The Who's first album in 24 years, all things considered, is a huge reason to celebrate. With the death of John Entwistle in 2002 still fresh in everyone's mind, leaving only Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey as the sole surviving members, most fans were probably unsure if the legends would ever get around to recording another studio album. Well, Endless Wire is here, and while it's not Who's Next, Tommy, or Quadrophenia, it certainlymore than holds up =compared to 80's albums like Face Dances and It's Hard, and has many similarities with some of Pete Townshend's solo material. While much of the album was played by Townshend, with vocals from Daltrey, the touring band of drummer Zak Starkey (who was fulfilling committments with his other band Oasis at the time), bassist Pino Palladino, keyboardist John Bundrick, and guitarist/vocalist Simon Townshend all make brief appearances.
A similar synthesizer pattern to "Baba O'Riley" kicks off the rocking "Fragments", a song that harkens back to the upbeat material of It's Hard, featuring a strong vocal from Daltrey and plenty of Townshend's inventive guitar work. "A Man in a Purple Dress" is a wonderful little folk tune along the lines of Bruce Springsteen's acoustic work, and "Mike Post Theme" is grand and majestic Who, complete with addicting rhythm guitar work on both acoustic and electric from Townshend, Daltry's crafty vocals, and layers of backing vocals from Pete. Townshend's lyric on this one is especially witty and catchy, and overall it's one of the highlights here. For "In the Ether", Townshend takes over the lead vocal, and the song is a bluesy, piano/acoustic guitar driven gem, with Pete's voice taking on the tone of a elderly old bluesman for a real heartwarming performance. Daltrey then returns for a passionate delivery on "Black Window's Eyes", a song that borders on hard rock during certain moments, but Pete never fully unleashes, instead acoustic guitars are mixed in with the hard charging electric for a very powerful yet lush sound. Mandolins, violin, and viola (all played by Townshend) permeate the folky jig "Two Thousand Years", with both Pete and Roger sharing lead vocals, and Pete and his acoustic guitar take center stage on "God Speaks of Marty Robbins". One of the CD's most rocking tunes is "It's Not Enough", a song that could have come off of Who Are You, led by Daltrey's still viable pipes and plenty of stinging electric guitar work from Townshend. This one could easily become another anthem for the band, and it will be interesting to see if they incorporate it into their live show. The close of the regular part of the CD ends with the folky blues of "You Stand By Me", again a solo spot for Townshend, as he shows his deft fingerpicking and still strong vocals.
"Wire & Glass: A Mini Opera" is probably the part of the album that fans were most looking forward to, and it doesn't disappoint. Based on The Boy Who Heard Music (Townshend's novella) this mini-rock opera is certainly more upbeat and containing plenty of the melodic hard rock that the band is famous for. Segments like "Sound Round", "Pick Up The Peace", "Endless Wire", "We Got a Hit", and the hard rocking "Mirror Door" all really work on their own as independent songs, even though they are part of the larger mini-opera.
Endless Wire is overall damn better than most of us expected, and while the "Wire & Glass" part is not a full-blown rock opera on the grand scale of a Tommy or Quadrophenia, just the fact that Townshend dove into a larger work like this is good news. With some inspired rockers, graceful acoustic ditties, catchy melodies, and intelligent lyrics, The Who have come up with a winner here, showing that both Townshend and Daltrey have plenty left to give. Let's hope it's not the last we have seen of them.
The bonus DVD that comes with this special edition features a five song snippet from an upcoming Live at Lyon release. Unfortunately, the band was not at their best on this particular performance, with Daltrey's vocals pretty rough and the band overall not really up to snuff. Regardless though, it's a nice little extra to go along with the new CD.
Track Listing
1. Fragments
2. A Man in a Purple Dress
3. Mike Post Theme
4. In the Ether
5. Black Window's Eyes
6. Two Thousand Years
7. God Speaks of Marty Robbins
8. It's Not Enough
9. You Stand by Me
Wire & Glass: A Mini Opera
10. Sound Round
11. Pick Up the Peace
12. Unholy Trinity
13. Trilby's Piano
14. Endless Wire
15. Fragments of Fragments
16. We Got a Hit
17. They Made My Dream Come True
18. Mirror Door
19. Tea & Theatre
20. We Got A Hit- Extended Version
21. Endless Wire- Extended Version
Bonus DVD-Live at Lyon, July 17, 2006
1) I Can't Explain
2) Behind Blue Eyes
3) Mike Post Theme
4) Baba O'Riley
5) Won't Get Fooled Again
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