Who Are You 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. The album showcased some of
Pete Townshend's most complicated
arrangements, with multiple layers of
synthesizer and
strings. Many of the songs also revisited themes from Townshend's never-realized
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". The latter two, along with "
Who Are You", ultimately appeared on the 2000 box set
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, and his dissatisfaction with the music industry. 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, for band members were working on various solo projects, and Moon and Townshend were driving deeper into drug and alcohol abuse. The initial sessions at
Ramport Studios, produced by
Glyn Johns and
Jon Astley (who was Townsend's brother-in-law at the time,) 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. 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. Moon's health was especially an object of concern, for his drumming skills had noticeably deteriorated and his performances for most of the sessions were substandard. He was unable to play in 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". Townshend writes in his memoir
Who I Am that he offered to remove "Music Must Change" from the album due to Moon's struggles, and that Moon retorted, "I am still the best... Keith Moon-type drummer in the world!". 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." Entwistle similarly described Moon as "really out of condition", and "disgusted with himself" as a result. 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." (“Had Enough” and “905” were originally part of a
rock opera that Entwistle never completed.) After one long and frustrating day, Townshend planned to fire Moon from the band unless he cleaned up his act. 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.
Who Are You was released on 18 August 1978. 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. ==Reception==