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Re: My problem with a new Who album



>Say a two-CD rock opera about middle-age Mods dealing with a mid-life
> >crisis done with Roger rapping.
>
> Ooo.  I was with you until that.  ;)

That was the point.  I wanted to imagine a Who album that would piss off
everyone (including me). It would be so difficult to deal with something
like that. And challenging. That's what I'm looking for. I'd rather be
surprised than pleased on the first listen.

>Until FACE DANCES, I didn't see anything wrong with what
> they came out with.

I would say WHO ARE YOU has precisely the same structural flaws as FACE
DANCES. "905" and "Trick Of The Light" (I'll make allowances for "Had
Enough") don't sound remotely like the other songs.  Why? Becasue the
Townshend tracks are Pete Townshend Solo featuring members of The Who and
the Entwistle tracks are John Entwistle Solo featuring members of The Who.
It's The Who equivalent of The Beatles' THE WHITE ALBUM where the McCartney
tracks sound like McCartney's later solo material and Lennon's like Lennon
solo. Oh and that's the problem I have with THE WHO BY NUMBERS. With the
exception of "Success Story" it's a great Pete Townshend solo album on which
The Who play very well. But it's very clear, particularly in light of the
two albums that followed, that Pete was no longer writing for The Who or his
generation but for himself. For most of IT'S HARD, however, he returned to
writing for the band but the band (and most of The Who's fans) hated it.

>I don't think that album is well integrated, but quite
> likely that was a drummer and a production difference, rather than some
> disagreement within TED.

I think Glyn Johns would have integrated it a bit more but the problem was
specifically that Pete wanted to do pop songs and John wanted to do the
heaviest of heavy metal. And let me infuriate everyone by saying that FACE
DANCES with Keith Moon would have been only marginally better if at all.

>Conflicting styles????  Haven't the who always had conflicting styles???

Between albums yes. But until WHO ARE YOU not within one album. MY
GENERATION sounds totally different from A QUICK ONE but "Boris The Spider"
and "So Sad About Us" are played in the same style.

>And people don't want a concept album anymore??