Re: After an album, what?

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

>I don't know, but a new album just sounds too good to be true... And
> > frightening... Because, would The Who still be able to get in the 
>current charts (and score another #2 hit with all this current pop shit?). 
>I don't know...

>But a new studio album?  And there's plenty more pressure on the band
>attempting a new album.  Like Pete said, touring is easy.  They know how to 
>do *that.*

I thought they risked a lot by going on tour.  What if nobody came to the 
shows?  What if Pete had played badly?  What if his ears had given out 
half-way through the first show, and they quit right there?  If, if, if.  
Anything like this would have cut into a reputation better off left alone.  
They put it on the line and they won, because they're  lean and smart and 
talented, even if they are in their mid-fifties.

1) How many NSync fans noticed the tour?  2) How many critics, bands and/or 
musicians noticed?  3) Which of these is more important in the grand scheme 
of things?


>A new album would firstly have to be created, & secondly, accepted & 
>at-least appreciated in certain circles.  A bomb of an album would be too 
>em-barrassing.
>
>There's still plenty of risk involved when it comes to THE WHO.  They carry 
>a certain amount of wisdom & integrity.
>
>Should THE WHO risk a new studio album at this stage in their career?

I'd say yes.  It's the same situation as the tour.  Nothing ventured, 
nothing gained.  They're artists and they have something to say.  If it's 
good material, it's worth the effort to record it well and get it out there 
in the marketplace, and to follow it up with tours, and orchestrations, and 
musicals, and movies, and whatever else it takes to make it stick in the 
public consciousness.

If they continue along the lines they were following during the tour, I 
can't see that a studio album would be in any way a bomb.  Pete might have 
been embarrassed by the sales of PSYCHODERELICT, but he's got nothing to be 
ashamed about as far as the material is concerned.  The same goes for any 
Who album that follows the same path.  If it's good, it's good, and sales 
don't mean shit.

The more important question is how they ought to go about marketing a new 
studio album so they don't go broke in producing it.  Obviously, the current 
music scene isn't set up for older bands to score number one hits.  Santana 
did it, but he brought in a lot of talent to help him out, and still had 
really serious barriers to overcome.  Should they make a deal with MCA and 
hope for the best?  Release it on the The Who label and handle the promotion 
themselves?  Give it away to anybody who buys a tee shirt?  Sell stock?

The floor's open.  ;)


keets
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com