Live Albums, Bizarro and the Who's Last Two

[Marc/Carolyn Hurwitz <MHurwitz@compuserve.com>]

Mark,

Sorry for the long delay.  I've been recovering from vacation.

>> Pity it doesn't show on their new live album.  I was unimpressed
> by the tracks I've heard (mostly Elderly Woman....).<

Haven't heard it yet (I listen to no radio after Stern goes off), but it's
bound to show up in my store soon. Too bad. Their boots show a band within
striking distance of being as good as The Who were live. And I say that
with no qualifiers...they are that good. There was a time when I thought
they were the "new hope," but alas...<

Most live albums I've heard sound as if they were recorded in a huge
hall with the microphone right at the back...you can barely hear the vocals
or instrumentals over all the echo.  This is what LIVE ON TWO LEGS
sounds like to me.  A worse recent example I can think of was Nirvana's
disc.  Some live albums sound much better than that, however; Springsteen's
set and, of course, LIVE AT LEEDS are two excellent examples.  LAL is
the *best* sounding live album I've ever heard.

>> However, WHO'S LAST was pretty dismal, too, to be fair.<

OUCH! Is it THAT bad???
That's the one Who album I refused to get on CD. I notice they "left it
out" of the reissue series, too.<

Let's just say I could only listen to it twice--literally!  It's probably
the
worst live album I've ever purchased; either that or STILL LIVE (LIFE?)
by the Stones.  But at least SL wasn't a double record.

> ROFL!  Perhaps if we say his name backwards, he'll
> disappear. <g><

We can only hope. But I can't even say it forwards. Swizzleshtic? Smiztech?

Beetlejuice?<

ROFL again!  Wonder where that name comes from?

Rich:

>I'd also be willing to explain the Bizarro episode of Seinfeld and its
Superman link, though I don't think I can tie it to Roger Daltrey or anyone
else in The Who...<

Please do!  I've never seen Seinfeld (well, except for that stupid finale),
but I love Superman and especially the Bizarros.  Sounds like fun!

And BTW, as long as we're still discussing FACE DANCES and IT'S
HARD, I'd just like to say that I've always had a soft spot for FD.  It
was one of my first Who albums (MEATY, BEATY and MG being the
first two), and I didn't think it was so terrible at the time.  Then again,
some of my favorite singles were things like "I Ran (So Far Away)"
and "Don't You Want Me, Baby", so my taste is perhaps a bit question-
able. <g>  I even like the stereo vocals on "Did You Steal My Money"...
so there! :-)

IT'S HARD had some better songs, but on the whole wasn't as good.
I do love "Athena", and I think "Cry If You Want", especially the longer
version on the remastered CD, was the perfect sendout for the Who.

--Carolyn
"Just wanna be making daily records"