For a band that's already released one of the greatest live albums of all time, you'd think that releasing Live at the Isle of Wight twenty-some odd years later could only be anti-climactic. This double- disc set feels as urgent as ever, although it's spotty at times and can make for more exhausting listening than Live at Leeds. But Isle of Wight is, without a doubt, worthwhile documentation of a band that, up until about 1978, could blow just about anybody offstage.

The beauty of Live at Leeds was its brevity-- each song a perfectly cut diamond in the rough, with no bullshit wanderings weighing the album down. Isle of Wight offers passable versions of "Shakin All Over" and "Summertime Blues" and a great rendition of the more obscure "I Don't Know Myself." Unless you're a fanatical Tommy fan, you'll probably want to steer clear of certain rock operatic "movements" included here: "Tommy Can You Hear Me," "It's a Boy," "Amazing Journey," and "Overture," to name a few. But this diversionary pomp doesn't subtract too much from the massive adrenaline rush of "Heaven and Hell" or the crunchy cock- rock re-styling of "I Can't Explain."

The version of "Young Man Blues" captured here still stands as one of the most menacing roars of rock n' roll ever recorded. "Water" is a suprising highlight, a lesser- known Who song from Townshend's scrapped Lifehouse project. "Water" also features Townshend the Soloist at his bloodthirsty best. His axe cries like a gutshot coyote, as if to mimic the sleep- deprived delirium slowly setting in on the group. Meanwhile, John Entwhistle's inimitable life- of- its- own bass thunders its way through the set, filling in the gaps between Townshend's manic chord blasts and playing off Moon's controlled rhythmic chaos. And all the while, there's Daltrey affecting some obvious but not too enervating Robert Plant- like vocal acrobatics.

Although the Who in the early '70s were accused by many of sounding too much like Led Zeppelin, anyone with any sense knows that Townshend (even at his worst) could write, compose and perform circles around that glorified session cat Jimmy Page. Take a listen to Zeppelin's live mope- session on The Song Remains the Same and it becomes pretty obvious Page and Plant could never hope to match Townshend and Co.'s near- psychotic intensity onstage.

As the somewhat inferior second disc of Isle of Wight suggests, though, Townshend's songs could be as hokey and uninspired as the next guy's. But like any other prolific composer with a massive body of work, Townshend's always written plenty of half- realized filler to go alongside the occasional timeless classic. That said, the Live At the Isle of Wight recordings do ultimately succeed at capturing and preserving the essential Who: the loud, ragged, rambunctious Who comfortably estranged from the confines of the studio.

-Michael Sandlin