Spanning four decades, Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who and Amazing Journey: Six Quick Ones are two exciting, fully authorized documentaries for fans that can never get enough of Britain's greatest export. Thoughtful commentary from Daltrey/Townshend — plus music icons Sting, The Edge, Eddie Vedder and a host of others is interspersed through unreleased concert footage and classic routines.

CRITIQUE

Once referred to by Rolling Stone as the Holy Trinity of '60s-era British rock, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who unleashed a new sound on the unsuspecting public. It was an eclectic mix as if R&B, gospel, pop and country genres were caught up in a street rumble. The victor emerged bruised but triumphant, and then attended art school, smoked dope and dropped out. Of this Holy Trinity it might be said that The Who rumbled the hardest — but also attended school the longest. At least Pete Townshend did, and his Fine Arts background would rise to the surface time and again as The Who kept transforming.

Taking a cue from one of the band's signature songs, this new documentary could've been called Who Are They? It's almost like a counterpoint to the notorious doc The Kids Are Alright. Where the latter was more of a free form emotional roller coaster brimming with numerous sound bytes interspersed between full-length live performances, Amazing Journey is a structured piece with narration and chapters.

The very nature of structure itself seems antithetical to The Who's nature. It was only after one inevitable incident that the concept could be imposed upon the band: Keith Moon died before he got old.

Kids was made before he managed to misadventure himself off this mortal coil. Amazing Journey continues past his death in 1978, charting the band's tailspin from (arguably) the greatest rock 'n roll band of all time to a handful of old geezers trying to stay afloat on the fickle waves of contemporary culture. Where Kids is touched by madness, Journey is filtered through sadness.

Coping with Moon's death was difficult, but the band found a fine drummer with Kenney Jones. Unfortunately his time behind the skins was overshadowed by "the deadliest rock concert in U.S. History;" wherein some Cincinnati fans were trampled to death in a stampede to their seats. This event and the 80s in general were tough on Townshend, who let his vices get the best of him.

The Who only appeared on stage a few more times in the 80s, including a set at Live Aid and an all-star tour commemorating the twentieth anniversary of "Tommy." John Entwistle's massive debt prompted a “Quadrophenia" tour in 1996, with Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey on drums. Starkey's live work is so nuanced and impressive that he's considered by many as the only drummer who could actually replace Moon rather than sit in for him.

Sadly, Entwistle's tour earnings were spent as soon as they accrued. Eventually the pioneering bass player was found dead from a drug overdose in a Las Vegas hotel. Another sad and wasted life in the rock 'n roll gutter. Contractual obligation forced the band to press on with a session player in his stead, but for all intents and purposes — including Endless Wire, a 2006 album featuring their first new material in 24 years — The Who were no more. “Rock is dead they say... Long live rock!”

Disc One is neatly divided into chapters. Each is titled with a line from a Who song relevant to the material about to unspool. As expected, the band's musical innovations and downright hellacious behavior (on and off stage) are addressed — they very well can't be avoided! Uncharacteristic of Townshend are his reactions to the Cincinnati tragedy, John Entwhistle's coke-fueled death and his own legal battle against child pornography charges (which were eventually dismissed). Time and perspective have loosened Townshend's tongue; yet he hasn't lost a bit of eloquence in the wake of disaster.

Disc Two, called "6 Quick Ones," is less concerned with The Who's cultural influence, instead concentrating on the unique personalities that made The Who who! they are... a bass player who played like lead guitar, a drummer who slammed the skins like a man possessed, a singer whose voice would swoop from the gutter to the heavens and back; and a lead guitarist who composed like the new Mozart.

THE VIDEO

Amazing Journey is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, plus a mixture of various film and video formats (interspersed throughout). A blend of spotty archival footage and recent HD interviews, it’s expected that when the source material is so different in quality that it's a laudable feat that it looks as smooth as it does here.

THE AUDIO

Amazing Journey is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. Crank it up to eleven, gang. The Who isn’t a band that succeeded as musical wallpaper. The finest home audio/visual system gets a real shakedown with this DVD, and the results are amazing!

EXTRAS

Who Art You looks at the pop sensibilities and visual styles for which The Who both adopted and engendered.

Who's Back finds filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker sitting in with the boys in the 2003 studio session as they record  "Real Good Looking Boy."

The Scrapbook features video clips recalling specific highlights of The Who's history, from the tragedy during the Cincinnati concert, to the performance in 2000 at Royal Albert Hall.

The High Numbers at the Railway Hotel is all that remains of the original footage of The Who performing there in 1964. The  Railway Hotel is to The Who what The Cavern is to the Beatles.

The release also includes a collector's booklet, summarizing the DVD and containing a few selected photos of the band throughout the years.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We don't know what prompted the producers to keep the songs from playing in their entirety; the “clip” aspect of this release is the only disappointing aspect in an otherwise sterling documentary. Perhaps they thought that rabid fans already had the albums, so why bother? This approach makes glimpses of the rare shows (London 1969, Leeds 1970, Holland 1973, Cow Palace 1973, Houston 1975, Cleveland 1975, Chicago 1979, and the 1982 Farewell Tour) all the more tantalizing. Perhaps another DVD will fill the void!