Well, it's been said many times already but, 24 years later...
The Who return.
With the death of Entwistle in 2002, many people including yours truly never thought this would happen. Than the mini opera (Wire and Glass) came about earlier, and Endless Wire (which is essentially 9 new songs + Wire and Glass) was soon born.
Before you continue to read, note that I AM a Who fan, I love their old stuff and I'm not bashing, and please don't bash me lol, this is just one kid's opinion (Yes, I think this statement is needed for the following review).
As usual, this is pretty much purely a
Pete Townshend album with
Roger Daltrey proving his wonderful vocals. However, this is far from a run of the mill Who album....
At first glance, you see that they're are 19 songs (+2 bonus extended tracks, if you got this through a torrent), which may lead you to believe this will be one heck of an epic album; you've been mislead. With 6 songs clocking under 2 minutes, and two others barely over; this 19 song album lasts a
mere 52 minutes. Only 3 songs are over 4 minutes.
From the start of the first song Fragments you are led to two thoughts; The Who are back and they've never left; or The Who are desperately recalling their glory days. Why? I was almost checking the album to make sure I wasn't playing Baba O'Riley, as the opening of Fragments (and the continuation 'Fragments of Fragments) are both
nearly identical.
After that disheartening little number, almost all the other songs are slow moving acoustic oriented numbers. Only about half the songs are rocking enough to be reminiscint of classic Who. The songs pass each other without much impact (with the exception of a few) and in what seems like a mind numbingly short time, it's over.
With the inclusion of the 'mini opera', one would expect some sort of center piece, an epic,
anything (Mirror Door, song 18 comes close, but stops short)! This really doesn't deliver and it trails and meanders around for the most part.
Twenty four years later, this album will undoubtly hit the Billboard charts within the top 5 (Unless they are critically bombed; which IMO wouldn't affect it much), and all Who fans will enjoy new Who material, any Who material. But note; that once some years pass; I can almost guarantee this
will not stand along side The Who classics of Tommy, Who's Next, or My Generation.
Picks:
Mike Post Theme
In the Ether (some will hate this;others won't)
We Got a Hit
Mirror Door
Overall Rating 2.5/5
Phillyzero
