Editing Who's Next (section)

==Background==
{{See also|Lifehouse (rock opera)}}

By 1970, the Who had obtained significant critical and commercial success, but they had started to become detached from their original audience. The [[mod (subculture)|mod movement]] had vanished, and the original followers from [[Shepherd's Bush]] had grown up and acquired jobs and families. The group had started to drift apart from manager [[Kit Lambert]], owing to his preoccupation with his label, [[Track Records]].{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=361}} They had been touring since the release of ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' the previous May, with a set that contained most of that album, but realised that millions had now seen their live performances, and [[Pete Townshend]] in particular recognised that they needed to do something new.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=363}} A single, "[[The Seeker (The Who song)|The Seeker]]", and a live album, ''[[Live at Leeds]]'', were released in 1970,{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=358}} and an EP of new material ("Water", "Naked Eye", "I Don't Even Know Myself", "Postcard", and "Now I'm a Farmer") was recorded, but not released, as the band felt it would not be a satisfactory follow-up to ''Tommy''.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=365}}

Instead, the group tackled a project called ''[[Lifehouse (rock opera)|Lifehouse]]''. This evolved from a series of columns Townshend wrote for ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in August 1970, in which he discussed the importance of rock music, and in particular what the audience could do.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=368}} Of all the group, he was the most keen to use music as a communication device, and wanted to branch out into other media, including film, to get away from the traditional album/tour cycle.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=272}} Townshend has variously described ''Lifehouse'' as a futuristic [[rock opera]], a live-recorded [[concept album]] and as the music for a scripted film project.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=369}} The basic plot was outlined in an interview Townshend gave to ''Disc and Music Echo'' on 24 October 1970.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=250}} ''Lifehouse'' is set in the near future in a society in which music is banned and most of the population live indoors in government-controlled "experience suits". A rebel, Bobby, broadcasts rock music into the suits, allowing people to remove them and become more enlightened. Some elements accurately describe future technology; for example, The Grid resembles [[the internet]] and "grid sleep" resembles [[virtual reality]].{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=273}}

[[File:G-6120 2.jpg|thumb|130px|[[Pete Townshend]] was given a [[Gretsch 6120]] guitar by [[Joe Walsh]] in early 1971, and it became his main electric instrument for ''Who's Next'']]

The group held a press conference on 13 January 1971, explaining that they would be giving a series of concerts at the [[Young Vic]] theatre, where they would develop the fictional elements of the proposed film along with the audience.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=273}} After [[Keith Moon]] had completed his work on the film ''[[200 Motels]]'', the group performed their first Young Vic concert on 15 February. The show included a new quadrophonic [[public address system]] which cost £30,000; the audience was mainly invited from various organisations, such as youth clubs, with only a few tickets on sale to the general public.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=278}}

After the initial concerts, at Lambert's suggestion the group flew to New York to make studio recordings at [[Record Plant Studios]]. They were joined by guests [[Al Kooper]] on [[Hammond organ]], [[Ken Ascher]] on piano, and [[Leslie West]] on guitar. Townshend used a 1957 [[Gretsch]] guitar, given to him by [[Joe Walsh]], during the session; it went on to become his main guitar for studio recording.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=279}} Lambert's participation in the recording was minimal, and he proved to be unable to mix the final recordings.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=280}} He had started taking hard drugs, while Townshend was drinking brandy regularly.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=274}} After returning to Britain, engineer [[Glyn Johns]] made safety copies of the Record Plant material, but decided it would be better to re-record the album from scratch at [[Olympic Sound Studios]] in [[Barnes, London|Barnes]].{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=280}}

The group gave two more concerts at the Young Vic on 25 and 26 April, which were recorded on the [[Rolling Stones Mobile Studio]] by [[Andy Johns]], but Townshend grew disillusioned with ''Lifehouse'' and further shows were cancelled.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=281}} Audiences at the Young Vic gigs were not interested in interacting with the group to create new material, but simply wanted the Who to play "[[My Generation]]" and smash a guitar.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=377}} The project proved to be intractable on several levels, and caused stress within the band, as well as a major falling-out between Townshend and Lambert. Years later, in the liner notes to the remastered CD, Townshend wrote that the failure of the project led him to the verge of a [[nervous breakdown]].{{sfn|Townshend|2003|p=6}} At the time, [[Roger Daltrey]] said the Who "were never nearer to breaking up".{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=282}}

Although the ''Lifehouse'' concept was abandoned, scraps of the project remained in the final album, including the use of synthesizers and computers.{{sfn|Atkins|2003|p=13}} An early concept for ''Lifehouse'' featured the feeding of personal data from audience members into the controller of an early [[Analog signal|analogue]] synthesizer to create a "universal chord" that would have ended the proposed film.{{sfn|Atkins|2003|p=14}} Abandoning ''Lifehouse'' gave the group extra freedom, owing to the absence of an overriding musical theme or storyline (which had been present in ''Tommy''). This allowed the band to concentrate on maximising the impact of individual tracks and providing a unifying sound for them.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=383}}

Townshend continued to develop the concepts of the ''Lifehouse'' project, revisiting them in later albums, including a 6-CD set, ''[[The Lifehouse Chronicles]]'', in 1999.{{sfn|Townshend|2003|p=9}} In 2007, he launched a (now defunct) website called [[The Lifehouse Method]] to accept personal input from applicants that would be turned into musical portraits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lifehouse-method.com|title=The Lifehouse Method (official website)|access-date=25 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518072215/http://www.lifehouse-method.com/|archive-date=18 May 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>