Who (2019)
by The Who

From ExTeaSea 01/17/2021 22:44 | #264580 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I dunno it's pretty darn good for a 2019 album by The Who. Better than Endless Wire.

Really good album, I enjoyed listening to it.

there are some solid tracks in here - recommend giving it multiple listens before just passing it off as recycled dad rock. Pete has always been a talented songwriter and his bag of "tricks" gets used heavily here - but not in a bad way. There are some ear worm songs with good hooks. At times you think a track belongs on Who's Next or Quadrophenia or The Who Sell Out - at times it is as if several of these albums were put in a blender.
The album can come across as a hybrid Who - Pete Townshend solo album but that is (obviously) because there is no Moon / Entwistle talent in the rhythm section - but in aggregate it is more a Who record. The bass lines are subdued and lower in the mix - which is fine because it is better than someone doing an Ox imitation. The drumming doesn't punch you in the face like a throw-back, Keith Moon drum fill - but, again, it is better to let the listener do that than have someone imitate.
She Rocked My World is an odd track - a bit of a throw-away ... but the album opens with a series of rockers that hit all the right Who chords - including a Magic Bus rhythm track called Detour ... then comes Beads On A String - which hits late 60s -early 70s lyrical themes but sounds fresh. Hero Ground Zero has a Who-esque, dramatic intro and is followed by another rocker. At this point the album gets a little more Pete solo with a very solid effort on I'll Be Back. Break the News is a great track - has a Mumford & Sons feel at first but then turns into more of a track in Pete's wheelhouse.
If you get the version with the 3 extra tracks (recommended) - you get This Gun Will Misfire - which has an interesting vibe to it but perhaps some dated lyrics. Got Nothing to Prove could have fit on a Who record in the Quick One / The Who Sell Out era. The final track, Danny and My Ponies is a ballad that is absolute Pete Townshend.
Overall, from first track to last, this is my favorite Who release since Quadrophenia ... perhaps due to sentimentality - but isn't it always nice to hear from old friends and share great memories?