An audio spinoff of the 2015 home-video set
Live at Shea Stadium 1982
, this double disc comprises
the Who
's October 13 gig at Shea, the second show in a two-night stand at the storied New York venue. Touted as
's farewell, their 1982 tour found the group promoting the recent
It's Hard
, a conflicted record that saw the group attempting to lurch into the 1980s. The performance captured on
-- a concert given in the first part of the tour, which stretched from September to December -- finds the group pushing the record with performances of its title track, "Dangerous," "Cry If You Want," and "Eminence Front" while curiously side-stepping "Athena," one of the songs from the album that endured in the popular consciousness. The band does lean into their arena-rock theatrics of the late 1970s and early 1980s to the extent that they give such '60s standards as "Substitute," "I Can't Explain," and "Pinball Wizard" muscular readings. On the whole, the band does sound surprisingly strong, playing with a vigor that belies the conventional wisdom that
were on their last legs with
Kenney Jones
behind the drum kit in 1982. It also helps that they demonstrate a sense of humor: the entire proceedings close with an encore containing "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout," a cheerful nod to
the Beatles
' legendary concerts at this storied venue. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine