What does Pete have against dynamic range? This cd is about as squashed as any I have ever heard. What a shame.
I’m still wondering if the 45rpm version that seems to have backorder issues will be much better than the standard vinyl which is far cheaper in stores once website shipping is added. $21 vs $52
My pre-ordered Target cd is now delayed another week. I heard about (and ordered) the Japanese 4 bonus track version 2 days ago. It should arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, here's some interesting info from NME: (Listen to The Who's new single ''I Don't Wanna Get Wise' ) The tracks ‘This Gun Will Misfire’ and ‘Danny & His Ponies’ were written and recorded specifically for ‘Who’, while ‘Got Nothing to Prove’ and ‘Sand’ are demos from the mid-’60s that the group finally completed. In a statement, Townshend said: “Both these songs are from the summer of 1966. They would not have been rejected by the bandmembers but rather by my then-creative mentor, Who manager Kit Lambert.” He added: “In 1967, when the song seemed destined for the bottom drawer, I did offer ‘Got Nothing to Prove’ to Jimmy James and the Vagabonds who used to support us at the Marquee in 1965. I remember playing him the demo at my house in Twickenham. They were still managed by Peter Meaden, who had been so influential on me in particular in the short period he was our PR man in late 1964. “Jimmy liked the song, and suggested making it more R&B, in a slower tempo, but nothing happened,” Townshend said. “I have a feeling Kit may have felt the song sounded as though it was sung by an older and more self-satisfied man than I was in real life. That would have applied to Roger [Daltrey] too, I suppose. “Now, it works. Back then, perhaps it didn’t. [Producer] Dave Sardy and I decided to ask George Fenton to do a Swinging ’60s band arrangement to make the song more interesting, but also to place it firmly in an Austin Powers fantasy. I love it.” “‘Sand,'” Townshend said, “is a simple idea, about a sunny beach-vacation romance that doesn’t last once the lovers get back home to the rain. Again, Kit passed on this, even as an album track, and it simply got filed away. I have always loved it, but have been waiting for computers to get smart enough to fix some of the tape stretch problems that had affected the demo. “I also revived this in my home studio by doing roughly what I felt the Who would have done had this ever been recorded by them,” Townshend said. “So, there is added backing vocals, Rickenbacker, and acoustic 12 string, and a feedback section to properly evoke the era.”
I will say I didn’t fully get into Real Good Looking Boy until playing the drum track on Rock Band a lot where the dynamics are not nearly as crushed as the cd release.
It made me think 'Happy Jack', who's a bit slow, and the kids make fun of him, but still, he's happy. Happy Jack wasn't old, but he was a man He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key So they rode on his head on their furry donkey But whatever you do, please don't try to connect 'Danny and My Ponies' to one of Pete's short stories from Horse's Neck, 'Lagune. Valentine's Day, 1982', which contains one of the most WTF moments in literature: The horse is beautiful. Its mane is flowing and clean, its coat brushed and smooth. Its eyelashes are long and curved. The horse is now before me, it bares its teeth and its tongue flicks out. I hold the great, gorgeous head in my hands. Then I walk behind the beautiful creature and, brushing aside the tail . . . Oh no! What did I do? Sorry for putting that in your brain!
This seems to be the right answer, I'd lay a pony (i.e. I'd wager £25, not, erm, ... see post above).
I have a hard cover 1st edition of Horse's Neck. Not that I'm aware of any subsequent editions. I had the softcover as a kid. I was in a magazine store like six years ago, and they had it on display for like 10 bucks. No brainer.
Configuration 14, I believe. Hopefully mine was signed. This one is due in April. For what it’s worth, Japan deluxe from Amazon now says it’s arriving February, local target had 0 copies, and the 3-Disc vinyl set I ordered is still awaiting shipment. Not great news for fans of the album that was originally due in November.
I decided to order the 45 RPM edition with the additional 10", and I also have the regular 33 RPM edition. I did not do any critical listening and comparisons yet, but my first impression was that the 45 RPM edition was not a huge improvement but probably only a slight upgrade. On my version, the 2nd LP (second half of the recent album) is on white vinyl and the 10" bonus single (one-sided only) is on red vinyl. I have seen it advertised the other way round, and I am not sure if this is an error in the advertisement or whether it actually exists in these two variants.
I like all of this album. Of course I like all of the Who's records warts and all. I seem to relate well to Pete's music. There is also probably some significance in that after the Who my favorite rock bands are the Stones and the Clash which are also Pete's favorites. I feel My Generation and I Don't Wanna Get Wise are related. If My Generation is about not wanting to age prematurely into cold conformity rather than actually dying young than Get Wise seems to be about now having to carry the pain and physical ravages of old age and not actually a rejection of the earthly and spiritual experince (wisdom) acquired with those years. I know I sound like Captain Obvious not Captain America or Captain Britain but this song kicks around in my Who consciousness so much I had to write about it. I was moved watching the 48 minute documentary about Cincinnati and seeing the emotional toll that took on everyone interviewed in it including of course Pete and Roger. It comes to mind when I hear Street Song. I can't help but think for Pete and Roger some of the Cincinnati horror is reflected in the death by fire horror that inspired that song. Powerful stuff. I like having young Pete singing Got Nothing To Prove on the same album with older Pete singing I'll Be Back. I approve of the modern embellishment. Besides maybe Pete will release the raw demo someday if you think that might be better. So yeah I am satisfied with Who. Comes off as a nice cross between my two favorite Roger and Pete solo albums--As Long As I Have You and Chinese Eyes. Who and Endless Wire are an overall stronger collection of songs than *Face Dances and It's Hard but those two have Entwistle so it's a wash. Besides I love the Who enough that for me there isn't a huge amount of distance between the albums after Who's Next, Quad, Tommy and Sell Out anyway. Those are the towering giants of the catalogue. Bring on Who archival releases and new Stones in 2020. *Love it with the '97 bonus tracks especially the live unedited '79 How Can You Do It Alone? and Dance It Away added in.
I read "Horse's Neck" back when it came out, an impressionable college youth. When I saw the title of this song, I thought, like someone else on the thread (I can't remember whom) that it was an "Age of Anxiety" song related to the horse farm that is prominent in the story. Nope.
huge mistake to make this Uk-only. Sales would go towards the uk charts, and there are people all over the world who would love to get a signed copy
Yesterday's sales have seen Rod pull further ahead - although I think he only sold about 1000 more than the Who yesterday. Surprisingly The Who sold a couple of hundred more than Robbie Williams who is now about 600 behind in 3rd, rather than the 200 of yesterday.
Must admit; this is exciting to watch... The Who deserves it, but it seems Rod will make it...unless these signed cds, and the deal of the day at hmw -/ Amazon will do the trick
