The Who Album by Album: Listening to You is not the first book of this sort. John Atkins's The Who On Record is the most thorough in terms of the songs it covers (album cuts, singles, and bonus tracks from the vault), the attention it grants those songs, and the breadth of the author's insight. Steve Grantley and Alan G. Parker's The Who By Numbers is shallower but brings enough of its own research tidbits to the table to be worth reading.
In contrast, The Who Album by Album skimps on the thoroughness. DiCarlo's study, which basically follows the format of Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties, never strays from the parameters of its own title. The author covers album tracks and album tracks only, which means such vital classics as "I Can't Explain", "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", "Pictures of Lily", "Magic Bus", "The Seeker", and "Join Together" are never afforded more than a few passing references (some songs, such as "Batman","I've Been Away", and "Dogs Part Two" never even get that much). He does manage to sneak "Happy Jack" into his Quick One chapter, since that hit was featured on the American edition of the album (likewise "Circles" and My Generation).
As for the songs he does examine, DiCarlo has done some good research (a couple of tidbits that are new to me: Entwistle's solo on "My Generation" was supposedly more complex before he switched from a Danelectro to the Fender Jazz he used on the final recording and Entwistle and Townshend played drums on the rhythmically odd "I'm Free" while Moon only supplied the fills). However, it is far from exhaustive, at least when he's writing about the early records. For example, he misses several instances in which a Who song was essentially ripped off whole-sale from another artist's work (for example, the connections between "The Ox" and The Surfaris' "Waikiki Run" or the one between "Cobwebs and Strange" and Tony Crombie's "Eastern Journey"). A lot of his analysis of such early work is merely descriptive, and even his descriptions tend to lack specificity (not once does he refer to John's French horn by name; it's always just "brass" or "horns"). He doesn't deal with Townshend's pre-Tommy lyrics much either. The introductions to his discussions of Who's Next and Quadrophenia are each longer than the entire chapter on A Quick One and nearly as long as the Who Sell Out chapter. For we fans who prefer The Who's sixties work, this is more than a little unsatisfying.
Starting with the rock opera, DiCarlo becomes a lot more engaged with the material, providing longer, more thoughtful write-ups. His account of Lifehouse is particularly lucid, and lucidity is something that has often evaded that particular project. He maintains that attention until The Who, themselves, basically start disengaging from their own material amidst the decline and death of Keith Moon. His attention returns when the Townshend/Daltrey Who-duo return to record making in the twenty-first century, even allotting Endless Wire two chapters for some reason. This is particularly notable because it's the first time The Who's second-phase output has received such attention, The Who On Record pre-dating Endless Wire and 2019's The Who and The Who By Numbers pre-dating the latter album.
I do like the personality DiCarlo brings to his particular take on The Who's music. He peppers his book with his own experiences as a Whooligan, which includes playing in a Who cover band, and even includes some photos of himself with Pete and Roger Daltrey. And, of course, I like that in a time when The Who no longer garner the respect they once did and still deserve, someone like Dante DiCarlo is still listening and still understands that they're a band worth hearing with fresh ears. Too bad that interest didn't fully extend to their singles or pre-Tommy work.
