Anyone know this album cover?

Question

Where was the picture taken on the cover of The Who's "Who's Next" album?

Answer 1

Front and back cover photography by Ethan A. Russell. [The front cover was shot at a location discovered as The Who drove back from a gig at the Top Rank Suite in Sunderland May 8th, 1971. John and Keith were talking about Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyseey when they spied the blocks used to hold slag heaps together and noticed their resemblance to the alien monoliths in Kubrick's film. Russell said it was Pete's idea for the group to urinate on the "monolith" and that the urine was actually water carried over in film cans. Pete has remarked that it was a dig at Kubrick for refusing to direct the Tommy movie, but he may have been kidding. It could also be said to express the idea of Lifehouse as a sort of dystopian version of 2001: A Space Odyssey but this may be reading far too much into it. Despite having no stated connection to Lifehouse, Pete revived the imagery of the cover in the 1999 radio version. The back cover photo was shot backstage at DeMontfort Hall in Leicester on May 4th.

Answer 2

The album cover shows a photograph, taken at an unknown colliery somewhere outside Sunderland, of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling protruding from a slag heap. According to photographer Ethan A. Russell, most of the members couldn't rise to the occasion, so rainwater was tipped from an empty film cannister to achieve the desired effect. The photo is often seen to be a reference to the monolith discovered on the moon in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which had been released only about three years earlier. In 2003, the United States cable television channel VH1 named Who's Next's front cover the 2nd greatest album cover of all time.

An earlier cover design had featured photos of grotesquely obese nude females and has been published elsewhere, but never actually appeared on the album. An alternate cover featured drummer Keith Moon dressed in black lingerie, holding a rope whip, and wearing a brown wig (this image can be found behind the CD tray in the remastered 1995 version).

Answer 3

It was taken on a slag heap just otside of Sheffield, England. The group was on the way back to London from a gig in Sunderland when they stopped for a "pit stop" and shot the photo that would be the album cover for "Who's Next".


source-1995 remastered expanded edition of Who's Next.

Answer 4

it was taken at a coal mine in a place called sunderland. if you look close you can see where they all actually urinated on the wall. it was not the original choice , the original cover was nude very obese woman, after that was scratched it was keith moon wearing black lengerie. it was actually the third choice.