The Sound Of Blood And Thunder

[mleaman@sccoast.net (Mark Leaman)]

Recent discussions with Ian have me thinking. The songs of The Who vary
across the board from soft, melodic tunes to the sound of blood and thunder
and the end of the world. I thought it might be interesting to investigate
that aspect of their music...who likes what best? Me, I'm a blood and
thunder man from way back...as I said not so long ago, it was LIVE AT LEEDS
that secured them as my favorite band (replacing Steppenwolf...and just in
time, too).
I submit that The Who did this B&T sound best...others have been heavier and
louder, and others have been bloodier (why does Kiss suddenly spring to
mind?), but no one was better. Dave Davies may have invented power chords,
but Townshend perfected them. Hendrix made his career using feedback...but
Pete controlled it years earlier. "Heavy" wasn't heavy until the album MY
GENERATION, and Punk didn't exist until Daltrey declared: "I'm gonna know
you woman/And yer gonna know ME!" (in the Biblical sense, I assume) and "I'm
gonna do anything/Right or wrong/I'm gonna talk anyhow/And get along/I don't
care anyway/I never lose..."
One the other hand, few songs are as beautiful as Sunrise. Only Waterloo
Sunset (off the top of my head) can compete with the sadness and wistfulness
found there.
So it's a two-headed beast, this thing we call The Who. Which is your
favorite aspect? And why?



                   Cheers                   ML

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."  L. Long