Check, please.

followed by a live unplugged greatist hits and then an album featuring a different guest artist for each track (we are thrilled to work with Ghostface Killa, Eric Clapton, The Neptunes, Sting, and Danger Mouse!)

You forgot the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana duet.

With Rolling Stone as a source, well, need I say more?

This is an indication that A: Townshend's songwriting well has indeed dried up and B: Daltrey's voice is completely shot.

These two things don't necessarily follow another. Perhaps at this point, they just want to do something for fun and not have people discuss lyrics or whether or not it's a great Who album.

They'll probably decide not to do it and issue another compilation instead.

yeah, the last comp is over 2 weeks old now! Time for another.

Now, now John, you are going to get Renny all riled up.

Look, I love the Who. But Moon and Entwistle are both dead, and the whole Townshend/Daltrey thing is just getting kind of sad. It's only tainting their musical legacy. In another ten years, Roger and Pete are going to be playing in Branson. (And hopefully "Man In A Purple Dress" will be gone from the setlist by then.)

Yep, this is painful and amazingly enough, it's everything Towsnhend railed against all those years when The Who were defunct. He enever wanted The Who to become a parody of themselves, and well, he's almost got it.
It really ended for me after The Ox died, but even so, a good album from what now is The Who as a 6 piece, and not Pete and some session guys making bad sounding demos would've given it some credibility. But "Endless Wire" remains one of the worst pieces of crap by a major act (at least in name) ever made.

I'll keep an open mind on this project - as least as long as they don't go the Rod Stewart Sings the Standards route.

I think that "Endless Wire" was a good album. Take it on its own merits and don't compare it to the band that we all know and love from the 1960s and 1970s. I used to do that with "Face Dances" and "It's Hard". When I did, i absolutely hated those albums. When I took them just on their own and didn't compare them, I found that I enjoyed them quite a lot. Also, having watched and listened to all of the CDs and DVDs from Themusic,.com from the recent tour, I can tell you that the "Endless Wire" stuff is a lot better live. When I went back and listened to the album, I liked it that much more.

I wonder if people who rail against Pete and Roger for calling themselves "The Who" (they do own the name after all and I presume that they can use it in anyway that they wish) feel the same way about The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. The Stones have more backup players on stage with them than there are actual Stones. Should they have ended in 1969 when Brian Jones left? Or in 1994 when Bill Wyman left? Was it really Led Zeppelin with Jason Bonham playing drums? Times change. Music changes. Bands and their personnnel change. I realize that many bands, including the three that I've named here become tribute bands to themselves in some sense, but aren't these better than the scores of tribute bands out there who have no relationship to the original band at all?

I'll take this over another "Endless Wire" any day!...

Jeff

I had high hopes for "Endless Wire"--I desperately wanted to ike that album. Frankly, my hopes had been built up by "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine"--two songs I liked better than most of the filler on "It's Hard" and "Face Dances". Heck, even "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" rocked harder than anything on "It's Hard". And I assumed that Pete had quite the stockpile of new songs stashed away in 2006--his previous album of original material was 1993's "Psychoderelict". Therefore, I was looking for "Endless Wire" to be more of acknowledgement of the fact that the Who was more than simply a nostalgia act.

I recently listened to the "A Celebration" CD, the 1994 concert of Townshend songs that Roger did with an orchestra with several guest stars. This is essentially a Who album, even if it's not specifically advertised as such, and it's an enjoyable one. The thing is, after not having played the disc in several years, I was shocked by how much better Daltrey's voice sounded back before the band elected to go out and do ten years of nostalgia touring. I think the reason I never really noticed the extent to which his voice had deteriorated on "Endless Wire" was because I was distracted by the absolutely embarassing Townshend vocals on "In The Ether".

With all due respect to Bill Wyman and Brian Jones, neither was as essential to the Rolling Stones as Moon and Entwistle were to the Who. As for John Bonham, the only person on the planet who could fill his shoes is his son, and it should be pointed out that Led Zeppelin have played exactly three gigs as Led Zeppelin, with Jason Bonham, in the past 20 years. This is why Zeppelin's legacy remains more or less intact, and why the Who's legacy will forever have all of these various footnotes attached to it.

You're actually talking to someone who loved "Face Dances" and liked "It's Hard". But "Endless Wire" isn't The Who-The Who don't even play on the album. And, it's just bad writing.
There is no comparison to the Stones-Jagger and Richards (and Watts) have always been there. Brian Jones barely contributed to the last few albums he was on and wrote nothing. Mick Taylor and then Ronnie Wood have been very important members and Daryl Jones has been there for 15 years now. It's the Stones and I've never heard anyone question that.
Yes, that was Led Zep-it was all 3 members with Bonzo's son. Plus, they've only done 3 reunion shows and there's a reason why-the legacy.. I totally agree things change, bands change, and in some cases it works, in others it doesn't. And, quite simply this isn't really The Who and "Endless Wire" really tarnished the name.
The 2 new songs on "Then And Now" really did sound like The Who, but what happened after that-who the hell knows?
I saw the "Endless Wire" tour and it was a decent show-but definitely not great. Daltrey is finally losing it-but I still think he rules. The new stuff was better live, but it still sucked and many people paid the bathroom a long visit when it came on.
This covers album is a bad idea and would be the final nail in the coffin for me.

It's not a *bad* idea. It might turn out to be great project...and while they're only discussing it at this point in time... why "rag" on it? If it happens to be a covers album... sheesh, give it a chance. If this is what they put out, I'd love to hear it myself.

At this stage of their careers, Daltrey and Townshend are entitled to do what they want to do...rather than cater to what Who fans might *expect*. After all, most respectful and astute fans realize Roger & Pete aren't the original Who...and haven't been for some time. So what?!! It's only rock n' roll.
Daltrey and Townshend didn't tarnish anything with Endless Wire...which wasn't a "terrible" album at all. Complaints aside, give Pete some credit for putting something out, as most thought there would be nothing coming from him again.

You know... after all these years, the Rolling Stones aren't the same band, and neither is Led Zeppelin. Should we be ragging on a new Zeppelin album ahead of time should they decide to put out a new CD? It's so difficult and unfair to compare new releases in the same vein as the band's original works in their prime anyway. It's called progression... or maybe old age. They're all past their *prime*, if you think about it.

Well, it's not The Who, so I think calling it The Who is problematic. Also, Pete was adamant there would be no more Who albums after they broke up in 1982, and even after they reformed in 1996. But now, a covers album? Just not a good idea to me.
You can't really tell me there's a comparison with Zep. First off, Zep did the classy thing-one killer show and that's it (so far). Also, that is as close to Zep as it gets, and Jason Bonham is the spitting image of his Dad-just as powerful and bottom-heavy, perhaps more disciplined as a player.
It's not the "past their prime thing" I have a problem with at all. The Stones IMO have continued to make solid music-not as good as the past, but I have no problems at all with "A Bigger Bang"-I really, really enjoy that album, and the Stones are so good live now it's amazing. As exciting as they were in the 60s and 70s, they were very sloppy back then. Keith can still slop it up now, but they are so tight. Sure, the extra musicians help, but the Stones have been doing that since the 70s.
I can't give Pete credit for putting out a hideous album. I'm sorry, that album stinks. I listened to it again last fall, and it's just awful. Many here share the same opinion, but it's just that-an opinion. I know you like it, but I cannot accept it as a Who album or even a Towshend solo album. I like most of Pete's solo work (except "Psychoderelict"), but "Endless Wire" wasn't even a good Pete album and deserves to be in the used bins for 3.99.
I DID very much like the 2 new songs on "Then And Now" in 2004 and thought they sounded as close to The Who as you could get without Ox and Moon or even Kenny Jones.
I don't know, it just leaves me cold, that's all.

This is one of those perennial questions, Is Pink Floyd really the same band without Roger Waters? Is Queen really Queen without Freddie Mercury and John Deacon? Is Van Halen really Van Halen without David Lee Roth? And people have a lot of different opinions about it.

AFAIC you look at the label and if it says "The Who," it's The Who. YMMV.

All of this reminds me of the people the people in 1965 who yelled "sell out" at Bob Dylan when he started playing electric. Of course if Pete and Roger (or The Who) had done nothing together since 1978, people would be clamouring for a new album and/or tour. I'm quite happy that they're making music in any form. Conversely, if Led Zeppelin had continued in some form after Bonham died, they'd be on the receiving end of the barbs that Who fans now throw. If Brian Jones had lived and The Stones broken up after he'd left because he was an original band member and the founder of the band, people would no doubt have spent the last 39 years begging The Stones to reunite. They'd have been tired of sub-par Jagger and Richards solo albums by this time. Heck, all the members are still alive, so why not?

Seriously? You folks didn't like Endless Wire? I thought it was a fantastic album and was amazed at how much it still sounded like a Who record! There were a couple of tunes I could do without but the good songs made up for it. It's miles better than It's Hard and Who Are You – two albums made when they were supposedly in their prime.

I dig the hell out of Face Dances and have never understood the criticism for that record.

I was pretty "meh" on this idea when I first heard about it but now I'm intrigued. If Pete writes a few new songs for it then count me in.