RAH CD

["Scott Schrade" <schrade@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

OK.  The new RAH CD.  First off - get it.  It's brilliant.  Second, the sound.  
Wonderful!  Producer Bob Pridden (longtime Who live soundman) & engineer/
mixer Will Shapland have delivered some worthwhile raw, live Who.  Thankfully, 
Entwistle's bass is brought up enough so individual notes can be heard, rather 
than just a low frequency hum.  That's good.

Zak's drums aren't mixed overly loud, which is another good thing.  Same with 
Rabbit.  Both of 'em are placed correctly in the mix.  Pete's guitar is hugely loud.
As Who should be.  Daltrey's vocals are occasionally strained, but for the most
part, they're more powerfully strong than any of us could hope to be able to sing 
in our mid-50's.  Long live Roger Daltrey.

Mr. Jon Astley's mastering is truthfully just fine.  Not too much high end.  Bottom
end is there.  No weird audience distortion.  2:00 pm setting on my bass knob & 
3:00 pm on my treble knob were just fine on my system.   

Disc One is excellent.  Makes you miss The OX instantly.  My God, we'll never 
hear the likes of him ever again.  Pete, too, is especially exciting.  

Disc Two is a bit of a drop in energy.  Pete starts out with a couple of acoustic
numbers ("Drowned" & "Heart To Hang On To").  I don't know if he drop-tuned
his guitar or what, but these songs sound a bit forced & flat.  But hey, I couldn't
do it.

As we all know from the DVD/video, the guest star segments are hit or miss.  I 
love Eddie Vedder's phrasing on "I'm One" ("I'm wuh-uh-uuun!").  But Bryan 
Adams........?  He couldn't even take decent pictures for the DVD booklet.
F... Bryan Adams.  "Let's See Action" with Eddie Vedder is cringingly bad.

OX's bass solo on "5:15" could've been boosted a bit.  I like Noel Gallagher's 
guitar sprinkling's on WGFA.  No too intrusive.  Fitting.  Different.  

The "Bonus Disc:"  From 2002, right before OX checked out.  Sloppy "I'm Free."  
So sloppy, I'm surprised they included it.  Same with "I Don't Even Know Myself."  
But, they were just warming up, weren't they?

"Summertime Blues" is a bit better, but poor OX sounds winded when it comes
time for him to do his vocal parts.  Poor OX.  "Young Man Blues" is surprisingly 
strong.  Strong OX!  Strong Pete!  Strong Rog!  Not as incendiary as, say, a ver-
sion from 1969, but hey, no one else rocks like this.

Packaging:  Big, thick double (actually triple!) CD case on this American re-
lease.  No wimpy skinny deal.  Thick Who.  Nice, unfolding booklet with plenty 
of pics & plenty of info on the Teenage Cancer Trust charity.

This live Who release can be considered a proud representative of what The 
Who were in 2000 & 2002: battered, beaten, yet still fighting.  Just how I like 
my Who.

Final Grade:  B+


- SCHRADE in Akron



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