The Who Announce Massive ‘Who By Numbers’ Box Set With 92 Unreleased Tracks

The Who are commemorating the 50th anniversary of their 1976 LP The Who By Numbers with a massive five-disc box set that includes a remastered version of the album, Pete Townshend’s original demos, alternate versions of the songs and studio jams from the tracking sessions, audio of a June 12, 1976, concert in Swansea, Wales, video of their show in Pontiac, Michigan, on December 6, 1975, and a Blu-ray Disc with at Atmos Mix, a 5.1 mix, both overseen by Townshend, and a new stereo mix.

There are 92 unreleased audio tracks in total, including an early mix of “Imagine a Man” with Pete Townshend on vocals. (Roger Daltrey sings lead on the album rendition.)

The Who By Numbers followed a long, ambitious slate of Who concept albums and rock operas, including The Who Sell Out, Tommy, Who’s Next (which was assembled from tracks intended for the Lighthouse project), and Quadrophenia. This time around, Townshend decided to write songs about the struggles in his own life, rather than invented characters. 

“The Who By Numbers is a tricky album to talk about,” Townshend writes in the new Who By Numbers liner notes. “It’s the only one where I allowed songs that were so personal to be used by the Who.”

“In some ways, The Who By Numbers is my favorite [Who] album,” adds Roger Daltrey. “For me, songs like ‘Imagine A Man’, ‘How Many Friends’ and ‘However Much I Booze’ expose our vulnerabilities, and the album is wonderful for that.”

The album didn’t reach the commercial heights of their previous few records, but most critics were very impressed. “The Who by Numbers isn’t what it seems,” wrote Rolling Stone‘s Dave Marsh. “Without broadcasting it, in fact while denying it, Townshend has written a series of songs which hang together as well as separately. The time is somewhere in the middle of the night, the setting a disheveled room with a TV set that seems to show only rock programs. The protagonist is an aging, still successful rock star, staring drunkenly at the tube with a bottle of gin perched on his head, contemplating his career, his love for the music and his fear that it’s all slipping away. Every song here, even the one non-Townshend composition, John Entwistle‘s ‘Success Story,’ fits in. Always a sort of musical practical joker, Townshend has now pulled the fastest one of all, disguising his best concept album as a mere ten-track throwaway.”

Most of the songs on the album, besides the hit “Squeeze Box,” were difficult to perform live at the arenas and stadiums the Who were playing at this point. Many of the darkest tunes, including “How Many Friends,” “However Much I Booze” and “They Are All In Love” were either never played live or dropped after just a few attempts.

At the Swansea show that appears on this new package, “Squeeze Box” and “Dreaming From The Waist” are the only Who By Numbers tracks. The rest of the set is devoted to oldies like “Behind Blue Eyes,” “My Generation,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and an extended suite of Tommy songs.

The Pontiac, Michigan show – which was filmed on two-inch videotape and has never been previously released – has a very similar setlist. The show attracted 76,896 fans, which set a record for the largest-ever attendance at an indoor rock concert.

The set comes with a 100-page book about the creation of the album. “I could feel a new wave or reaction and rebellion coming in the music business, the big bands were becoming careless and self-indulgent,” Townshend writes in the book.  “I wanted my songs to continue to have a cathartic function for our audience. When punk hit a few years later, I was not surprised.”

The Who have been inactive since the conclusion of the U.S. leg of their Song Is Over farewell tour in October 2025. Daltrey just began a run of solo dates in America, and Townshend is recovering from a knee replacement surgery that forced him to cancel an appearance at Eric Clapton’s crossroads festival in Austin, Texas, later this month. But they recently made peace with drummer Zak Starkey, who was fired from the group last year, and rehearsed with him for a possible European leg of their farewell tour.

“We rehearsed for an afternoon and were absolutely on fire,” Starkey said in an e-mailed statement to Rolling Stone. “I’m so happy to be back playing the music I love with people I love. It’s good to be home.”

The Who By Numbers Super Deluxe Edition Track Listing

DISC ONE: THE ORIGINAL 1975 ALBUM REMASTERED

DISC TWO: PETE TOWNSHEND DEMOS

DISC THREE: TRACKING SESSIONS: RAMPORT & SHEPPERTON STUDIOS

DISC FOUR: EARLY MIXES & GUIDE VOCALS

DISC FIVE: LIVE AT VETCH FIELD, SWANSEA, WALES, JUNE 12, 1976

BLU RAY

The Who By Numbers

Pete Townshend Atmos Mix (Previously Unreleased)

Pete Townshend 5.1 Mix (Previously Unreleased)

2026 Stereo Mix (Previously Unreleased)

LIVE AT METROPOLITAN STADIUM, PONTIAC, MICHIGAN, DECEMBER 6, 1975 (VIDEO)*

Unreleased Concert shot on NTSC 2” videotape)

*Mono

THE WHO – THE WHO BY NUMBERS

2CD DELUXE VERSION

DISC ONE: THE ORIGINAL 1975 ALBUM REMASTERED

DISC TWO: