Re: After an album, what?

["L. Bird" <pkeets@hotmail.com>]

>keets  "I'd like to propose a topic."
>
>Thank you!  I've been trying to think of something to propose but I 
>couldn't come up with anything non-sexual.  Spring is a strange thing :-)

Ah, yes.  The sap rising and all that.  I guess we could always discuss Pete 
Townshend lyrics.  Would that be suitable?  ;)


>keets  "Say The Who put out an album based on the subject matter they
>flirted with last summer and follow it up another great tour.  Then what 
>should they do?"
>
>I would prefer that it be a REALLY long tour, or tours.  The kind of tour 
>befitting a HUGELY successful album.

Sounds fine to me.

Have they ever had an album that was an instant success, though?  I'm sure 
anything they put out will totally mystify the world.  Everybody will 
complain because it's not WHO'S NEXT, or QUAD.  They'll come to the shows 
expecting Greatest Hits, and bitch and moan about strange material and then 
slowly come around to understanding it.  I figure that's why The Who always 
had to make such long tours.


>keets "Another album?  About what?  A concept album?  Another rock opera? 
>Will studio albums still be viable for past-their-peak rock groups?"
>
>This is an interesting thought because it is very difficult to imagine any 
>Who after your first assumption.  Maybe it's just been a hard week with 
>John Phillips' death and Joey Ramone's announcement that he as lymphoma :-(

Yeah, really.  I hadn't heard that last.


>How about a concept album about death?  This is the kind of thing John 
>could contribute to.  Maybe with a gothic/horror style.  I just finished 
>reading Anne Rice's "Merrick".  Horror is a great way to tackle adult 
>issues like death/aging, religion, good vs evil, guilt, and it can be done 
>with humor.
>
>But then again, maybe not.

Ummm.  Definitely a great John topic.  I dunno about The Who doing it, 
though.  Pete's albums are always about death--but he never comes right out 
and says it specifically.  Plus, I doubt if Roger would sing about something 
so final.  His attitudes are all about triumph instead.

Whatever they come up with, you can figure it'll be off the wall.  Who'd 
have ever thought they'd pursue all this material about children?

It's interesting that The Who never seems to have altered their music in 
search of a younger audience.  They're always trend setters, ahead of 
current taste, rather than copying anything identifiable.  Pete is so 
ambivalent that I'm sure kids will find something to identify with in the 
album, as well as fifty-somethings.

It seems to me that the older Pete gets, the more he looks backward.  I 
guess they're taking The Who one project at a time, but if they do another 
album after the (possible) TKAA album, I'd expect another synthesis of past 
and present--and more about the incredible journey!


keets


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