Re: Accuracy in reporting

["Schrade, Scott" <sschrade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'm not trying to "reduce" him to anything; I've always gone 
> between calling him "Rog" and "Daltrey," same with the others. 
> Roger Daltrey was one of the greatest Rock singers of all time, 
> and his voice lasted about 20 years longer than Robert Plant's. 
> But, to be fair, who could expect him to keep it up forever?


Yeah, I don't see that calling him "Daltrey" is any kind of an
insult.  I call him Daltrey all the time, too.  "Dull-trey" would
insulting, but not "Daltrey."  That's his last name!

Now, for the bad news.  I got my Columbus 2002 CD in the mail the
other day and....well....*Roger* doesn't sound so good.  His voice
is ragged & deep, & he strains on almost every high note.

It's these flippin' soundboard recordings!  They hide nothing!  I
was at this show.  Front row.  Eight feet away from *Roger.*  He
sounded fabulous.  Older, sure, but solid & smooth.

Then I get this CD & his voice sounds like crap!  Really rough.  So
bad that I don't think I'm gonna make copies for my other friends who
attended the show.

Pete's guitar is hugely loud, thickly swamping all the other instr-
uments & vocals.  And Pete's mistakes shine through nice & clear on
this soundboard recording, too.  And there are quite a few.

Now, it's not all bad.  There are moments of absolute, sweet bril-
liance, also.  From Roger *&* Pete.  But for the most part the sound
& performance is ragged & flawed - and not flawed in a good way.

Now, Pino, who I could barely discern at the show is, while not loud,
at least "hearable" on the CD.  I was amazed at all the flashy, neat
riffing I was hearing that I *didn't* hear at any of the four shows
I saw on the tour.  Although, Pino *was* loud at Hershey.

And I don't want to sound like I'm slagging *Roger* or the band.  I
realize what they're up against.  Roger *is* getting old.  He's still
wonderful but he's ageing.  His singing has become more strained &
difficult.

And this isn't something that's happened on this tour, or the 2000 tour.
This started happening back in the early 80's with *Roger.*  Oddly, 
Pete's voice, while less powerful than *Roger's,* is now the better-
sounding of the two.

I really think it might've been a bad idea to release these soundboard
recordings from this past tour.  Apart from giving someone a nice souv-
enir from the show, they, sadly, don't seem to be very listenable, except 
in parts.


- SCHRADE in Akron