Peter Townshend returns to the musical spotlight once more with the all but simultaneous release of his first solo album in four years, and a new original cast recording of the recent Broadway production of the Who's 1969 rock opera,Tommy. These events were ballyhooed by the various media in a flurry of articles and interviews. After reading, hearing and seeing a few, I've come to this conclusion: as Townshend grows older, it's increasingly apparent that he's turning into one of the saddest entities in the Rock'n'Roll circus. An aging dinosaur, a stuffy old fart with nothing important to say. (A good friend and Who fan was heard to remark, "He's not only deaf, he's gone stupid too..." ) I couldn't agree more. Thirteen pages of bio material came with Psychoderelict. (A "Psychobiography," a story synopsis and an explanation from Townshend.) Rarely does one see media hype of this extent surrounding a new album. When the point has to be driven home this hard, the material is usually insubstantial and certainly undeserving of all the attention. Unfortunately, that's the case here. The storyline goes something like this: a former rock superstar, often misunderstood by the press, returns with a new project and is badgered by a female music critic who hosts a successful network radio show. (An underage groupie/nubile who wants to be a star and a crooked manager are also thrown in for good measure.) Sound effects, actors and narrations are added in a futile attempt to flesh out this nearly autobiographical yarn. But instead, the excess baggage seems to be a smokescreen to divert any attention away from the weak rehash of riffs and ideas that make up the majority of the album. I don't think that he even knows what the hell this is about or why he recorded it. When he tries to explain it himself, it reads like a bad sci-fi script. "Later, with the help of my old friend, Richard Barnes, I hit on the proper rock and roll form for this thing. IT'S GONNA BE A FUCKING CONCEPT ALBUM! A CD-rama; Headrock; Rockertext; Cock-o-text; Pop-o-scope; Cyberopera; Yobbogram; Grid-o-gram; Vertigram; Matrix-o-gram; Gramodream; Talkup; Poptalking-Dream-o-gram." (Or in layman's terms, "Notmuch-o-anything.") I've made several unsuccessful attempts to sit through the whole thing, but after the first two or three songs the "suck quotient" is so conspicuous that I'm tempted to heave it into the trash and try to clear the air by listening to that wonderful Who album, Quadrophenia. Perhaps Townshend should too, it may inspire him to tackle weightier issues next time around. Psychoderelict was quite disappointing to say the least. (Rumor has it that a new version, one without the dialog and sound effects, will be released soon. I hope it sounds better than this one.) One question. Did we really need a another version of Tommy ? I doubt it. This incarnation marks the fourth time the rock opera has been bastardized since the release of the original Who classic, more than thirty years ago. '72 saw a rock-star/orchestral remake that wasn't too bad. In '75 Ken Russell really did a number on it with his preposterous film and the resulting soundtrack. A 25th Anniversary live album featuring Townshend, Daltry, Entwhistle and a few special guest performers was the next adulteration. Now there's (TAH-DAH!) a Broadway musical and yet another soundtrack. This time around Townshend was loony enough to change the ending. Now, if that's not enough to discourage you, then the supporting rock band (who sound like a cheesy lounge act) certainly should. Even George Martin, with all his production savvy, can't help to salvage this mess. Need I continue? Come on, give it a rest. The The original Tommy is the only one that cuts the mustard. The rest of this nightmarish brouhaha is best avoided. The Who's performance during the recording of this magnum opus, breathes more life and passion into Tommy than any other exploit ever could. (And, it's recently been remastered and reissued on a single disc at a lower price.) Who could ask for more? (SC) © 2000 Dr. Rock'n'Roll
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