The Who release new single ...

[skankdelvar]

... and it's a plodding, aimless stinker with lyrics which were vaguely relevant 15 years ago. 

I love(d) The Who. Why do they do this to me? Now I'm going to have to go off and listen to Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy on repeat for 36 hours. 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by skankdelvar

[EliasMooseblaster]

Yeah, it's not doing anything for me either, and I also love(d) The Who.

But they've been a funny one over the last two decades. Every so often there's flickers of hope that Townshend still has it - remember Real Good Looking Boy? And I will admit that I got my hopes up with Endless Wire: sure, it wasn't on par with their '60s and '70s output, but it had its moments. As a lot of critics said at the time, comeback albums usually sound a lot worse. And it beat a lot of the music molesting the charts in 2011(?) into a cocked hat.

But then, unfortunately, this comes along and drops into the same bin as Be Lucky. And you wonder how far we are from sinking back into the Kenney Jones era...

[ezbass]

I listened to this earlier and I found it to be a collection of ideas stuck together to make a whole, in the style of earlier, better works. In short - meh. For me, other than Who Are You, they haven’t done anything of real worth since Quadrophenia. YMMV.

[skankdelvar]

8 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

But they've been a funny one over the last two decades.

FWIW their last (imo) fully realised and wholly listenable album Quadrophenia was released 46 years ago 

[Newfoundfreedom]

Utter dross.

I've never been a massive Who fan. They were a bit before my time. But if that's the best lyrics they can write after 50 odd years of making music, it's time to pack it up. 

Edited September 14, 2019 by Newfoundfreedom

[RedVee]

Singles are not relevant anymore but I do like this track. But The Who know they will always make more money and reach a bigger audience by packing out large venues. But I guess that is what The Who have always been about. Playing live on stage is their forte, and lets not forget that both Daltrey and Townshend are both nearly in their eighties, they really don't need irrelevant single success as they have done it all before. Long Live The Who!

Edited September 15, 2019 by RedVee

[yorks5stringer]

11 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

... and it's a plodding, aimless stinker with lyrics which were vaguely relevant 15 years ago. 

I love(d) The Who. Why do they do this to me? Now I'm going to have to go off and listen to Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy on repeat for 36 hours. 

 

I bet you couldn't come up with an album title like that nowadays: 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy'?

[Paul S]

To think Daltry once had one of the best voices out there.   

Edited September 15, 2019 by Paul S
spelin.

[Maude]

One of the best voices the rock world has ever witnessed with a visceral scream that could tear plaster of the back walls of the club, wild flailing guitar chords with enough anger buried in them to start a fight at fifty paces accompanied by basslines that cut to the very bone such was the aggressive nature of the tone, all backed by a madly hammered out set of beats that were constantly on the verge of going off into a cacophony of out of time noise and yet always kept just on the right side of in time. Ah yes, The Who were definitely something special. 

But this new one's nice enough to have on in the background while I dunk a couple of custard cream into my milky tea. 

[Bassassin]

The 'Oo were the first band I really got into and Townshend, in his day, was a genius-level composer. I don't really do all-time favourites but for me Quadrophenia is unparalleled as a suite of conceptual music, it's an album I never tire of.

However - Moon died within a few months of my becoming a fan and in a real sense, that was when The Who ended. I've always had some interest in their sporadic career since then, was beyond gutted when we lost Entwistle, and have bought a few albums and seen what's left of them a couple of times.

But this - little more than a leaden 12-bar with Daltrey grunting away like he's lost his inhaler. A bit of a relief in a way, won't have to be tempted to give any more money to a thicko geriatric millionaire with ignorant, obnoxious political views.

[spongebob]

It's a bit, well, boring!

Typical modern production....deep, dark sludgy drum sounds (my real 21st century gripe). Whole thing just lacks definition and power. 

Roger's voice? It's certainly changed a bit......I keep wanting to clear my throat listening to him now! 

For me, the Who were a classic 'band'. Each quarter added something special....other outfits can change members, often successfully, but lose any of the Who, and it just misses that vital ingredient and spark. 

Guess it's not helped by the fact that, they've lost one of the rhythm sections of all time. Where do you go from there? The current bass/drums is just adequate. Sounds....sorry, but very dull. Neither exciting playing nor a crushing tone....both things which I love about the Who of old. 

Love their records with Keith (although Who Are You has got a few turkeys, probably their weakest to that point). 

Fair play for them for doing new material (and I think Roger always comes across as a really nice guy)....but what are you going to pick? Keith-era anything, or this? 

[RedVee]

I think Daltrey in his day had one of the greatest Rock voices and had a unique stage performance. He is also a true Brexiteer which shows that not all musicians are brainwashed which is refreshing.We have also got to remember that he is pushing 80 so his voice is not going to be the same as it was in the 70's. A truly great man who has given a hell of a lot to charitable causes and he is a true Patriot at heart.

[skankdelvar]

Can we please keep the Brexit stuff out of this thread? It's got nothing to do with the new single or the band's musical trajectory, it causes trouble and no one's got anything new to say.

"Leavers" and "Remainers" alike: if you want to bang on about politics, please: either go somewhere else and do it or wrap your heads round the sentiment below:

 

Edited September 15, 2019 by skankdelvar

[ezbass]

3 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

Can we please keep the Brexit stuff out of this thread? It's got nothing to do with the new single or the band's musical trajectory, it causes trouble and no one's got anything new to say.

👏👏👏

[Burns-bass]

I’ve never liked the Who, and Roger Daltry is a total bell-end. 

But, I was offered a ticket to see them live in Cardiff once and it was a brilliant gig. A phenomenal live band. 

[skankdelvar]

3 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

But, I was offered a ticket to see them live in Cardiff once and it was a brilliant gig. A phenomenal live band. 

Shortly before Mr Entwistle popped his clogs I dragged a much younger and slightly sceptical work colleague along to see The Who. He was literally a changed man afterwards, asking for a list of the best albums and generally carrying on.

I left the company not long after but ran into him a few years later. 'You know what I did after that gig?' he said. 'I went out and bought a guitar and learned to play it'.

[RedVee]

8 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

I’ve never liked the Who, and Roger Daltry is a total bell-end. 

But, I was offered a ticket to see them live in Cardiff once and it was a brilliant gig. A phenomenal live band. 

But his head is the right place!...And to correct you his Surname is spelt "Daltrey"

[RedVee]

3 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

Shortly before Mr Entwistle popped his clogs I dragged a much younger and slightly sceptical work colleague along to see The Who. He was literally a changed man afterwards, asking for a list of the best albums and generally carrying on.

I left the company not long after but ran into him a few years later. 'You know what I did after that gig?' he said. 'I went out and bought a guitar and learned to play it'.

He is a good man!........But getting back to previous posts, a lot of Who fans claim The By Numbers LP as a really good album that came after Quadrophenia and before Who Are You. Entwistle's Bass on Dreaming from the waist is exceptional. It became a fans favourite when they played it live up to 1982.

Edited September 15, 2019 by RedVee

[ambient]

They were of their time, and should maybe stick to banging out their hits to guys that liked them then, and have the money necessary to buy the tickets.

They've never done anything for me at all, same with a lot of bands and artists from that time. I can see why people did like them though, they were different from other bland bands playing then. My aunt and uncle saw them in a small pub in Birmingham. They though them too loud though, and left. The father of a guy I used to play with owned a pub in Birmingham where they played. He was annoyed when they left without tidying up; after having smashed their instruments up. He swept all the debris up and threw it all away.

[Billy Apple]

I love The Who, but even though they've done some good stuff post Moon, I think they should have bailed at that point.

[skankdelvar]

42 minutes ago, Billy Apple said:

I love The Who, but even though they've done some good stuff post Moon, I think they should have bailed at that point.

I'm tempted to agree with you.

The 80's and 90's were not kind to The Who. Townshend's brief though disastrous embrace of New Romantic fashion (and eyeliner) will likely never be forgotten. Likewise his stint at a publishing house where he self-importantly edited collections of poetry or something.

Nevertheless, at some point in the 2000's the band seemed to reconcile themselves to being a Greatest Hits act and their live performances became audibly and visibly more punchy, their set at The Olympics being a good example. Clear-eyed fans viewed the occasional release of new Who albums as theoretically desirable but unlikely to deliver uniform satisfaction.

Anyway, all the good stuff is still out there to be enjoyed and - who knows - there may be a corker of a track lurking somewhere on the new album. I'm glad they're still going even if Pete is even more of a miserable bastard than ever. His autobio was such a narcissistic downer I read it and - against normal procedure - threw it in the bin.

PS: FWIW, when Moon died in 1978 Townshend was only 33 and already publicly agonising about the relevance of 'old men' playing rock music. When the news broke that Moon was dead I was in a bar in Athens. The whole place went silent for a minute then everyone got blind drunk and fell over.

Edited September 15, 2019 by skankdelvar

[Billy Apple]

4 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

PS: FWIW, when Moon died in 1978 Townshend was only 33 and already publicly agonising about the relevance of 'old men' playing rock music. When the news broke that Moon was dead I was in a bar in Athens. The whole place went silent for a minute then everyone got blind drunk and fell over.

I'm 52 and currently doing the same thing in Kuala Lumpur.

The problem with any of this, is that we want our heroes to keep going, but alas the band is made up of a number of people who when in unison are great, but individually can be knob-'eds.

For balance, I appreciate what you are saying about Townsend's age, but Moon's drumming was so unique, that (IMHO) it was never going to be possible to find a replacement that as a unit they could carry on to new and better ground. I must admit that the choice of Kenny Jones was odd as he is so dull, but on the face of it I bet they just wanted some peace.

[ezbass]

11 minutes ago, skankdelvar said:

When the news broke that Moon was dead I was in a bar in Athens. The whole place went silent for a minute then everyone got blind drunk and fell over.

He would’ve approved I think. 🍻

[skankdelvar]

8 minutes ago, Billy Apple said:

I must admit that the choice of Kenny Jones was odd as he is so dull, but on the face of it I bet they just wanted some peace.

IIRC, Kenny was a long-time friend of the band from the old days. Moon died in September 1978 and they hired Mr Jones in November, his tenure lasting (notionally) 10 years.  

In truth one suspects they acted in haste and repented at leisure, or at least Daltrey did, allegedly deprecating Jones' style as 'too straight'. Realistically, no one could have 'replaced' Moon without sounding like a copyist which wasn't the done thing back then. Simon Philips occupied the role for a while though no one seems to have noticed. Zak Starkey did a good job, though.

[DoubleOhStephan]

1 hour ago, skankdelvar said:

His autobio was such a narcissistic downer I read it and - against normal procedure - threw it in the bin.

Same