Two and a half decades is kind of a long time to wait for a sequel, and it’s been 24 years since the legendary English rock band, The Who, put out an album, its last one being “It’s Hard” in 1982.
I can still remember when my dad used to drive me around when I was a kid and play old Who hits, which had to be some of the greatest songs of the second half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, “Endless Wire” just isn’t able to duplicate that same level of awesomeness.
At the advent of what could be a triumphant return of The Who, we ask the question: What will The Who do now? They’ve been reduced to only two original members. They haven’t put out any decent studio material since before many of Fairfield’s undergrads were born. And while they’re not as old as the Rolling Stones, they’re still grandparents.
We all know what The Who can do; and The Who themselves better damn well know what The Who can do. The Who has had the timeless hits “Pinball Wizard,” “Who Are You,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and my personal favorite, “Happy Jack.”
Too bad “Endless Wire” isn’t any of that.
Instead, “Endless Wire” is proof that The Who isn’t dead…yet. It also serves as incontrovertible evidence that these guys are sticking with the rock opera concept they originally pioneered, for the most part. Anyone who wanted a straight rock ‘n roll CD may be disappointed, while on the other hand, anyone who wanted a rock opera CD may also be disappointed.
The first nine tracks of “Endless Wire” are stand alone songs, none of which I found to be that noteworthy. The exception is most definitely the ‘Who-worthy’ “Mike Post Theme,” a song which was actually written in retaliation to the criticism that The Who received when their hits started opening up for “CSI” and other television shows.
These tracks lead into the core of the album, which is probably the best part and comes from a mini-rock opera entitled “The Glass Household,” which was based on Pete Townshend’s novella “The Boy Who Heard Music.” There’s a lot of quality in this section, but the stuff that comes closest to what I would deem ‘Who-worthy’ would have to be “Endless Wire,” and “We Got a Hit.”
The writing for those tracks is solid. The lyrics are deep with a straight-on melody and rhythmic accompaniment, but it just doesn’t move you the way that you might have hoped for. I give my apologies to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, whom I consider to be gods. Sorry guys, this stuff is good, but it’s missing something.
So let’s sum it up; “Endless Wire” ended up coming across disappointing to me. But this is still a good album with some good tracks on it, a few of which have made their way onto my iPod Shuffle. “Endless Wire” is probably only about 60 percent of what The Who could have done, but damn, it’s still The Who.
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