Several of the song's lyrics also reflect Townshend's uncertainty about the Who's continued relevance in the wake of punk rock,[7] and his dissatisfaction with the music industry.

[12] Townshend wrote, "Musically his drumming was getting so uneven that recording was almost impossible, so much so that work on the Who Are You album had ground to a halt.

"[8] The recording was further delayed when lead singer Roger Daltrey underwent throat surgery, and when during a lengthy Christmas break, Townshend sliced his hand in a window during an argument with his parents.

[8] When the sessions resumed in March, they were moved to RAK Studios, which caused further delays due to the equipment malfunctioning, including the wiping of a backing track.

Astley stated that the RAK equipment made the existing material sound different when played back, necessitating further delays as he attempted to fix the audio problems.

[12] In one incident, Daltrey punched Johns in the face due to an argument over a rough mix, rendering him unconscious.

[14] Moon died on 7 September 1978, just under a month after the album's release; on the cover, he is shown sitting in a chair labelled "Not to be taken away".

Photographer Terry O'Neil had insisted Moon sit with the back of the chair facing the camera so as to hide his distended stomach, a result of his alcoholism.

"[17] Across the band's entire career, only four of the songs on the album ("Sister Disco", "Music Must Change", "Trick of the Light" and "Who Are You") have been played live.

"Who Are You" was the first of the album's songs to be performed live; this was at a concert in the band's 1976 tour at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, albeit in a very raw and abbreviated version extremely different from the finished product.

On that tour, "Sister Disco" was played quite close to the studio version, but with the country-style acoustic guitar outro replaced by a more bluesy, electric one.

This remaster included five bonus tracks: outtakes "Empty Glass" and "No Road Romance", and alternate mixes for "Guitar and Pen", "Love Is Coming Down", and "Who Are You".

On 24 December 2011, Universal Japan reissued the original analogue mixes of the album on limited, numbered edition SHM-CD, remastered by Jon Astley.

Original LP Release and MCA Records 1985 CD re-release The Who Additional musicians ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.