[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Quad comments





Gary,
well, I suppose you knew that you'd have some response to these comments:

>It`s a flawed masterpiece, unlike Tommy, LAL and WN, which are nearly   
perfect. Let me explain: >first, the album has, by and large, no visible   
means of guitar support - a real problem for a Who >record. The guitars   
we do hear on the songs are generally weak, e.g., on LROM they sound   
light (for >the Who), and "patched in".

No visible means of guitar?  Weak?  HUH?  How about "The Real Me?"  Pete   
is *slashing* his Les Paul through the whole song; and consider the   
machine-gun opening of "Punk Meets the Godfather"...  or the delicate   
lead lines in "Quadrophenia" (the song) and "The Rock."  Sorry, I respect   
your opinion, but saying the guitar work is weak without at least   
excepting "I'm One" is like saying OJ is innocent: you can believe   
whatever you want, but the contrary evidence is overwhelming!  Now, it   
may be argued (not by me) that the *mix* of the guitars is suspect, but   
there is NO shortage of absolutely *stunning* guitar work on Quad.


>The orchestration sounds contrived for the most part, and doesn't blend   
well with the basic sound of >the band. (PT later got better at this,   
e.g., New Song, or Street In The City).

First, if I remember my liner notes from Rough Mix correctly, Astley did   
the string arrangements for "Street In the City," not Pete.  As for Quad,   
and the fact that the "orchestration" was Pete's synthesizers, I guess   
we'll have to just disagree.  I think it blends beautifully, and is the   
most compelling and heartfelt orchestration since "Eleanor Rigby."


>The harmonies sound loose and ragged to me, and on many songs Daltrey   
was clearly beyond >beyond his range.

Another statement without fact.  Roger didn't miss a note in the whole   
thing.  I am constantly impressed with Daltrey's performance.  Listen to   
"The Dirty Jobs."  Roger does things with the melody in that song that   
are simply amazing.  The list goes on and on with Roger's great moments.   
 I'd have to reprint the lyrics to 3/4 of the album to point out all my   
favorite Daltrey moments.


>Mo was just okay, although I agree JAE was brilliant.
I'm not sure who Mo is, but Moon was extraordinary.  Even Pete thought   
so, and he' seen all sides of Keith's performances.  Case in point: the   
chorus to "Cut My Hair."  How can you listen to that and then utter the   
words "just okay..?"

We do agree on one thing, at least: John Entwistle's performance was   
nothing short of brilliant.

OK,
KLW