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RAH CD Press Review



Review from the Cleveland Free Times, July 30 - August 5, 2003 issue:

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THE WHO - Live At the Royal Albert Hall

Recorded at a 2000 concert, Live At the Royal Albert Hall makes you 
realize how essential bassist John Entwistle was to The Who.  

Entwistle, who died last year on the eve of a North American tour, drives 
much of the material here, which is essentially the soundtrack to a DVD 
released two years ago.

His rumbling bass can be heard most prominently on "I Can't Explain,"
"Who Are You," "Baba O'Riley," and "Pinball Wizard" and never subsides
over the course of the concert.

His playing is so astonishing, it makes you wonder how the band could
have gone on without him.  

Each of the eleven tracks on the album's first disc are solid, even if singer
Roger Daltrey can't quite hit the high notes and guitarist Pete Townshend 
gets carried away with noodling solos.

Too bad, then, that The Who let too many guests into the mix on the sec-
ond disc.  Everyone from Bryan Adams to Eddie Vedder and Noel Gal-
lagher makes an appearance.  While Paul Weller's contributions to "So 
Sad About Us" aren't obtrusive, Vedder howls too much on "Getting In 
Tune," and Adams sounds particularly weak on "Behind Blue Eyes."

A limited edition release includes a third disc with four tracks from Ent-
wistle's last performance with the group.

***
(three out of four stars - "very good")

- Jeff Niesal
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- SCHRADE in Akron

How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in 
the roller of an electric typewriter?
       - Woody Allen