On August 14th 1971 the Who released their fifth studio album, Who’s Next, in the US.
Viewed by fans and critics alike as the band’s best studio album and by the wider rock audience as one of the greatest rock albums of all time, Who’s Next grew out of the aborted Lifehouse project.
Lifehouse was to have been a multi-media rock opera, to follow up Tommy, but while that was never completed, eight of the nine songs on Who’s Next came from it and ultimately all the remaining tracks would be released on other albums in the subsequent decade.
The UK release of the album came on August 27th and it became the only Who album to top the UK Album Chart.
In 2003 Rolling Stone magazine rated Who’s Next 28th on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. If you’re a Who fan you’ll probably rank it even higher!