The Who – Endless Wire Review
Posted by Michael Melchor on 11.08.2006
Not quite redefining history, but then it doesn’t have to.
I’m not going to lie – this is one of the most daunting reviews I’ve had to do. Mainly due to the fact that I actually wanted to do this while downplaying how significant this release is.
But, fact is fact – it can’t be done. I mean, we’re dealing with one of the most influential and biggest rock bands ever. Guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend was the man who invented the idea of using guitar feedback (a technique that Jimi Hendrix would later perfect) and the one who taught snotty, rebellious musicians everywhere that destroying your instruments was the coolest statement you could make. And that’s saying nothing of the marriage of rock and excess that late drummer Keith Moon was the minister for.
Beyond that, there’s their mark on rock music itself. The first “rock opera” came in the form of Tommy in 1969. One year later, Live At Leeds forever set the standard for the live album. And then there are the signature, emotional riffs and moments forever associated with rock and roll – “Pinball Wizard”, “Bargain”, “Love Reign O’er Me”, “Baba O’Reilly”...each and every one immediately identifiable even to a legion of fans who weren’t born when their last album – It’s Hard – was released in 1982.
No, your math is right – it’s been 24 years since The Who released a studio album. It seemed that The Who would be a touring act at best until Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey decided that working together wasn’t as repulsive of an idea as they had imagined. The impetus came from, ironically enough, losing another founding member as bassist John Entwistle passed away in late 2002 as The Who were preparing a full-scale North American tour.
As if there weren’t enough irony in the situation already, Townshend has said that the band won’t go on the road again unless there was some new music to bring with them. To most bands, even of their stature, a new studio album would be a lazy and sloppy excuse to declare “we’re back!” before taking every commercial shortcut in the book to bilk longtime fans out of their hard-earned dollar. In the case of The Who, however, Endless Wire is every bit as challenging and thought-provoking as we would expect from Townshend and Daltrey. There are layers to peel back and some questionable decisions made involving quite a few of the songs, but in the end, it’s an album that’s every bit as impassioned and complex as much of their work has been.
The first half of the album is probably the biggest trial to sit through, especially in the attention-deficient iPod generation where individual songs need to hit fast and hard to be memorable. The very beginning almost tries that feat, as opener “Fragments” immediately echoes “Baba O’Reily” by damn-near quoting the latter’s opening note-for-note before asking questions like, “Are we breathing out, or breathing in?...Ingrained in good or stained in sin?”
Lyrics like this, coming from anyone else, would sound like a hollow attempt to be deep and philosophical. It doesn’t help that the song stops before it really seems to take off – an incident that plagues many of the tracks of the first half. It’s almost maddening to hear The Who venture into territory occupied by those who could easily cure insomnia, such as Coldplay; even worse to hear what sound like unfinished ideas at times. In some cases, such as “Fragments”, there’s a reason for it that we’ll touch upon later.
But, for every sleep-inducing, seemingly-incomplete detour (“Two Thousand Years”), there’s a gem waiting to be discovered. “A Man In A Purple Dress” is a perfect example, as the title alone sounds silly enough to beg to be dismissed (although Entwistle is probably beaming with pride at his influence on it, wherever he may be). However, over a simple acoustic accompaniment, Roger Daltrey acts as Pete Townshend’s voice of frustration about persecution in many forms ranging from Townsend’s arrest (and subsequent vindication, let’s not forget) on child pornography charges to that of Jesus Christ himself . The story goes that Townshend wrote the song after seeing The Passion Of The Christ, but you can hear much more than that boil out thanks to Daltrey’s delivery and the purposely-stripped backing. The lesson to learn here is a simple one: power and bombast aren’t always necessary – or even warranted – to convey pure rage, as most humans are wont to do so quietly and with great conviction.
As if that idea isn’t challenging enough, there’s “Black Widow’s Eyes”, about falling in love at first sight...with a suicide bomber that helped take over a Russian school last year (true story). As much as the word “terrorists” have become a popular part of our lexicon much the same way “pedophile” has, that’s not a subject that not many would take on. Those that would may take the low road mainly for shock value or to dare the Bush Administration to call them out in the ultimate move of publicity. Instead, Daltrey is very sincere in his voice and feelings, ducking under the radar to present the idea of being betrothed to a woman daring enough to commit a sickening act of terrorism.
That’s the nut of most of the album, particularly in the first half. For all of its false stops and even in its most maddeningly mundane-sounding moments, Townshend proudly eschews the commercial lure a project like this automatically emanates and instead writes from the heart. On the songs he sings, even in the oddest of departures (“In The Ether”) and rare glimpses of whimsy (“God Spoke Of Marty Robbins”), Townshend sings from his heart. As long as they have worked together and known each other, Daltrey understands the feeling that Endless Wire strives for and gives it his all. No matter how much they’ve loved or loathed each other over a forty-plus year (!) career, Townshend and Daltrey complement each other well – Townshend is a master of using creation as catharsis, and Daltrey achieves the same through performance.
That idea carries through in the mini-opera that encompasses the second half of the album, “Wire And Glass” (based on Townshend’s novella, The Boy Who Heard Music). For those disappointed that The Who didn’t flat-out rock in the first half of the album, this is their amendment. “Sound Round” takes right off in a fast tempo, invoking thoughts of “Magic Bus” on amphetamines. The classic anthemic writing of Townshend is evident merely one song later in “Pick Up The Peace”; the rolling crescendo drums (Keith Moon may be over Zak Starkey’s shoulder, after all) and the bold strokes of a simple, powerful Townshend riff start this song off, harkening back to some of the band’s glory days.
Again, though, the more maddeningly qualities of Townshend’s bare, honest style rear their head. The opera almost comes to a grinding halt with “Trilby’s Piano” before the title track takes over. What would be considered the centerpiece (as it holds the album’s name, after all) is a slow, Alt-Country/Americana drawl taking many more cues from Merle Haggard than anything in rock and roll. The shift in mood and lack of focus – even in a narrative piece – are certainly exasperating, which can be taken as more of a challenge or a plain head-scratching befuddlement. Mostly, it’s more satisfying to take the former approach the latter, but the latter feeling certainly rears its head after a while.
Fortunately, some cohesion saves the day, as “Fragments Of Fragments” explains the opening track of the album, sounding like a finished version of the demo-sounding opener that was “Fragments”. If not an outright finished version, a good portion of the first half of the album returns thematically and musically in “Wire And Glass” – oftentimes on steroids. “We Got A Hit” evokes a faster re-telling of track 3, “Mike Post Theme”.
In terms of cohesion, “Wire And Glass” can be as confusing as the first half of the album, though. A reading of Townshend’s novella is probably necessary to understand the story narrative, as it’s almost impossible to follow on its own. For completists, reading the book before diving into the opera again will probably be a rewarding exercise (and, for the record, I intend to find out if that’s true). For those simply looking to enjoy the music without having to decipher a near-impossible account, that’s easily done as well. Townshend may be obsessed with telling stories with rock and roll, but the man knows, deep down, that the music itself is the most important ingredient.
The 411: For anyone that truly appreciates music as a form of expression and art as opposed to something tacked onto a MySpace profile to make you seem cool, Endless Wire is a satisfying experience overall. The lack of focus and cohesion, as well as the aimless wandering and sleepiness of a good portion of the first half, may drive the less patient listeners into conniptions. Overall, though, Endless Wire is a clinic in rock and roll as art put on by two of the masters. For all its flaws, it is a thought- and emotion-porovoking record – and that, when it all boils down, is what good rock and roll – check that, what good music should be about.
