RAH/LAL Review

["Scott Schrade" <schrade@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, July 31, 2003
Copyright ) Las Vegas Mercury

The Big Two ought to be the Big Three. In mainstream rock annals, the biggest of the big
are the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The conventional wisdom holds that these bands
are peerless icons--superior to all the rest, unassailable rock demigods.

Assuming for a moment that such a musical hierarchy should exist, another British band--
the Who--should be granted entry into the top echelon. The Who produced a vast and
varied body of awesome and challenging music over a 25-year period that, one could
argue, actually exceeds the quality output of the Rolling Stones, if not the Beatles. And
yet the Who is, for the most part, rarely mentioned in the same breath with the other two.

The Who have not recorded new material for decades, but they have continued to tour,
and Live at the Royal Albert Hall, released last week, shows that advanced age has not
hampered the band's ability to put on an electrifying rock 'n' roll show. The show was
recorded on Nov. 27, 2000, two years before bassist John Entwhistle died in a Las
Vegas hotel room. The two-disc set features several guest performers, including Pearl
Jam's Eddie Vedder, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher and pop rocker Bryan Adams.

Disc one is a solid if unremarkable rendering of Who standards, from "I Can't Explain"
to "Pinball Wizard" to "The Kids Are Alright." The one knock is that Roger Daltrey's
distinctive voice has not aged well. Not to take anything away from Daltrey, whose
contributions to the Who and to rock music generally are prodigious and cemented in
history, but his voice is shot. He simply can't hit the notes for which he is most renowned,
a fact that leaves disc one just shy of great.

But disc two, which focuses more on the guitar wizardry and songwriting prowess of
Pete Townshend, more than makes up for the flaws of the first. On songs like "Drowned"
and "So Sad About Us," it's just Pete and his guitar, and the effect is stunning. Disc two
also is where the guests chime in to good effect, especially on tracks such as "Getting in
Tune," "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Of course, the Who always has been known as a powerful live act, exemplified by its
hard-charging 1970 live album Live at Leeds. Originally released with just six songs, the
better-known expanded version consists of 14 tracks from the 1970 show, highlighted
by "Summertime Blues," "Magic Bus" and an almost 15-minute rendition of "My Gener-
ation," in the middle of which the band segues into Tommy territory with a piece of "See
Me, Feel Me" before Townshend tears off on a meandering, introspective guitar solo that
exemplifies a musical artist at work.

But where Live at Leeds is an interesting historical artifact, capturing a great rock band
near the peak of its career, Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a more eclectic, full-bodied
package that does justice to the range and breadth of the Who's catalogue. Peerless in-
deed.

--Geoff Schumacher

Copyright ) Las Vegas Mercury, 2001 - 2003
Stephens Media Group
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