VinylGuy wrote:yeah, he was always a though guy. But i kinda understand what he says.
I do too but Pete doesn't seem to understand or acknowledge is that the 'difficult' was what made them special.
This definitely
True! However, Pete has a weird sense of humour, if this was on video maybe we would react differently. But in printed media this comes of really harsh
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue November 26, 2019 9:26 pm
by surfndestroy
joostone wrote:
liebzz wrote:
surfndestroy wrote:
VinylGuy wrote:yeah, he was always a though guy. But i kinda understand what he says.
I do too but Pete doesn't seem to understand or acknowledge is that the 'difficult' was what made them special.
This definitely
True! However, Pete has a weird sense of humour, if this was on video maybe we would react differently. But in printed media this comes of really harsh
He's a little like Roger Waters in that I think they both take their contribution to music a little to seriously while not properly acknowledging the roles of their partners and others who contributed towards the music or the amount of luck involved.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue November 26, 2019 10:35 pm
by bodysnatcher
Future EV
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue November 26, 2019 10:41 pm
by oasisfan35
bodysnatcher wrote:Future EV
By 1994, Vedder had almost fully taken charge of the band’s musical direction – writing more of the songs himself rather than working in collaboration with his bandmates. “It wasn’t a hostile takeover,” Vedder told Crowe later. “To be honest, I think that I felt that anything we put out was highly representative of me and because I was kind of becoming the most recognizable guy in the group, I needed to be more represented musically. And if that meant me creating the songs that were going to accomplish that, then I had to do it.”
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Wed November 27, 2019 1:07 pm
by McParadigm
Pete’s clearly joking guys. But not about the second part.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Wed November 27, 2019 1:59 pm
by joostone
My interview with Rolling Stone. Headline: 'Pete Townshend says “thanks God” Moon, John Entwistle are dead; they were fucking difficult to play with”’.
This was said as part of an interview in response to a series of questions about Who history, the early days and how it is today.
PETE! FOR FUCK’S SAKE PUT A LID ON IT!
No one can ever know how much I miss Keith and John, as people, as friends and as musicians. The alchemy we used to share in the studio is missing from the new album, and it always feels wrong to try to summon it up without them, but I suppose we will always be tempted to try. To this day I am angry at Keith and John for dying. Sometimes it shows. It’s selfish, but it’s how I feel.
But I am sincerely grateful to have had these second and third incarnations as a member of what we still dare to call The Who – once after Keith passed, then again after John passed. I do thank God for this, but I was being ironic in my own English way by suggesting it is something I am glad about. I can be grateful to be free as a player and writer, but sad about losing old friends. It does feel ironic, and it also makes me angry. Towards the end of my mother Betty’s life she drove me barmy, and there was a huge sense of relief when she finally passed, but I miss her very much. Love has so many facets.
I understand that a lot of long-time Who fans will be hurt by the way it comes across as a headline. I only hope that they know me well enough that I tell the truth as much as I can, but I also tell both sides and the upside is missing in the headlines.
Writing for Roger, and performing with him, is easier than the early days with the old four-piece band. Many of you will have heard me say that working with Roger these days can be tricky, and challenging, but that ultimately I find it “easy”. John and Keith were so eccentric and individual as musicians. They literally did take up so much musical and sonic space. As a guitar player I never learned to shred because there was never any space for it. On Live At Leeds and bootlegs from that time you can often hear me stop the music to noodle around, partly so I could think!
The upside with Keith and John was that on tour and in the studio we had so much fun. Playing with them was hard, but both Roger and I spent a lot of time doubled up in joy and laughter even though we could have benefitted from a quieter life sometimes. It was a riot.
To those family members of Keith and John, especially Chris Entwistle and Mandy Moon, I apologise for the headlines – and for carelessly providing the words that were used – but in the past three months I have done so many interviews I am losing focus and patience. I forgive myself. I hope they can forgive me too. I loved their dads and still do.
Roger lost his rag at a press conference at Wembley about Brexit. I found it worrying, but I understood. We may be rock stars but we are also human. Roger and I have not changed very much over the years, but we do love and like each other these days. It’s really poignantly painful to imagine how things would have turned out had John and Keith had also been allowed to become older, kinder and wiser. The Who might have grown musically, or possibly just gone around in circles, but I assure you we would have deepened our love for each other as human beings and colleagues.
As musicians? Who knows?
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Sat November 30, 2019 10:53 pm
by liebzz
In anticipation of hearing this on Friday, my goal was to make The Who my next catalogue journey but I can’t find the general Who thread and didn’t want to hijack this one. Starting tomorrow...
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Sun December 01, 2019 3:28 pm
by liebzz
The Who Sings My Generation - in the lead up, we start from the beginning. It’s most evident on this album that this was going to be a great rock band propelled by the unorthodox but hard charging duo of Entwistle and Moon. I think Daltrey had mostly yet to find his voice in the band and during some of the songs is just sort of there to fill the vocal void left. The exception there, of course, is My Generation, which is one of Daltrey’s great vocal performances, and really a song, despite it being played thousands upon thousands of times, is emblematic of everything that makes The Who one of the great all time bands. Other highlights for me here are Out In the Street, I Don’t Mind (love the bluesy feel on this), It’s Not True, The Ox (probably my second favorite on this album), A Legal Matter, and The Kids Are Alright. This is a good start for what will be a great band.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Sun December 01, 2019 5:17 pm
by liebzz
A Quick One - I have always been a big fan of this album. This is just great fun. Run Run Run, Boris the Spider, and Heatwave (cover) seem like a band screwing around and having a good time with it. Whisky Man kind of sounds like a Beatles song in the same period but works with The Who. Cobwebs and Strange is a demented look inside Keith Moon’s mind and has some killer drum fills. So Sad About Us is really catchy and easy. The big event, though, is A Quick One (While He’s Away), a multi-movement final track that bobs and weaves all over the place and reminds you to never be kind to an old engine driver.
As a bonus, the expanded edition includes a bunch of songs that were either on or never made alternate versions of a second album, be it Happy Jack, Jigsaw Puzzle, or Ready Steady Who. The covers are great fun - the Batman theme song, Barbara Ann, Bucket T, and In the City. Disguises and I’ve Been Away the other highlights. What a fun great band they were in this moment. From here it would be mostly rock operas and concept albums - but this period is always nice to explore.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Sun December 01, 2019 8:09 pm
by liebzz
The Who Sell Out - this is the first time listening through and not getting annoyed at the fake ads. It’s a nice little concept, but sometimes, especially with such a strong first half of the album, it gets in the way. In fact, the only track that isn’t great in the first half is Heinz Baked Beans. Armenia City in the Sky is awesome. I also loved Our Love Was, Mary Ann With the Shaky Hands, and Tattoo. I Can See For Miles is one of the great rock songs. I am not sure it is so successful in the second half, where the songs take a bit of a dip, with I Cant Reach You and Relax as my two favorites on that side. Rael is a nice little tease of Sparks to come...
Overall, I think it’s a strong album, but my least favorite of the first three. I know a lot of people love this album and it’s a nice transition from the early Who to the rock opera era.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Sun December 01, 2019 8:14 pm
by tragabigzanda
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Sun December 01, 2019 9:27 pm
by surfndestroy
liebzz wrote:The Who Sell Out - this is the first time listening through and not getting annoyed at the fake ads. It’s a nice little concept, but sometimes, especially with such a strong first half of the album, it gets in the way. In fact, the only track that isn’t great in the first half is Heinz Baked Beans. Armenia City in the Sky is awesome. I also loved Our Love Was, Mary Ann With the Shaky Hands, and Tattoo. I Can See For Miles is one of the great rock songs. I am not sure it is so successful in the second half, where the songs take a bit of a dip, with I Cant Reach You and Relax as my two favorites on that side. Rael is a nice little tease of Sparks to come...
Overall, I think it’s a strong album, but my least favorite of the first three. I know a lot of people love this album and it’s a nice transition from the early Who to the rock opera era.
I Can See For Miles is such a great pop song. I saw The Who back in '79 (maybe '80), their first tour post Keith Moon on the strength of The Kids Are Alright soundtrack (possibly greatest album cover ever). There are not words for how good and powerful the show was. While the one song encore of The Real Me is the single greatest song (by leaps) that I have ever experienced live, I Can See For Miles and Long Live Rock are right up there
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Mon December 02, 2019 1:42 pm
by liebzz
Tommy - this really is a fantastic epic that on this listen I think says more about the people around Tommy than the kid himself. Cheating moms, cruel bully cousins, creepy uncles, and prostitutes prod and pry and torture him as he remains perfectly still, a terrible insight into humanities morbid curiosities and tendencies. Tommy himself doesn’t even get a personality until Pinball Wizard and even then it’s the observer remarking on his freak ability than anything else. From there, Tommy’s miracle cure turns him into a celebrity and the crush of humanity continues into a cult like following. Much more disturbing than a quick once over in this album. To focus on any individual track I think does a disservice so I won’t other than to say the Overture, Underture and epic finale of We’re Not Gonna Take It/See Me, Feel Me is huge and amazing. Great album even if the individual songs would never hold on their own save for a few.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue December 03, 2019 12:33 am
by liebzz
Who’s Next - this is an awesome album. Never would these four be in such form before or again. Every song is an epic journey through Who awesomeness - even the Entwistle sung My Wife. It’s also probably the best use of synthesizers I have heard yet. The classics - Baba O’Riley, Behind Blue Eyes (should practically be renamed the song for Trump), and Won’t Get Fooled Again all soar in their own way. Plus we get two of the great all time Daltrey howls in Bargain and Won’t Get Fooled Again. All that said, the two that I most often enjoy are The Song Is Over and Getting in Tune - two of the softer, if you can call them that, songs. Just listening to band interacting in those songs can give you goose bumps and make your hair stand on end. After Tommy, this album makes you feel like the Maxell guy sitting on the easy chair with his hair blowing back from the speakers. A cathartic hell yes!
As an aside I will note even the b-sides that didn’t make this album could make up their own awesome album.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue December 03, 2019 3:31 am
by surfndestroy
Wanted to pipe up after Tommy but the transformations in Townsends guitar playing is right up their with Gilmour's. Tommy and Tommy live set the course for a whole style of playing and tone. This is light years away from where he was just am album ago. Then with Who's Next, he created the template for angry. This is the template for all hair metal. It's all there, power chords, anger, energy, pop sensibilities, acoustic ballads. Somehow an album later again, he's a whole new guitarist on Quadrophenia.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue December 03, 2019 3:34 am
by tragabigzanda
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Tue December 03, 2019 3:57 pm
by liebzz
Quadrophenia - the concept and storyline isn’t as tight as Tommy, but the album and songs to me is much more so. The songs pretty much mostly stand on their own even though there’s a ton of repeated threads musically and lyrically throughout. In Tommy, the story leads the songs whereas here the songs tell the story. There’s so much great work here that it’s hard to run through in a quick post of my thoughts but while I love nearly every song on this album, I will just note that the riff on The Punk and The Godfather is one of my all time f@&! yes moments in my record collection, and the Daltrey howl in Love, Reign o’er Me is awesomeness. This and Who’s Next are my two favorite albums by The Who. Both are among my all time favorites so I can go on for pages but this is been a good couple of days for sure.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Wed December 04, 2019 1:09 am
by liebzz
Odds & Sods - it is rare that an album of b-sides is essential listening, but that is certainly the case here. For good measure I went with the extended version since even at 80 minutes there’s barely a wasted track. Here you have it all from early Who ruckus to prime Who epic rock. I really love Pure and Easy and Naked Eye but there’s so much more - the entire first half of early Who b-sides is all great. This was actually the first Who album I owned outside of the greatest hits so perhaps I feel a bit of bias.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Wed December 04, 2019 2:13 am
by surfndestroy
liebzz wrote:Odds & Sods
So glad you included this album. The extended cd version is the only version for me. I hope they put this version out on vinyl one day. I love the second half stretch on the cd; Pure and Easy, Too Much of Anything, Long Live Rock, Put The Money Down, We Close Tonight, Postcard, Now I'm a Farmer, Water, Naked Eye. All solid, solid songs. Also, the inclusion of Under My Thumb, done to support the Stones after Richards arrest is so nice.
Re: The Who - WHO [nov 23rd]
Posted: Thu December 05, 2019 1:19 pm
by liebzz
The Who By Numbers - I have always loved this album. Pete discarded the synthesizers momentarily and I think it gives this album a more intimate feel. That said, the songs are still big rock songs. Slip Kid, Success Story, and In a Hand or a Face are great examples of that. h
However Much I Booze and How Many Friends feel autobiographical. Blue Red and Grey is great - hell Eddie Vedder aped that ukulele riff for Soon Forget. But this is probably the superior song. Pretty much everything here is quality stuff, even though this album doesn’t get as much attention as the major classics.