Since the beginning of their popularity, The Who have been no strangers to violence, but until Monday in Cincinnati the destruction had remained on the stage, part of the show.

The band came into being in 1963, cut its first album in 1965 and tuned into bona fide mega-stars in 1968 with the release of “Tommy,” the first recorded rock opera. Since ’68, the band has been among rock and roll’s royalty.

Originally, the band was Peter Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon. Moon died in September, 1978, of causes related to drug abuse; his place was taken by drummer Jimmy Williams.

From the very beginning, The Who was never known for its restraint: Moon, the drummer, traditionally ended every show by kicking his drums off the riser and stomping them into oblivion; lead guitarist Townshend never failed to end a concert without the complete destruction of his guitar and often of the amps flanking the stage; lead singer Roger Daltrey, primping and prancing in the finest Mick Jagger style, was slightly tamer — he just twirled the mike around his head and dangerously close to nearly everyone else; bassist Entwhistle just watched the destruction and smirked as the banks of electrical equipment went up in a flurry of sparks.

BUT it has always been the sound which has attracted the crowds.

It’s a tremendously large sound. More than one scientist, in fact, has measured the sounds levels at above the pain threshold. Rock ’n’ roll veterans generally agree that this is the loudest of all bands.

But audiences love them. The band has never had a problem selling records or filling seats — witness the packed arenas the group has played in for the last 10 years, and the speed with which the tickets have sold.

The Who, however, has drawn mixed reviews. Enquirer reviewer Cliff Radel said, following a 1975 performance at Riverfront Coliseum, that the group attracted a discourteous crowd that booed the preliminary acts.

Radel said the crowd’s ecstasy with the appearance of the Who made the Coliseum buzz “like a massive beehive.”

In February, 1976, New York Times writer John Rockwell noted that while the Rolling Stones are far better known by the general public, the Who “is largely regarded as one of the finest bands — if not the finest band — in the world” by young people and rock devotees.

THE WHO’S music has been a mainstay in the very transient world of rock ’n’ roll, their album, “My Generation,” being considered a rock classic.

The group is featured in a 105-minute movie biography of itself entitled, “The Kids Are Alright.”

Radel described it last Nov. 23 as a melange of film clips tracing The Who’s history. “Anyone who would waste so much time and money on a venture like this has only one thought in mind,” Radel wrote, “torture.”

Radel quotes the group’s composer-guitarist Pete Townshend as telling an interviewer, “Our group hasn’t got any quality.”

The latest Who concert at the Coliseum was a sellout 1½ hours after tickets went on sale last Sept. 28.