In a day and age when “albums” have lost their impact and value, you have to wonder why certain older artists still feel the need to make them. It’s certainly not for money because the days of mega-million-selling platinum albums are gone. Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Deep Purple and a few other brave and hearty souls continue to release albums past their prime to a core audience, even though they rarely play the new material in concert. They know that most fans only want to hear the classics. Still, pride and determination to stay relevant drive many to the studio to make “new” music. That’s why the Who made WHO.
On 1978’s Who Are You?, Roger Daltrey barks out the words, “Crushing mountains as old as the earth, so the music must change,” from Pete Townshend’s “Music Must Change.” Flash forward to 2019’s WHO, the first studio album from Daltrey and Townshend as the Who in 13 years. It opens up with “All This Music Must Fade” in which Daltrey begins with, “I don’t care…I know you’re gonna hate this song.” it’s a clever, ear-catching way to start. And for anyone who’s been listening, you may notice what a difference 40 years can make when it comes to the relationship between Townshend and the music. The true essence of WHO is how the band’s chief songwriter has come to terms with his legend, without changing his antagonistic attitude towards himself, the Who, and the cushy air of pop culture in general.
The 14-track expanded edition (there’s only 11 songs on the basic edition), recorded in London and Los Angeles in 2019 and co-produced by Pete Townshend and D. Sardy, with vocal production by Dave Eringa, is an enigma of sorts. Proffering “All This Music Must Fade,” “Ball And Chain,” and “I Don’t Wanna Get Wise” — all very “Who” like in their delivery and nuances, thanks in part to the Keith Moon and John Entwistle inspired-firepower of drummer Zak Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino — up front before the material goes deep and introspective is what initially pulls you in.
While the album has no thematic ambitions, Townshend relies on Daltrey and his reenergized vocal abilities, as well as his own nasally, affable voice, to cover any number of concepts. “Street Songs” was inspired by the Grenfell Tower fire that occurred in London in 2017 where 72 residents perished. The Who guitarist is acquainted with four families who lived in the tower and rallied support for the victims with a charity single. He also explores his belief in reincarnation on “I’ll Be Back.”
The musical spectrum is expanded on numbers like “Rockin’ In Rage,” “She Rocked My World,” and “This Gun Will Misfire,” swimming in keys, acoustic guitars and various spots of orchestration. It all goes unexpectedly haywire on “Got Nothing To Prove,” an infectious throwback that sounds like an outtake from The Who Sell Out. Wild horns and strings, a bouncing bassline, and Townshend’s nascent vocals, awash in reverb, repeatedly touting that he’s “got nothing to prove anymore” — this is where the Who distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack of relics vying to keep afloat.
Whether WHO is the Who’s best album since Quadrophenia, as Daltrey has asserted, is debatable. You can tell there was a more concerted effort to give it a more “Who” like feel than its 2006 predecessor Endless Wire, while also moving into other musical and lyrical directions that show off Townshend’s growth as a songwriter and musical arranger. With additional writing and playing contributions from Simon Townshend, Benmont Tench, Carla Azar, Joey Waronker and Gordon Giltrap, and a stylish cover by Sir Peter Blake (the man behind the artwork that adorned the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), WHO sums up everything you need to know about the Who in 2019 — a weathered rock and roll institution with a quirky enough perspective to keep it fresh and inviting.
~ Shawn Perry
