So, what qualifies as a good reason for a 'Greatest Hits' album these days? Untimely death perhaps? 50 glorious years at the top of your game in the business? Huge advance still owed to the record label and no creativity left to deliver? Or maybe appearing at the half-time show of the final of a sport that few people in this country understand, let alone follow. Incidentally which appears on Sky TV over here starting at around midnight and lasting over 3 hours....

Cynics may describe this release as somewhat superfluous, seeing as the band have released exactly bugger all since their last 'Greatest Hits' (or was that a retrospective? An anthology? I forget....), Then And Now six years ago, which itself followed a year after The Best Of The Who, which came a year after The Ultimate Collection, just a few years after...well, you get the picture. It's worth noting that in the band's fallow period between 1982's It's Hard and 1996's Endless Wire, no fewer than 11 compilations of The Who material has been released...

Taking aside the blatant attempt to part Who fans with their money once again (hello Dad!), this isn't actually a bad little compilation. Many of the classics are there, with 'Happy Jack', 'Substitute', 'Pictures Of Lily' and 'Behind Blue Eyes' all present and correct, and whilst you can justifiably take issue with the inclusion of modern monstrosities such as 'Real Good Looking Boy' and 'It's Not Enough' at the expense of much better tracks such as 'The Seeker' or the epic 'A Quick One While He's Away', you could possibly argue that they're going for something of a career spanning set here, so maybe it's fair enough. After all, you can't please everyone. Apparently at the Superbowl, they're going to condense their entire career into 12 minutes of performance, so I guess we should be thankful for what we get...

CD2 is arguably more worth a look than the first's collection of tracks that most people already have. Featuring rare live tracks 'chosen by the band', it's a much better insight into why the band are just so damn good. Many of the tracks selected are live versions of those that feature on the first disc, but we do get performances of '5.15' and an intriguing medley of 'Naked Eye'. 'Let's See Action' and 'My Generation' from Charlton Athletic's Valley Stadium in 1974. Hearing Keith Moon beating the shit out of a drum kit in concert is one of life's biggest pleasures after all. We also get some more recent performances which remind us just how good they used to be a long time ago...

Overall, it's a good package for someone sat at the Superbowl, who perhaps doesn't already own one of the myriad compilations already on the market. However, for anyone who already has a basic knowledge of one of the greatest British bands of all time coupled with a copy of the seminal Live At Leeds (which is thankfully represented here with 'Magic Bus'), then there's probably not much to see here...