Concept albums: what a concept!

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

> To which i responded "my opinion".

Jeffree:

It SHOULD be a given here that whatever is written is the writer's opinion.
Otherwise, sooner or later, World War III will begin before our very eyes.
Just in time for the end of the year, maybe...

> Incidentally, I personally can't stand Gin , I prefer Scotch or
> Irish Whiskey.

Derick:

Thanks for the opportunity: "Each to his own sewage."

> You're expecting another something like "Psychoderelict" or "White City" 
> for "Lifehouse" then?  Do you think PT had this idea that far back?

Keets:

Well, PSYCHO (which I'm listening to right now, playing it for a customer,
what a coincidence!) includes Lifehouse, so it's hard to say...since it has
a completely different story. The story is on two levels: the story as the
dialogue states, and then the songs give you the "background" (as it were);
the feelings of Ray Highsmith as the story progresses.
So to me, it's not like anything else Pete has done. Maybe a blend?
WC is much more like how I imagine Lifehouse was meant to be. Not the
direct story, but in addition to the story.

> Which is an example of process development.  You start off writing songs 
> and then you notice they're all similar

I GUESS, but what do you think is the percentage of concept albums made in
this way? And I still don't think this makes WAY a concept album.

> That's because people think about sex about once every ninety seconds, 

THAT long between?? No wonder there's not more sex in the streets! We need
to do something about this....ASAP...for the good of the world, of course,
not for selfish reasons...

> Look at them again.  "Sister Disco" and "Music Must Change" are about 
> needing to change.

How is SD about "needing to change?" Obviously MMC is, as the name itself
says. And even that doesn't means it's about reincarnation and
renewal..."change" is rather general. Change is something that happens
every single day, to us all.

> "Love is Coming Down" has that first chance, second, 
> etc. structure that could be interpreted as living through various 
> lives.

The key phrase being: "could be interpreted." As I hear the song, it's
about a SINGLE life and screwing up twice...and HOPING that they get it
right this time!

> "Who Are You" is the cosmic question that the others lead up to.  

WAY is specifically about the encounter with the some of the Sex Pistols.
Nothing cosmic about it! Nothing cosmic about waking from a drunk with a
cop telling you to go home (not the last time it happened to me, anyway).
If you mean the universal question, "who am *I*," I don't see it addressed
in this song...clearly, the teller knows who HE is, and is asking the
others who they think THEY are. Like "Who are YOU to tell ME..."
Very, very human and day-to-day.

> Why do you feel Quad was progress and WBN and WAY aren't?

Because that's the way it is, maybe? WBN & WAY didn't move music forward;
they were instead a retreat. I've already said this. Pete himself said it
about WBN.

> Where do you 
> think PT should have gone after Quad?  More of the same, just louder and 
> longer?

It's not for ME to say! If *I* knew where to progress from QUAD, you would
be discussing this on MY list! ML@igtc.com...say, that has a nice ring to
it...

> The earliest examples are his "true voice."  Later on he'd learned 
> technique and style--which he still has BTW.

Too bad he doesn't have the voice to go with it anymore...

> Pete Townshend is the master of double meaning (or confusion, if you 
> want).  He says in some interview or other that "See Me, Feel Me" was 
> too obvious.

I don't know about "too," but "rather" would be correct. SMFM is one of his
more obvious songs.

>Why do you think he'd specify anything in the songs?

I think at least something identifiable would be there. I refuse to grant
concept status on the grounds that Pete is a complicated fellow who writes
on many levels and I can possibly imagine that the songs might slightly
imply something another song might also slightly imply if I stretch it...

> It can be.  You can follow the roots of any composer.

The trick is to use your roots, not copy them.