Bloomberg on Endless Wire

[Brian Cady]

http://tinyurl.com/yzatsq

Why Don't the Who All Fade Away? New Album Is F-F-Frustrating 
By Mark Beech

Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Who's spoon-fed storyline goes something like this: One of the greatest bands returns after 24 years with the long-awaited "Endless Wire.'' Not quite.

It's true the Who's reputation is based on singles such as "Substitute'' and shows like "Live at Leeds.'' Acclaimed albums such as "Who's Next'' were compared to the best by rivals the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Then the Who's bombast and operatic pretensions were swept away by punk rock.

The Who's isn't the only much-delayed comeback: Bob Dylan gave us his first album in five years, Kate Bush in 12 and Donald Fagen in 13. The 24-year figure is misleading when the Who has released live CDs and outtakes in the interim. Leader Pete Townshend's pronouncements that there would be no more Who activities were followed by lucrative reunion and farewell tours.

The Who isn't the act it was: drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle have died.

One may also question quite how awaited this CD is. The aging "My Generation'' audience presumably had given up hope of a new studio offering and was taking dubious solace in Townshend's increasingly convoluted song cycles such as "Psychoderelict.''

The loyalists will be reassured as the CD starts with a riff, carbon-copied from the classic single "Baba O'Riley.'' Singer Roger Daltrey bellows along to the "Pinball Wizard'' chops. A collection which sounds like another side of "Quadrophenia'' would have been fine in 1973. Now, it isn't cutting edge and isn't likely to win new converts to the mod couple's cause.

Who's Next?

There are tracks that are willfully obscure, with unexplained references to cult figures such as TV theme writer Mike Post and country singer Marty Robbins. Townshend gargles his way through "In the Ether'' as if he is Tom Waits's less-harmonious brother.

The most unsatisfying fragments, two minutes each, segue into a complex "mini-opera'' called "Wire and Glass'' based on a Townshend story "The Boy Who Heard Music.'' The plot is as ludicrous as "Tommy.'' Elsewhere, earnestness weighs down the religious comments "A Man in a Purple Dress'' and "Two Thousand Years.'' "Black Widow's Eyes'' is a bleak number about terrorism and suicide.

Frustratingly, it's not the return to form we might want. Yet the CD isn't an unqualified failure. There are a few tracks worth downloading. A jingle called "We Got a Hit'' is annoyingly upbeat enough to make the Top 10. "It's Not Enough'' is catchy, too.

"You Stand By Me'' is best, a simple acoustic love ballad as a troubled Townshend thanks those who took his side "against those who lied.'' That's only 96 seconds of almost an hour of music.

The CD is emphatically Townshend's creation. Anyone wanting to appreciate his brilliance would do much better to buy this year's CD reissues of his albums "Rough Mix'' and "Empty Glass,'' both full of bolder experiments that usually work.

I'm a Boy

I remember when I first heard The Who live: Townshend's slashed chords were thumps in the ribs. Daltrey swung the microphone and Moon was a machine, bashing the drums as if he wanted to smash them to bits. Entwistle stayed glued to the spot, impassively playing to a metronomic beat. It was my first concert; The Who played like it was their last. I came away with a splitting headache, staggered by the energy. It was ecstatic and electrifying.

Daltrey had wrecked his throat on the famous line, "Hope I die before I get old'' without a hint of irony. How could he know that three decades later, he'd be making a coda that is both clever and crafted -- yet strangely uneven and unsatisfying.

"Endless Wire'' is released on Universal/Polydor. It is priced at $13.99 in the U.S. In the U.K. it is 12.99 pounds or 16.99 with a bonus live disk. "Rough Mix,'' by Townshend and Ronnie Lane, and "Empty Glass'' by Townshend are both on Hip-O/ Revisited, priced at $13.99 or 10.99 pounds.

 
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com


 
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