Lifehouse review

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

Just because I got mine late doesn't mean I'm not going to put in MY two
cents...

Disc 1 & 2: The Demos

Mush better sound than any bootleg, or the Scoops, or the remastered Who
Came First. There is a lot of bass, but unlike some I don't need to play
music so loud it hurts my ears for hours afterwards (that would make the
bass boom anyway and the highs shrill, wouldn't it?) and although I have a
pretty damned good system, and my Klipsh speakers often made it sound like
Pete was sitting in front of me playing, I guess with another couple of
thousand I could hear the reported defects in the mastering. But then, why
would I want to have a stereo which made the music sound BAD when it sounds
fantastic now?
Most of this material is 30 years old, and not recorded for release but by
one man in a studio he described as a "submarine." There's only so much one
can do.
Someone said their favorite demo was Slip Kid; my vote goes for Sister
Disco.

Disc 3: Other material

Well, I love this disc. I think it's the best of the set. If the new Who
album sounds like this, WOW! I'm all for it. Some of it is techno-ish, and
there is some mild rap, but it all sounds very modern and exciting and I
will probably play THIS disc most of all. It also made me realize once again
how much genius Pete Townshend possesses.

Disc 4: Orchestral music

I'll be the first to admit I've never liked Classical, and apart from the
Townshend songs (which are interesting, at least). I don't really like this
disc. But that's me. It's well performed, anyway.

Discs 5 & 6: Lifehouse, the play

Let me qualify this by saying I've listened to it only once, and subsequent
listenings might change my opinion. BTW nothing in this review will spoil
the story for those who have yet to hear it.
Anyhow, after 30 years of hearing what the story was this was a surprise.
The main elements of what I've always thought Lifehouse was about are
present, but the main thrust is what I considered almost a minor subplot.
Still, it's very good. I enjoyed it. It's not straightforward, no matter how
many times Pete says it in the book, but it isn't so complex that an average
person couldn't follow it. Interesting to see the main character split into
three distinct voices to describe the scene.
The biggest surprise was the ending. In Townshend's two other major works,
Tommy & Quad, the resolution is a realization by the main character...Tommy
realizes the answer is within himself and he doesn't need the others, and
Jimmy realizes he has a problem even if the solution isn't forthcoming.
However, in Lifehouse there simply IS no resolution. Things happen, but the
end (at least as far as I can gather from one listening) resolves nothing at
all, and there is no realization...just grief. It's a lot like real life, I
guess...and in that respect, it is successful. By any standard it is not a
noodling by some pretensious Rock Star...it is a work of art, and worthy of
praise.

So all in all, I am VERY happy to have the opportunity to own this piece.

                  Cheers                              ML