By Numbers Box Set

"The Who By Numbers", released in early October 1975, is the 7th studio album by The Who and marked a watershed moment for the band, as its songs were, for the most part, more introspective and personal than those they had released previously. The record was a commercial success, peaking at # 8 on the U.S. Billboard chart and # 7 in the UK, partly due to the success of one of the album’s lighter moments, "Squeeze Box", which became an international hit, reaching the top 10 in the UK, top 20 in the US and # 1 in Canada.

50 years on, "The Who By Numbers" is to be reissued this October as a 5 CD + 1 BluRay super deluxe edition box set featuring a 100 page hard back book with photos, memorabilia and exclusive notes from Pete Townshend and Who expert Andy Neill, 92 unreleased tracks and mixes, brand new Atmos, 5.1 and Stereo mixes by Pete Townshend, 11 of Pete’s original demos for the album, tracking sessions from Ramport and Shepperton Studios, early mixes, guide vocals, the fullest version of "Live At The Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, June 12th, 1976" released to date and on the BluRay audio and video from a previously unreleased Who concert shot on 2” videotape from Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan.

The Who’s show at Pontiac, Michigan, on December 6th, 1975, set the record at the time for the largest ever indoor rock concert attendance, with 76 896 people. The entire show has been exhumed from The Who’s archives and professionally cleaned up, with remastered audio. It now stands as one of the few existing visual records of this memorable Who tour, their last with the irrepressible Keith Moon.

6 months later, The Who played 3 British football grounds under the banner 'Who Put The Boot In'. The 1st of these, at The Valley, the home of Charlton Athletic, was recognised by the Guinness Book Of World Records as the world’s loudest rock concert. The 3rd show at Swansea FC’s Vetch Field was recorded for a proposed live album, and over the years, songs from the Swansea concert have appeared on official Who releases. Now, the available original mix tapes have been remastered and returned to their original order. The show was Keith Moon’s last proper show before a British audience, capturing the level of performance power The Who attained over the year long tour.

Produced by Glyn Johns, who had previously worked with the band on their 1971 album "Who’s Next", "The Who By Numbers", despite its light hearted John Entwistle drawn sleeve and massive hit single, features some of the darkest songs ever recorded by the band. This new super deluxe edition sheds light on the making of the album and the state of mind of its composer, Pete Townshend. As he puts it in the 100 page making of the album book that accompanies the box set, “I could feel a new wave or reaction and rebellion coming in the music business, the big bands were becoming careless and self indulgent. I wanted my songs to continue to have a cathartic function for our audience. When punk hit a few years later, I was not surprised”.

The legendary album by The Who will be released on October 30th, 2026, digitally, on a 2 CD set, a 3 LP set, and on the limited deluxe boxset.