When you hear the beginning of The Who's new album, you'll be forgiven if you laugh out loud. The first 40 seconds of the record's first track sound like a mildly inventive recreation of the intro to "Baba O'Riley," the song that opened the classic 1971 album "Who's Next." And when the drums kick in, they sound like a tamer version of the heart-stopping drum fill that capped "Baba"'s intro.
In this way, "Fragments" - "Endless Wire"'s opening song - is indicative of the whole album: While it is undoubtedly a decent record, "Endless Wire" fails to recapture the aggressive energy that made The Who's music legendary in the '60s and '70s.
The Who's long-overdue return is worth listening to, and it will be good enough to gratify the Who fans that have been waiting for over 20 years for a new studio album from their favorite band.
But on "Endless Wire," The Who sound like the depleted and aging army that they are, having watched many years pass and two soldiers go down in battles with drugs. (Drummer Keith Moon overdosed on drugs in 1978, and bassist John Entwistle died in 2002 of a cocaine-induced heart attack.) Now the remaining two members, singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, have a new rhythm section. Although this one gets the job done, it simply cannot match the intensity that made "Tommy" (1969) and "Who's Next" (1971) classics.
"Endless Wire" is split into two halves: The first nine tracks are full-length songs that vary from sweet, simplistic acoustic ballads to heavily layered, powerful rockers. The 10 tracks that follow comprise a mini-opera called "Wire & Glass." The rock operetta is a medley of mostly brief, high-powered rock tunes with a couple of ballads interspersed.
On the first half of the record, some of the acoustic tracks are repetitive and boring while others are plainly beautiful; the difference usually depends on whether Townshend's lyrics are as poignant as he thinks they are. For instance, "A Man in a Purple Dress" seeks to eloquently condemn organized religion, but ends up sounding silly. On the other hand, "God Speaks of Marty Robbins" combines beautiful guitar playing with a glamorous narrative in which God creates earth so that he can hear music. (Is it not fitting that rock 'n' roll deity Townshend assumes the voice of God, taking over on lead vocals for this tune?).
The level of success of the electric tracks on "Endless Wire" basically depends on how close Daltrey and Townshend can come to matching The Who's old level of energy. It's obvious after one listen that "Endless Wire" cannot recapture the intensity of "My Generation" or "Won't Get Fooled Again," no matter how loudly Daltrey shouts or how much distortion Townshend puts on his guitar. But on "It's Not Enough" and "We Got a Hit," The Who come close, perhaps because the band doesn't try to get too loud. They play passionately without trying to duplicate the old Who.
In fact, "Endless Wire"'s best song - the title track - covers something of a new musical genre for the Who. "Endless Wire," a blue-collar rock, power ballad, hits home in the style of Tom Petty or John Mellencamp (despite Townshend's fantastical lyrics, which mention "portals," "angels" and "immortals"). The tune is driven by acoustic rhythm guitar with a faint banjo in the background, and the chorus is a catchy shout-along that could've been swiped off a Bruce Springsteen record.
The operetta "Wire & Glass" is the musical representation of a novella Townshend wrote recently, a work entitled "The Boy Who Heard Music." The science-fiction story follows three kids who form a band; one has a gift for music, another has the ability to fly. Like many tunes on the first half of "Endless Wire," "Wire & Glass" is laden with religious themes. The three children in the mini-opera are Christian, Jewish and Muslim.
Those who buy "Endless Wire" in stores will find a five-song DVD included with their CD (video is not included in online purchases). The DVD features footage from a July concert in Lyon, France. The band performed four classics, including three from "Who's Next," as well as "Mike Post Theme" from the new record.
The DVD is a nice addition, but it does more to reveal that Daltrey and Townshend are past their prime than it does to showcase innovative material. For instance, one can't help but be a little disappointed when Roger Daltrey ambles onstage with short hair, glasses and his best tourist outfit: t-shirt, cargo shorts, sneakers and all. He looks more like a junior-high dad gawking at the Eiffel Tower than a Hall of Fame rock star performing to thousands of French fans.
And as he and Townshend stumble their way through "Behind Blue Eyes," one can't help but notice that neither of them can really sing. "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" are the only things that make the DVD worth seeing, simply because they're great songs.
"Endless Wire" is nothing like the Who's old stuff. But compared to the music of today's typical chart-topping rock bands - insipid emo acts and Nickelback sound-alikes - this record is definitely worth a listen.
