Re: More stuff

[William Spencer Watson <wswatson@indiana.edu>]

On Tue, 27 Apr 1999, Mark R. Leaman wrote:

> The way I look at it, both WC and PSYCHO were Who albums which would have
> been great (well, OK they're still great by Pete alone) Who albums, had they
> been made into Who albums. Two opportunities for the band to show they
> aren't just an oldies act.
> Instead, they've consistantly BEEN an oldies act since the breakup. As usual
> with this band's history, the unfulfilled promises are as good or better
> than the fulfilled ones.


Well, I guess thematically it wouldn't have been such a stretch to make WC
a Who album, since they're all from London and share a common background.
Musically though, it almost seems like Pete was making a conscious effort
to avoid a Who sound and do something different.  I think it worked
brilliantly--it's a wonderful album.  Unlike with Chinese Eyes and Empty
Glass, there seems to be a lot of disagreement about WC, doesn't there?
There are people who love it and people who dislike it.  I remember Dave
Marsh's dismissive one-line review:  "Almost sounds like he's learned to
completely stop enjoying himself."

Psycho would make sense as a Who album.  As for Iron Man, to me it's the
oddest Pete album.  I think of it as the begininning of his progression
towards Broadway.  "Dig" is decent enough, but I can't stand "Fire."

> We had a discussion a month or so ago about Pete's use of synths, and surely
> this is what he was doing with Siege. It made a lot more sense in 1982 (can
> you say: the year of Duran Duran) than it would now. Then again, as the MTV
> unplugged shows prove, many songs sound great when stripped down to
> essentials (Nirvana and Alice In Chains are both fantastic examples of
> this). Who knows; maybe Siege would too.


Did Duran Duran use a lot of synths?  I can't remember.  Oh god, now
you've got me singing their songs in my head!

Pete's the most tasteful and clever user of synthesizers I can think of,
but it didn't always work, and in the early '80s he sometimes went
overboard.  It was around this time that he predicted the demise of
guitars in rock music, to be replaced by synths.  Of course, he also
predicted the ultimate triumph of Communism.

The Who would be IDEAL for Unplugged.  Think about it, the volume would be
lower so Roger wouldn't have to yell so loud, and Pete's always been
better on acoustic than electric.  

Bill