The Who 
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The best album credited to The Who is Who's Next which is ranked number 40 in the overall greatest album chart with a total rank score of 20,204.
The Who is ranked number 27 in the overall artist rankings with a total rank score of 45,557.
The Who official website: http://www.thewho.com
- Members: N.B. The member list may not contain a full list of members (and there may be notable omissions). If a member has never released a solo album, or their solo albums do not appear on BEA, they will not be able to be listed as a member. These omissions are not meant to cause offense to anybody. The member list is solely meant as an additional navigation aid to browse between the items listed on the site.
- Rabbit (US)
- Pete Townshend
- Roger Daltrey
- John Entwistle
- Keith Moon
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The Who best albums
The following albums by The Who are ranked highest in the greatest album charts:
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Year of Release:
1971
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20,204
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1973
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6,836
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1969
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6,511
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1967
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3,370
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1965
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2,636
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1970
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2,081
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1966
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1,034
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1975
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882
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1978
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478
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Total albums: 51. Page 1 of 6
This may not be a complete discography for The Who.This listing only shows those albums by this artist that appear in at least one chart on this site. If an album is 'missing' that you think deserves to be here, you can include it in your own chart from the My Charts page!
The Who bestography composition
The Who best tracks
Include tracks from compilations & live albums | Exclude tracks from compilations & live albums The same track can appear on multiple albums, so excluding tracks from compilations and live albums helps to remove duplicates from this list.
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The Who ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this artist. | Show all 416 ratings for this artist.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Artist ratings | Avg. artist rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 01/26/2026 23:05 | kinginsomniac12 | 74 | 100/100 |
| ! | 11/26/2025 21:15 | pago82 | 1,407 | 67/100 |
| ! | 11/01/2025 03:22 |  LukasAntoine00s | 91 | 69/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some artists can have several thousand ratings)
This artist is rated in the top 1% of all artists on BestEverAlbums.com. This artist has a Bayesian average rating of 86.4/100, a mean average of 86.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 86.7/100. The standard deviation for this artist is 12.2.
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The Who favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this artist as a favourite | Show all 170 members
The Who forum mentions
This artist has been referenced 34 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 3 days ago in Chart of the day (#5457): By Rockdrigo
BestEverAlbums 3 days ago in Chart of the day (#5457): By Rockdrigo“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Rockdrigo () 1. by (1978) 2. by by (1986) 4. by (1998) 5. by (1966) 6. by by (1989) 8. by (1973) 10. by (1977) 12. by by (1983) 14. by (1968) 15. by by (2011) 17. by (1968) 18. by (1972) 19. by (1984) 20. by (1968) 21. by (1973) 22. by…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 09/28/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5449): By junodog4
BestEverAlbums 09/28/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5449): By junodog4“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by junodog4 () 1. by (1971) 2. by (1971) 3. by (1973) 5. by (1972) 6. by (1975) 7. by (1970) 8. by (1972) 9. by (1973) 10. by (1970) 11. by (1972) 13. by by (1975) 15. by (1975) 16. by (1971) 17. by (1978) 18. by (1979) 19. by (1971) 20.…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 09/27/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5448): By Glitterboiii
BestEverAlbums 09/27/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5448): By Glitterboiii“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Glitterboiii () 1. by (1969) 2. by by (1975) 4. by by (1973) 6. (1966) 7. by (1969) 8. by (1967) 9. by (2015) 10. by by (1999) 12. by (1998) 13. by by (1979) 15. by (1972) 16. by (1970) 17. by (1967) 18. by (1968) 19. by (1971) 21. by (1969)…”
View forum post →The Who comments
Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 54 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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From
poppmusic TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/19/2016 04:11 | #156972
poppmusic TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/19/2016 04:11 | #156972
What a strange, polarizing band. No band has moved or inspired me more, and I wish I could figure out how to explain to others (especially people my age and/or females) why I like them so much.
This band has no less than three substantially different phases all of which they did amazing things:
PHASE I (1964-1966): Became the definitive "mod" rockers, helped invent punk music ("My Generation"), helped invent noise rock, angry, rebellious, defiant, smashing guitars, high fashion.
PHASE II (1966-1970): The ultimate acid rockers, experimented with rich soundscapes and bellowing guitar tones. But they also did it with a wonderfully sense of humor, combining artsy British sentiments with the hippie theater of the time to produce hilarious critiques of capitalism/consumerism (The Who Sell Out), religion (Tommy), porn ("Pictures of Lily"), transgenderism/identity ("Tattoo", "I'm a Boy"), drugs & sex.
PHASE III (1970-1973): Pete becomes interested in songwriting, atmospheric/zen tonal writing, ultimately inspiring bands like U2 or Television through sweeping ballads, glorious anthems, and an investigation of what it means to be human. Most songs deal with Pete's futuristic "Lifehouse" society, at least until their ultimate soul-searching masterpiece "Quadrophenia" that can at least be likened to "Catcher in the Rye" or "Siddhartha" in importance.
(unfortunately, Pete loses his creative spark after this moment, resorting to bad new wave albums)
So there you go. Somehow this all gets squashed down to "classic rock." Not sure how.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 14
From
cuzIsed 01/04/2017 09:27 | #181699
Quadrophenia was on and my husband said, "I don't 'get' the Who." In that declaration I knew unequivocally there was just no hope, and so - well - I left.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 9
From
edubs 11/15/2017 18:37 | #201386
Regarding the comment "old mans music [sic]" by InsanityPrawnBoy:
actually, this is very much young man's music - simply young men from a different time. music (at least that being sold to the public) has been a "young man's game" for a long time. Ragtime wasn't old people music, Swing wasn't old people music, Be-bop wasn't old people music, Motown wasn't old people music, etc. The music of The Who is filled with the vibrance of youth, the energy of youth and their lyrics speak to the listener from a youthful perspective (though at times also an "old soul" view of the world). Today's "young people music" will seem "old" to younger people 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. But a young person with perspective will understand that this music comes from the mind and body of young people and that certain truths of the life experiences of young people will resonate in that music forever. But I guess you were just looking to be snarky.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5
From
adriagc96 02/17/2016 18:18 | #160016
adriagc96 02/17/2016 18:18 | #160016
Invented punk.
Great guitarrist. Great drummer. Great bassist. Great singer.
Far better than the Stones.
They should definitely be in the TOP 10.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 8
From
AAL2014 TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/04/2015 20:19 | #133975
AAL2014 TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/04/2015 20:19 | #133975
The Who make their case for the all time greatest rock band because of the landmark Who's Next, the two amazing rock operas, a number of other very solid albums, including the legendary Live At Leeds, one of the most memorable live shows ever (including one of my favorite Super Bowl shows), and one of the most exciting ensembles in modern music.
Their overall body of work puts them just behind bands like the Beatles and Zeppelin, but they are in the conversation. Great band.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 4
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