Re: Pete Townshend guitar hero?

["Scott Schrade" <schrade@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> His playing the past 4 or 5 years has become standard and boring full 
> of triplet-hammer on runs and banging the guitar....


I know what you're saying but I wouldn't describe it as "boring."  His soloing
*is* more "noodly" where as in the past it was more "blocky," but the emotion
is definitely still there.

And I wouldn't use "standard" as an adjective to describe his playing either.
His solos are much too chaotic & manic to be called "standard."  It's almost as
if they're "anti-solos."  They're not always pretty or decorous but that's good.
Life isn't always pretty & decorous.  I *want* craziness & discord in my Pete
Townshend solos.  And I'm still getting that.

I like when he gets what I call "sticks."  Where he sharply plucks a solo note
& throws his right hand in the air & holds that note for a second or two.  Ouch!
Sharp & cutting like a stab with a knife.  Piercing.  Beautifully simplistic & ex-
pressive.

And those newish noodling triplets you spoke of......I love 'em!  They burst forth
like untamed electricity.  Sporadic in their placement & gorgeous in their messi-
ness, they seem to drop in out of nowhere & end just as abruptly.  Beautiful.

Yes, Pete's playing *has* changed over the years & his solos aren't the pro-
gressing stacked eighth notes of the LIVE AT LEEDS era but you know what?
He still keeps me guessing.

I've seen seven Who shows in the past two years & no Pete solo has been the 
same.  Each time he starts one I get goosebumps because I don't know where
it's gonna take me.  I can only surrender myself like some kind of religious fan-
atic & let his guitar wash over me & channel through me.  Sweet holy Moses!
Amen, brother!  Pete still does it for me!


- SCHRADE in Akron