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What's wrong with WAY




>No problem.  I'm sure this disappointed some people, but The Who are
>creative artists, and they have their own sound.  Why should they follow
>trends?

Keets:

In this case, they INVENTED the trend (Anyway Anyhow Anywhere was surely the
first Punk song, then there's MG). The Kinks had a strong hand in the sound
(but not the attitude), and they had no problem returning to that sound (Low
Budget) in a big way with great success. When I listen to The Jam, I hear
what The Who could have done with WAY. Should have done, IMHO. But
unfortunately they chose more overblown symphonic Rock, which was the
problem for which Punk was the solution. No band (other than The Kinks) had
more right to return to their basic sound (and they still did, live) and
that's the real shame of it. Wasted potential.
I think more than anything else I was disappointed by WAY because QUAD was
so incredible, WBN as a follow-up was the first Who album to be lessor than
the one before, and then there was a three year break. My initial thought
after hearing WAY the first time was: I waited three years for THIS? WBN
"suddenly" became a much better album, in comparison. FD at least was a
change, but still ultimately inferior to WAY...while IH was a step back up.
For that it deserves a lot more credit than it gets, I think.

>Personally, as far as trends go, I am glad the Who never made a "Emotional
Rescue"

Dave:

Well, so am I!

>I would submit "Who Are You" is a more respected album than "Its Hard" by
fans, critics and musicians as a > whole. "Its Hard" unfortunately gets
dismissed because of its "non-Keith Moon" content.

Perhaps, but surely we Who fans are more astute.

>Then I'm not a very big fan of that LP.  I don't hate any Who record, but
>that's the one studio album of theirs that comes closest to making me yawn.

Brian:

While I find AQO and FD the two worst, I agree with you about the yawning.
WAY was a top heavy album, probably due to Keith's weakness as a drummer in
this session, and it felt a bit contrived. Like it was made because it had
to be made, not because Pete wanted to make it. It wasn't "comfortable" and
a bit erratic if you know what I mean. In that way, perhaps, it might have
been the most honest Who album...because this reflected Pete's state of mind
at the time...not knowing which way to turn, wanting to end The Who but also
feeling as if it was his only creative outlet.



             Cheers                            ML