A few eyebrows were probably raised that The Who were to make their first album of new material, considering that half of the band is no longer with us. Yet, it was true with Pete and Roger releasing an album, which, despite not being a patch on previous efforts is actually okay. They'd released two new songs in 2004 - 'Old Red Wine' and 'Real Good Looking Boy' which were both very nice efforts, so it probably made sense to make a whole new album. Again, it's virtually a Pete Townshend solo record with Roger providing lead vocals and Pete providing everything else (including being a drum machine). Obviously, the songs are a lot slower than the older material and Roger can't hit the notes as well as he used to be able to, but what it presents us is a quieter, almost reflective Who. The first half of the album is a number of individual tracks and is in general a bit of a mixed bag. The highlights are definitely 'Mike's Post Theme', 'A Man in a Purple Dress' and 'It's not Enough' , each displaying the moving songwriting styles Pete once employed to bombastic rock operas. The second half is an attempt at yet another 'rock opera', this time entitled 'Wire & Glass'. Again it's mixed-there are a few good songs but most are far too short often clocking up under the 90 second mark. An enjoyable, but mixed album. Best Song: ' Mike's Post Theme': A love song attached to TV themes with some great lines, 'If there really is a God, we'll get laid today' and cracking vocal performance from Roger.
I'm Will an 18 year old archaeology student at Durham University. I have a particular interest in the wonderful world of Doctor Who as well as science fiction, fantasy and geekdom in general.
