The Who - Eminence Front

“Things they do seem so cold,
Hope I die before I get old.”

For those who somehow do not already know, that famous lyric comes from The Who’s 1965 hit song “My Generation.” This music in review is not going to focus on “My Generation” specifically, but I think this is a going starting point of the longer conversation I wish to have with myself and the internet.

I have a dark sense of humour, so I have found an extra layer of comedy in that old line about dying before getting old. The only member of The Who who fulfilled this promise was Keith Moon. Like the rock god that he was Keith Moon partied to death at age thirty-two, and I like to imagine that if there is an afterlife, then Keith Moon might be shouting to earth to the rest of The Who yelling “we had a deal!”

I think it’s funny, but I also acknowledge the enormity of the loss that was Keith Moon. Obviously for the world, and music at large, we lost one of the greatest drummers of all time. But for the rest of The Who, for Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, and John Entwistle, they had lost more than that, they had lost an irreplaceable member of their band, and they also lost a good friend.

Keith Moon died in 1978, five years before I was born, so I grew up knowing the end of the story. I grew up with no sense of loss, so I probably underappreciated the impact of Moon’s death had on the rest of The Who. For young me I always saw The Who as this really upbeat, happy band. They had great songs that carried really get humour and watching their live performances and all the destruction of guitars they seemed like they were having a lot of fun. That did not change very much in their later albums, not as far as I could tell.

Also, before I was born, The Who released two more albums with Kenny Jones on drums. “Face Dances” released in 1981 and “It’s Hard” released in 1982. I really liked both of these albums, though if I am being perfectly honest the principle reason is because of one powerhouse son on each album. “Face Dances” has the wonderfully whimsical, honest love song, “You Better You Bet,” I wrote about that song a while back on this blog: https://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-who-you-better-you-bet.html

“It’s Hard” has one of the greatest Who songs ever in “Eminence Front.” I always did like the title track on “It’s Hard” as well, but like most songs in the history of all music, it pales in comparison to the greatness of “Eminence Front.”

As young me listened to “Who are You,” “Tommy,” and “Who’s Next,” I was also listening to “Face Dances” and “It’s Hard.” I never thought much of the changes in the Who’s later day works back then. Over time I began to hear how Daltrey and Townshend hated those last two albums, which I thought was sad because they are pretty good. But the more I thought about it became clearer that Moon’s absence from those albums could be heard. I believe that Kenny Jones probably never got a fair chance to shine with The Who, but that happens when you are tasked with filling the shoes of a rock god. I thought I understood why Daltrey and Townshend disliked “Face Dances” and “It’s Hard,” but I knew very little.

Then I watched this youtube video by the channel Polyphonic:

Humility is an important attribute to possess. Watching that informative video about “Eminence Front” was humbling for me. In fact, the entire channel Polyphonic humbles me deeply. Whoever writes for that show knows a hell of a lot more than I do about the history of music. It brings into question what am I even trying to accomplish with this blog? Clearly there are people out there who are a lot better at this then I am. Oh well, I am just going to keep doing my own thing. I deeply appreciate the information, and the reality check.

Polyphonic and others hail “Eminence Front” as the last great Who song and based on the chronology of their discography this statement is rather inarguable. This factoid is both appropriate and sad. Being a rock star had caught up with The Who, but the show must go on, so Townshed, being the rather forward individual that he is made one last final statement when he wrote “Eminence Front.”

One of the first things I hate to admit not knowing was the meaning of the word eminence. All these years I have been singing along to “Eminence Front” and I never bothered look up the title meaning. Apparently, eminence is fame or recognized superiority. Pete Townshed burned out and recovering from a cocaine addiction wrote a song about how the whole persona of being a rock star was a ruse. The Who were at a low point creatively at this time, but they had contractual obligations, so Townshed dug deep and ripped this song out of his soul, letting loose all the ugliness he saw in the industry and inside of himself. All that glam and partying, it was a put on.

A part of me always knew “Eminence Front” was about the dark side of the human condition, but without deeper thought into Townshed’s life, I took it as a general sentiment. People of all walks of life are hiding behind a false image, and I think that is part of the brilliance of “Eminence Front” that everyone can relate to it. We put on a strong face sometimes or smile through our teeth. At the very least we all someone who has to pretend to be something they are not just to survive whatever situation they are in. Townshed was able to make the woes of his complex extraordinary life relatable to everyone, and this is clearly intentional. The first two verses are about recreational activities and drug use, but the later verses are about gambling and the stock market. In all four examples hazardous risk and reward are in play, but we can easily take the thought further. Everyone puts on a brave show in the face uncertainty, but people forget, that they are hiding behind a false image, and eminence front.

“It’s Hard” and “Eminence Front” while sourced creatively from unpleasant moments in the life of Townshed, the result is one of the best songs The Who ever wrote, and I hope this gives Townshed some comfort and peace. Sometimes starting our demons down helps us conquer them, and I suspect that is the case for Townshed and “Eminence Front.”

Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

The Who - You Better You Bet

As we all know The Who are classic rock gods on par with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In the late sixties and throughout the seventies The Who produced their best music by both and in fact the bulk of their catalogue, but their later work should not be overlooked entirely.

I understand the negativity that followed The Who’s work past 1978’s “Who Are You,” surely it has everything to do with the death of drummer Keith Moon. Keith Moon is one of the greatest drummers of all time and arguably the very best. From 1978 to 1988 Kenney Jones would replace Keith Moon on drums, and in all respects Jones was a very good drummer, but he was not Keith Moon. Jones’ style was very different than Moons and not all fans could appreciate that, but also, he was not Daltrey, Townshend, and Entwistle’s friend, and while the band itself was excited to work with Jones at first, but eventually they would regard him with a level of indifference; The Who were never really the same and they could never replace Moon.

So happened; “Face Dances” (1981) and “It’s Hard” (1982).

These album were polarizing, positive reviews become controversial, negative reviews often leaned to heavily on nostalgic dreams of the past with Keith Moon. Even The Who are split on their opinion of their own later days work. Reviews of mediocrity for “Face Dances” were met with Daltrey stating that he was found on his work on it, and you know what I like it too. After all if nothing else, “Face Dances” gave us “You Better, You Bet,” and that song is wonderfully witty.

There are some noticeable changes from “Who Are You” to “Face Dances,” the rhythm section no longer has that wild animal like nature to it, but also the overall creative style is different, there is added level of funk, and we start seeing the transition of Townsend towards his future solo work and away from the classic rock of old Who. Still many things remained the same, after all three of the original members were still there, and one thing that always endeared The Who to me, and indeed everyone, was their sarcastic sense of humor and the joyful way they had of putting forth quick jabs at the world. In some ways a “love” song like “You Better, You Bet” captures The Who’s humours and fun side as well as some of their timeless classics that were written before with Moon; this song in particular has always stood out to me.

“You Better, You Bet” sort of sums itself up with the single first line of the chorus:

“When I say I love you, you say you better.”

What an exchange. This is a love song, surely it is, but it is also comedic, who would respond to being told they are loved in such a way? She responds with a demand and assumption to be loved. Someone with a sense and humor, that’s who, that’s the sort of person who talks like this.

The song “You Better You Bet” is so lively, a smooth mellow trip, of the best of feel good inspirations. It is songs like “You Better You Bet” that screw up the narrative that The Who were nothing without Keith Moon, not only is this a beloved song by Who fans, but it is also among their most recognizable and famous.

“You Better You Bet” has its place in the world or music largely as a fun joke, but there is something to the sarcasm and makes this punchy love rock song a lot more believable and therefore relatable. It is fantastically smart ass, but those of us who are smart asses, which is probably a high percentage of Who fans, this song can mean a lot more than more zealous love rock songs, or even just love songs. Romantic love is impressive, and perhaps awesome, but it is not real love, it is unobtainable, it is exaggeration and little more, it is fake love. Real love is being so comfortable with someone you can tease and challenge each other even when you are being serious, real love is staying together, sometimes real love is a fun joke. Fake romantic love will always dominate movies and music, but real love will always endear itself to us, and a song like “You Better You Bet” is a song about real love, which is one of many reasons it comes across as such a breath of fresh air; it is one of the greatest feel good songs ever.

Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

The Who - Baba O'Riley

The British Invasion in the music industry is among one of the best things to ever happen. When we think of the British Invasion of the sixties we typically think of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but they were hardly the only two rock bands coming out the United Kingdom at that time, in fact the obvious third band that should be remembered and acclaimed for the movement is The Who. There is a reasonably strong argument that despite failing to capture the sort of dominate commercial success The Beatles and The Stones enjoyed during the sixties The Who might be the best of the three. Taste is subjective so however anyone chooses to rank these titan bands of classic rock is rather arbitrary. What makes The Who special, even in comparison to The Beatles and Stones, was everything that made The Who special in the first place. They were a progressive band, arguably more so than anyone at that time. They wrote controversial songs all of which seem super innocent today. They experimented with sound and song perhaps more so than any popular band at the time. They dared to arrest people’s attention by being the loudest band on Earth (at the time, all hail Manowar) and they destroyed their instruments at the end of the set in what was considered an almost unholy act of rebellion. The Who were just more badass then just about anyone else in the sixties, and that makes them, in my opinion, important to include when talking about Great Britain’s dominance as the greatest rock and roll country in history.

The Who are very British

The Who had success right from the beginning but it was not until 1969 when Pete Townshend wrote the rock opera “Tommy” that The Who really took over. As good as an album as “Tommy” is the general consensus, and I agree, is that The Who’s next album “Who’s Next” (1971) was and is The Who’s very best work. The entire album of “Who’s Next” is loaded with hit songs including, “Bargain,” “Love Ain’t for Keeping,” “Getting in Tune,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and my favorite “Baba O’Riley.”

When answering the classic question, “if you were on a deserted island and could only bring ten albums what would you bring?” I always include “Who’s Next.”

The song “Baba O’Riley” is uniquely famous. It is like a piece of classical music that everyone has heard a multitude of times and everyone really likes but comparatively few know the artist or the correct name of the song. The most common incorrectly believed name for the song “Baba O’Riley” is “Teenage Wasteland” this is because the ending bridge of lyrics has Roger Daltrey singing;

“Teenage wasteland.
It's only teenage wasteland.
Teenage wasteland.
Oh, yeah,
Teenage wasteland.
They're all wasted!”

This inspired me to nominate “Baba O’Riley” as our highschool gradating theme, because after all many of us would be wasted and we were naturally teenagers. Alas I was not part of any extracurricular group and no one took me very seriously then... or now. Still it would have been awesome if The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” was our class song.

When you think about it, “Baba O’Riley” seems like a completely illogical name for this song, but apparently it is named after Meher Baba and Terry Riley. Baba was a spiritual leader who believed himself to be the “Avatar” and Riley was an American composer and musician, so I guess we can assume The Who was influenced directly by these two. If I am being honest I do not know much of anything about either gentleman. At least we know where the title “Baba O’Riley” comes from now, it was bothering me for years.

Meher Baba and Terry Riley.

The other way in which “Baba O’Riley” is famous is void of lyrics and is purely instrumental. The opening keyboard is fast paced and intriguing. The guitar solo in the middle is a perfect bridge between verses and a great accompaniment later during the final verses. Lastly the outro is just as memorable as the intro. Because the keyboards, drums and guitar all stand out as incredibly catchy, instantly identifiable and infinitely memorable “Baba O’Riley” was used a lot for movie trailers when I was young, but the only one that I can distinctly remember is “American Beauty.”

Great movie, great song, good trailer:

The Who have a lot of really good songs, and one of the reasons they were among the greatest of the greats was that every member of The Who was a big deal. Roger Daltrey was an excellent singer, surprisingly good actor, and among the very best front men of all time. Pete Townshend is one of the very best guitarist ever, and an incredible song writer. Somewhat forgotten in the shadows of his friends John Entwistle was a solid bass player, and keyboarder, case in point “Baba O’Riley” is among some of his best work, in fact without John on keyboard the song would be nowhere near as good as it is. Lastly we have crazy man Keith Moon on drums, everything Keith Moon did was extraordinary and with a well listened ear you can discover that just about ever Who song has much activity going on in the drums then any typical rock song. When we pause and look at the individual elements of a song like “Baba O’Riley” we see a heroic performance by all four men, we see an amalgamation of great talents coming together in perfect harmony for what most should consider a perfect song.

- King of Braves