Sea and Sand

["Gary M. Gillman" <garyg@inforamp.net>]

Yes, Mark, each album had to be a giant step forward to be artistically
valid, but as WF pointed out even before Quad each album sounded quite
different from its predecessor. That is, the Who managed ( very well!) in
those earlier years to be creative and forward looking without feeling they
had to abandon their keynote, Wholike sound. An important component of this
sound was PT`s rhythm guitar (electric or acoustic although the former was
the preferred PT sound for many) produced high up in the mix and in effect
functioning as a lead instrument (think of the distorted, cascading break in
Pictures of Lily, or the opening chord sequence to the Seeker, or...). Pete
let the synthesizers take over in Quad, where many of the guitar tracks
sound like the musical equivalent to a guide vocal. In New Song, PT
announced his complaint quite clearly: " I write the same old song with a
few new lines, and everyone wants to cheer it....admit you really want to
hear it!". Well, it wasn`t really the same old song, yet PT thought it was
and, I suppose, who are we to disagree? But in any case he gave us something
new all right, as a result of which the band never regained its old edge,
IMO. Looking at this another way, maybe PT should have quit the band in the
early 70`s to pursue his solo career. This would also have given the
remaining band members a chance to redeploy their considerable talents in a
revamped version of the Who, or under a different name.....Gary M.