and Argent member Rod Argent was also called in to replace session keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick after Bundrick suffered a broken arm falling out of a taxi at the studio door in March 1978.^[11] Townshend attributed Bundrick's broken arm to drunkenly throwing himself out to avoid paying the fare.^[7]

When the sessions resumed in March, they were moved to RAK Studios, which caused further delays due to the equipment malfunctioning, including the wiping of a backing track. Astley stated that the RAK equipment made the existing material sound different when played back, necessitating further delays as he attempted to fix the audio problems.^[11] In one incident, Daltrey punched Johns in the face due to an argument over a rough mix, rendering him unconscious.^[11] The argument was fueled by Ted Astley adding a string arrangement to "Had Enough", which Daltrey derided as "slushy".^[12] After one long and frustrating day, Townshend planned to fire Moon from the band unless he cleaned up his act.^[11] The plan drove Moon to attempt to kick his alcohol habit and work more enthusiastically. Due to a prior commitment to produce Joan Armatrading's studio album To the Limit, Johns had to leave in April, with Astley remaining as sole producer. Under Astley's command, the sessions returned to Ramport, with all of the drums except for "Who Are You" recorded in the last two weeks of production.^[8] Who Are You was released on 18 August 1978.^[13]

Moon died on 7 September 1978, just under a month after the album's release; on the cover, he is shown sitting in a chair labelled "Not to be taken away". Photographer Terry O'Neil had insisted Moon sit with the back of the chair facing the camera so as to hide his distended stomach, a result of his alcoholism.^[14][5]

"Sister Disco"

"Sister Disco" seemed to mourn the death of disco, although it could be construed to be a criticism of it. It featured complicated synthesiser tracks that were the result of hours Townshend spent programming an ARP 2600 synthesiser.^[5]

The song was never performed with Moon. However, it was performed regularly when the Who toured with Kenney Jones as drummer, and quickly became a live favourite. It was included on the band's greatest hits album, The Ultimate Collection (2002). It was also revived for their fall 2008 tour.^[5]

"Empty Glass"

The song "Empty Glass" appeared as a bonus track on reissues of the album. The lyrics in this version were notable for having more suicidal undertones than those in the final version, which appeared on Pete Townshend's second solo studio album Empty Glass (1980). Most notably, the line, "Killing each other, then we jump off the ledge" was changed to "Killing each other by driving a wedge" for the latest version.