The overlooked Who album that Roger Daltrey said he loves

Originally formed by Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, The Who was one of the most influential and successful bands in the 60s and 70s, maintaining their legacy alive until nowadays. They sold an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide. But the band has many overlooked albums in their discography, which didn’t receive the same attention as the most famous ones.

The band’s vocalist Roger Daltrey talked once about one of those albums and revealed that he really loves it, although it’s a very dark one.

The overlooked Who album that Roger Daltrey said he loves

By 1975, The Who already was one of the most famous bands in the world and had many incredible albums released, including some of their best-selling ones. It was in that year that they released the overlooked album “The Who By Numbers”, which Roger Daltrey said in an interview with Uncut in 2015 that he really loves.

He explained that the album was a little different from the previous ones. The reason was because the band’s main songwriter Pete Townshend was going through some “terrible agonies”. He was drinking a lot and had problems in his marriage, so the result was a dark album. Because of his mental state, Pete would not include the other members of the band in the songwriting process. So it became a difficult situation.

“We thought, if he wants space, we’ll give him some space. When what we should have done was been there saying, ‘You all right, Pete?’ But that’s just the way he was and still is. There’s a side to him that is like a stone wall. What he really wants you to do is knock down the fucking wall and come through it, which takes a lot of effort all the time. I understand it now but I didn’t understand it then.”

He continued:

“So it led to this brooding, deep, introspective album. He was boozing a lot and I think he was having problems with his marriage. (He was) trying to balance that family life with rock’n’roll. Cos they don’t balance. But I love that album. What’s great about ‘Squeeze Box’ is that it’s so refreshingly simple, an incredible catchy song. A good jolly. I’ve never had a problem with that song. Because it doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is and I love it for that. Live audiences love it. Nothing wrong with a bit of ‘in-and-out’, mate!” Roger Daltrey said.

Besides “Squeeze Box”, the album also had other praised songs like “Slip Kid” and “However Much I Booze”. At the time, the album peaked at number 8 on the United States Billboard 200 chart and 7 on the United Kingdom charts.

He loves to sing the track “Imagine a Man”

Although many songs from that album are not frequently featured on The Who’s live shows, Daltrey loves to perform the track “Imagine a Man”. He revealed that in an interview with UDiscover Music in 2023. He recalled performing that song with an orchestra a few years back, which became the live album “The Who with Orchestra Live at Wembley”.

“It’s kind of wonderful. I’ve always loved that song. Something about what it evokes in one’s mind when you sing that song, it’s just lovely. It’s always a joy to sing, that’s for sure,” Roger Daltrey said.