Endless Wire (2006)

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

1."Fragments" (Townshend/Lawrence Ball) – 3:58
2."A Man in a Purple Dress" – 4:14
3."Mike Post Theme" – 4:28
4."In the Ether" – 3:35
5."Black Widow's Eyes" – 3:07
6."Two Thousand Years" – 2:50
7."God Speaks of Marty Robbins" – 3:26
8."It's Not Enough" (Townshend/Rachel Fuller) – 4:02
9."You Stand by Me" – 1:36
Wire & Glass: A Mini-Opera
10."Sound Round" – 1:21
11."Pick Up the Peace" – 1:28
12."Unholy Trinity" – 2:07
13."Trilby's Piano" – 2:04
14."Endless Wire" – 1:51
15."Fragments of Fragments" (Townshend/Ball) – 2:23
16."We Got a Hit" – 1:18
17."They Made My Dream Come True" – 1:13
18."Mirror Door" – 4:14
19."Tea & Theatre" – 3:24
Bonus tracks on some editions
20."We Got a Hit" (Extended) – 3:03
21."Endless Wire" (Extended) – 3:03

UK #9 US #7

radio hits:
"It's Not Enough" #37

And we had these bonus offerings on CD and DVD as well:

Compact Disc edition of The Who Live at Lyon

Recorded at the Théâtre Antique, Vienne, Isère, France (near Lyon) on 17 July 2006. Included as an extra in Europe, Asia, and at Best Buy stores in the US.
1."The Seeker" - 2:36
2."Who Are You" - 6:58
3."Mike Post Theme" - 3:55
4."The Relay" - 7:40
5."Greyhound Girl" - 3:04
6."Naked Eye" - 8:26
7."Won't Get Fooled Again"/"Old Red Wine" - 10:40

DVD edition of The Who Live at Lyon
1."I Can't Explain" - 3:04
2."Behind Blue Eyes" - 4:39
3."Mike Post Theme" - 3:41
4."Baba O'Riley" - 5:59
5."Won't Get Fooled Again"/"Old Red Wine" - 10:03

Yikes!
One of the most disappointing albums of all time to me let alone in the Who era. Sad ending for The Who after all those legendary albums. This turd makes Face Dances or Its Hard look like masterpieces.

Boo.

Endless Wire was the first studio album by The Who since 1982. Of course, by now there were only 2 whos. Endless Wire IMO is an empty exercise and sounds like nothing more than a bad Townshend solo album in demo form under The Who name.
I tried several times to find redeeming qualities and I find very little here. Of course, had this been an album by the actual band that tours as The Who and sounded at least something like the 2 new songs from 2004 I would have probably been into it.
The most wretched part (aside from the cover art) to me is the centerpiece "Wire & Glass: A Mini Opera". IMO this is laughably bad. The story is absolutely ridiculous, the lyrics are cheesy and the music bland.
Many of the other songs such as "Mike Post Theme" and "God Speaks Of Marty Robbins" are truly woeful, especially lyrically. "In The Ether" which I originally thought was Rog singing is actually Pete channeling his inner Tom Waits and quite poorly.
"It's Not Enough" is tepid MOR and "Black Widow's Eyes" and "Two Thousand Years" are very weak.
The only songs I personally like are the two acoustic tracks "Tea & Theatre" and the scathing "Man In A Purple Dress". "Fragments" is decent enough as well, but that's it for me.
This album quickly hit the delete bin (including bonus discs).
To me this is not The Who in any way, but that may vary for others. A sad, pathetic mess this one is.

The only song I've heard from this album in its entirety is "Man in a Purple Dress." Beyond that, my knowledge of the album is limited to checking out the song samples on amazon. Obviously, the samples didn't impress me to the point of wanting to hear the album. Based on my limited exposure, I agree that it sounds like a mediocre Townshend solo album on which Roger happens to be singing. I suppose part of the problem is that so much of the Who's sound was tied up in the unique instrumental voices of the three playing members, and having two of them gone makes it perhaps impossible to really sound like the Who. But as IP noted it doesn't even sound like a band, much less the Who, since the musicians vary widely from track to track. I agree that it would have made more sense to use the touring band on the entire album to give it a greater sense of coherency. Most peculiar is the fact that Zak plays on only a couple tracks (I think). I read that he was too busy with an Oasis tour at the time and couldn't make the sessions. You would think The Who could have waited until he was free... I mean, after 20 years of no albums, they're suddenly in such a big rush they can't wait a couple months for Zak to be available?

Based on what I've heard, there again is absolutely nothing that rocks on this record. A Who record that doesn't rock at all is just damn sad. And it also is sad that Townshend couldn't come up with more interesting material in the 14 years between his last solo album and this, and that the radio "hit" was just a Rachel Fuller song with lyrics rewritten by Townshend. The saddest thing of all is the wasted years... there could have been some good, or even great, Who albums in the 80's and 90's, but by now it's clear the train has left the station.

Jason:
We're absolutely on the same wavelength on all of this!
If I recall, Zak couldn't sit around anymore and accepted the offer to join Oasis (and he fit in great with them) and then Pete came out and said, boy I wish he would've waited, but I guess I'm taking too long. Ya think? If I recall, Zak is on just one song.
As a matter of fact, The Who that played at Live 8 in 2005 was missing both Zak and Pino (playing w/ John Mayer Trio), so stand-ins played and it sounded off. Plus, the show ran long, so 2 of the 4 Who songs got cut, thus more or less reprising the disappointment of Live Aid!
And boy do I agree-all the wasted years...clearly, Pete was against The Who reforming and trashed the idea. Yet, in 1989 and then 1996 there they were. I'm still in shock they've been together since 1996 and especially so that over the last 5 years they've become the exact charicature Townshend feared as far back as the mid 70's.
And all we've got is this crappy album that isn't even really The Who at all.

Should they have died before they got old?

Considering this album? Yes.

The only thing wrong with the "First Singles Box" was the lack of a second or third singles box to fill in the remaining blanks--it was also a missed opportunity to allow a few of the rarer to be heard.

As for "Endless Wire"...I have posted entire gigabytes of comments about that album on these boards, but it's been five years, and the thought of complaining about it now only gives me a headache. Was it godawful bad? No...just mediocre, and something of a letdown, but I don't want to be like one of those people still sitting around a decade later whining about the midichlorians in Phantom Menace.

But there's this: The present-day Who (either Daltrey, or Townshend, or Daltrey and Townshend) may be the only recording act left from whom I have any, for want of a better word, expectations. I've never been a big fan of band reunions because I'm not sure what they accomplish--judging by the bootleg video, the Led Zeppelin O2 reunion concert five years ago was outstanding, which is to their credit--but as far as I'm concerned, so is the decision to not milk dry the LZ brand by cashing in with a world tour. I love the Rolling Stones, but I have no expectations of them ever coming up with another "Exile On Main Street, nor any interest in paying $475 to sit in the nosebleed seats of a football stadium to see Mick and Keith sing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" for the thousandth time. At best, these reunions tend to be harmless. At their worst, these reunions are...I don't want to say musically embarassing, but embarassing in terms of the dysfunctional intergroup sniping via the media--Joe Perry vs. Steven Tyler, David Gilmour vs. Roger Waters, Axl vs. Slash, Eddie vs. Sammy, and yes, Mick vs. Keith--it's depressing. At best these reunions are what they are--The Band without Robbie Roberston, the Smashing Pumpkins with Billy Corgan, whatever. Insert punchline here.

But yeah, I had hopes for this album in spite of myself. I've been let down by the Who before. When "Psychoderelict" came out, frankly, I embraced it--I thought it had some great music, and at the time, the autobiographical aspects of Pete's radio play-within-the-album fascinated me. (Eighteen years later, not so much.) And to top it off, Pete toured the US as a solo act for the first time ever! Granted, he came nowhere near Florida, but there was a big cable pay-per-view scheduled, and they were giving away an autographed guitar...and Pete was clearly drunk during the show. Not that affected his performance so much, but between songs, Pete had clearly entered "creepy old guy" territory, and frankly, it depressed me--it seemed straight out of "The Punk And The Godfather".

Actually, I think of Pete and the Who as more of a kid brother than a godfather: I'll rag on the post-Moon era without hesitation, but I tend to leap to their defense when somebody else chooses to take shots at them for it it. Which is my problem, I know. When Pete was facing child pornography charges, I was disgusted. Still am. Even if Pete is not a pedophile--and I'm not convinced he is--that whole situation was just completely boneheaded, and completely the result of his own doing. And yet...I don't like hearing others condemn him for that. It makes no sense, I know.

So yeah, I could sit here and barf up forty thousand or so more words about "Endless Wire", but I think that in doing so, it wouldn't be out of any need to spew any particular dislike of the actual music on the album itself. It would be because I was never one of those people who was clamouring for a new Who album, or a new Who reunion tour--only to do a complete 180 on the whole idea when I first heard "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine."

I would never want to meet Pete Townshend--I understand he's a pretty complicated guy--but his music fascinates me. Maybe because I can't play an instrument or write a song to save my life, which probably only makes Townshend seem like even more of a genius. I'm one of those geeks who is fascinated by his demos, by the whole Meher Baba connection, by the music he was casually knocking out at home in his spare time. I wonder what it must be like to have that sort of talent, to have that kind of music inside of me, and to be able to express it. There's a very interesting DVD about the making of "Who's Next", but overshadowing the infotainment pleasure of the disc is a moment during the show where Pete starts playing a solo version of "Pure And Easy" that just blows me away to where I'll play that disc just to dial up that scene.

I don't know--I just find Townshend's musical vision the most critical element of what made the Who great, and I don't think he's really directed that vision at the Who since Moon died. Yet I have no idea where his vision is these days. He recently sold off the publishing rights to his catalog, announcing that he intended to fund new, apparently non-Who, musical projects.

Should I have any expectations of Pete at all at this point? Something tells me I shouldn't, that "Endless Wire" may have indeed signaled some sort of a creative slowdown. More to the point--if I expect Pete to come up with another "Endless Wire", chances are I wont be disappointed. Still...

I remember picking up Endless Wire several times at Best Buy. The version they had included the bonus disc and they were selling it pretty cheap, too. But I'd always end up putting it back on the shelf. From everything I've read about it since, I would guess this was one of the better decisions I've made in life.

I'm sure that I'm in the overwhelming minority, but I enjoyed this album. I can certainly understand peoples' feelings that it's more of a Pete album with Roger on sum vocals and I was certainly disappointed that they didn't use the touring band, particularly Zak on more tracks. He's on just one. That's a real shame.

As I learned with "Face Dances" and "It's Hard" many years ago, I took this album on it own merits. This isn't the same Who that created those two albums. Those albums weren't the same band that existed from 1963-1978.

As with much Who material. this was considerably better when performed live. Having seen and heard all of the Encore CDs and DVDs from this tour, I really appreciated the album a lot more after hearing and seeing the songs performed live.

I hope that Pete and Roger will record again. Did someone say "Floss"? I enjoy what the create separately and I enjoy what they create together. We're nevver going to get another "Sell Out", "Who's Next" or "Quadrophenia" from thse guys. I still believe though that they can make good music together.

I like Endless Wire.

Yep, I like it. Certainly, not as much as any of the Moon stuff, and maybe not as much as the Jones stuff either. But on its own merits, I still think it's pretty good.

I decided a long time ago that you shouldn't try to follow the storyline of any of Townshend's narratives, because they're usually nonsensical.

But a bunch of the songs are really good.

The only thing harder to follow than the storyline in Pete's narratives are the interviews in which he attempts to further explain the storyline!

View From A Backstage Pass (2007)

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

Disc one
1."Fortune Teller" (Allen Toussaint) – Recorded at The Grande Ballroom, Dearborn, Michigan, 12 October 1969
2."Happy Jack" – Recorded at City Hall, Hull, 15 February 1970
3."I'm a Boy" – Recorded at City Hall, Hull, 15 February 1970
4."A Quick One, While He's Away" – Recorded at City Hall, Hull, 15 February 1970
5."Magic Bus" - Recorded at Mammoth Gardens, Denver, Colorado, 9 June 1970
6."I Can't Explain" – Recorded at Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, 13 December 1971
7."Substitute" – Recorded at Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, 13 December 1971
8."My Wife" (John Entwistle) – Recorded at Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, 13 December 1971
9."Behind Blue Eyes" – Recorded at Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, 13 December 1971
10."Bargain" – Recorded at Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, 13 December 1971
11."Baby Don't You Do It" (Holland-Dozier-Holland) – Recorded at Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, 13 December 1971

Disc two
1."The Punk and the Godfather" – Recorded at The Capital Centre, Largo, Maryland 4 December 1973
2."5:15" – Recorded at The Capital Centre, Largo, Maryland 6 December 1973
3."Won't Get Fooled Again" – Recorded at The Capital Centre, Largo, Maryland 6 December 1973
4."Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison) – Recorded at Charlton Athletic Football Club, South London,18 May 1974
5."Tattoo" – Recorded at Charlton Athletic Football Club, South London,18 May 1974
6."Boris The Spider" (John Entwistle) – Recorded at Charlton Athletic Football Club, South London,18 May 1974
7."Naked Eye/"Let's See Action"/"My Generation Blues" – Recorded at Charlton Athletic Football Club, South London,18 May 1974
8."Squeeze Box" – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
9."Dreaming from the Waist" – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
10."Fiddle About" (John Entwistle) – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
11."Pinball Wizard" – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
12."I'm Free" – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
13."Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon) – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
14."We're Not Gonna Take It" – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
15."See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You" – Recorded at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976

Only for new subscribers to The Who's website (I believe with a $50 fee or so-someone might need to confirm that), this was a really good comp of unreleased live material from throughout the years. I'm not sure what this goes for on the internet-it included a 24 page booklet as well. Much of this ended up an album we'll get to soon, but not all of it.
This was truly a wonderful release for diehard fans and there should've been more!

I was worried that Endless Wire had killed this thread. Good to see that's not the case.

Leave it to the Who to release a much-sought-after Moon-era archival release in the most bizarre, inefficient way possible. Ah well.

This is what Who's Last should have been (and many of the tracks on here probably were originally intended for that comp). A very decent cross section of material, with something from almost every one of the shows fans would most like to see released in complete form. The high point is six tracks from the legendary San Francisco 1971 show, which would probably be the consensus pick for Moon-era show that should be released in its entirety.

A few minor quibbles... it's peculiar that there's no version of Baba O'Riley included. On all the band's archival releases, they have yet to release a good Moon-era live version of this song (the only Moon-era performance available being the flawed 1978 Shepperton version). The 1971 SF version would have been the obvious choice, but the band also played it at Charlton and Swansea and either of those versions would have been fine too.

It's also kind of annoying that seven of the tracks here had been previously released (four of the San Francisco tracks, one from Largo, and two from Swansea). It would have been nice to get all-new, previously-unreleased material. And the mixing is not so great. As I've said before, mixing the Who is not rocket science: Pete goes on the right, John on the left, and Roger and Keith in the middle. Yet many of the tracks here deviate from that style, and the results do not sound as good as they could. In particular, several of the San Francisco tracks appear in mixes inferior to the ones they had previously been released in.

Still, a great compilation with some fabulous material. Sad that it's not widely available.

Yes. $50 fee. The lack of value for the $50 is what kept me from ponying up.

Alan

This is truly horrible, because the 1997 remix of Who Are You, to me, is the single worst remixing of any classic album in rock music history. It is absolutely unlistenable. They added tons and tons of echo to Roger's lead vocal tracks and just ruined what has always been my favorite Who record. I still will only listen to original MCA CD. I'm in the process of attaining a 2011 Universal CD from Japan

I still can't stand most of the 1997 remixes and have welcomed some of the deluxe editions that have come out which utilized the original mixes. I just can't stand it when classic artists remix their back catalog - whether it's The Who, The Doors or Genesis. It's an alteration of history. If they absolutely must do a remix, I'll pay for the 2nd CD, but give me an original mix (remastered) to go along with it.

This wasn't a bad compilation though I'd have much preferred a complete Keith era show. $50 also got you a pretty nice t-shirt as well as your own special Who email address (woweeeeee!!!).

At the time I was really hoping that this album would be a sampler of things to come, somewhat similar to what The Stones are now doing. Obviously that's not to be the case. Needless to say, the following year when all that I'd get for my $50 was poster or something like that, I didn't pony up.

Give me music guys, and you'll gladly get my money!

Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who (2008)

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.
1."Leaving Here" (as The High Numbers) (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland & Edward Holland) – 2:50
2."I Can't Explain" – 2:06
3."My Generation" – 3:19
4."I'm a Boy" – 2:38
5."I Can See for Miles" – 4:08
6."Amazing Journey" – 5:07
7."Pinball Wizard" – 3:03
8."Summertime Blues" (Live at Leeds) (Jerry Capehart & Eddie Cochran) – 3:25
9."Baba O'Riley" – 5:01
10."The Song Is Over" – 6:16
11."Sea and Sand" – 5:04
12."Who Are You" – 5:09
13."Eminence Front" – 5:38
14."Won't Get Fooled Again" (Live at The Concert for New York City) – 9:21
15."Real Good Looking Boy" (Townshend, Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti & George David Weiss) – 5:43
16."Tea & Theatre" – 3:22

This comp was a Best Buy exclusive (why I have no idea). It does offer up some nice not so obvious choices and includes "Leaving Here" as well as "Won't Get Fooled Again" from The Concert For New York in 2001 and 2004's "Real Good Looking Boy" previously only on Then And Now 1964-2004. But really, did we need this?
No.
I bought this on vinyl and then took it back when I realized I didn't care.

Greatest Hits (2009)

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

Disc one
1."I Can't Explain" – 2:05
2."My Generation" – 3:17
3."The Kids Are Alright" – 3:07
4."Substitute" – 3:48
5."Happy Jack" – 2:11
6."Pictures Of Lily" – 2:44
7."I Can See For Miles" – 4:08
8."Magic Bus" – 3:16
9."Pinball Wizard" – 3:02
10."Behind Blue Eyes" – 3:43
11."Baba O'Riley" – 5:01
12."Won't Get Fooled Again" – 8:33
13."Love, Reign O'er Me" – 5:54
14."Squeeze Box" – 2:42
15."Who Are You" – 3:27
16."You Better You Bet" – 5:38
17."Eminence Front" – 5:42
18."Real Good Looking Boy" (Townshend, Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti & George David Weiss) – 5:43
19."It's Not Enough" (Townshend & Rachel Fuller) – 4:04

US #56