By: David Schultz

Under no conceivable set of circumstances could Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey release a new Who album without facing intense scrutiny. Legacies can be tarnished by returning to the well one time too often (e.g. Jefferson Airplane/Starship, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Van Halen featuring Gary Cherone). With Endless Wire, the first studio album to bear The Who imprimatur in close to a quarter century, Townshend and Daltrey have recorded a satisfying coda, not an embarrassing footnote, to the band's storied career. While the album has its faults, Townshend's iconic guitar and Daltrey's signature voice give Endless Wire enough of a Who-ey quality to make it a satisfying addendum to a book long thought complete.

Musical partners for nearly forty years, Townshend and Daltrey's pairing predictably still yields magical results. On "Mike Post Theme," the sextogenarians (not what you think, it means they're in their sixties), show they can still be a bit randy while cranking out an anthem belying their advancing years. Townshend's presence dominates the album: the plentiful acoustic numbers thrive on his nimble guitar work and the themes are more typical of his pointedly socio-critical solo material. "A Man In A Purple Dress" confronts hypocrisy in organized religion and "Black Widow's Eyes" comes from the point of view of a hostage beset with Stockholm Syndrome.

Townshend's efforts are notable but Daltrey is hardly a guest on his own album. On "Fragments," the opening track, nothing but Daltrey's familiar howl giving voice to Townshend's Zen-like koans could follow the "Baba O'Riley" style cascading synthesizer rolls. Time may be depriving Daltrey of the ability to belt out The Who's songs with the same power for the entirety of a two hour show but in the studio, no such limitations are present. Daltrey's voice gives life to songs that might otherwise lack for sustenance, getting the blood boiling on "Mike Post Theme" and "Two Thousand Years" and giving warmth and depth to "Tea & Theater." Townshend shares some of the singing duties, including the extended version of the disc's title track. On "God Speaks Of Marty Robbins," a song that could have come from any of Townshend's solo records, the guitarist equals his prior vocal efforts. However, Townshend misguidedly adopts Tom Waits' gravelly vocal style on "In The Ether," rendering the song practically unlistenable.

The second half of the album consisting of "Wire & Glass," a mini-opera containing a number of songs timing in at less than two minutes, could easily be mistaken as a number of unfinished demo tracks. As long as Townshend's pretentiousness doesn't bother you, the ten song suite has more winning moments than misfires. Essentially some odds and sods cobbled together, many of the songlets end just when they are picking up steam; "Sound Round," and "We Got A Hit," fading just when the feet get tapping. On the other hand, some of the more artsy efforts, "Trilby's Piano," "Unholy Trinity" and "They Make My Dream Come True" bid their farewell before their shortcomings become shockingly evident.

In all likelihood, Endless Wire marks the final creative outburst of The Who. As any writer will tell you, satisfying endings are hard to come by. Even with its faults, Daltrey and Townshend have crafted a fitting potential finale with the album's closing pair of songs "Mirror Door" and "Tea & Theater." Picking up where It's Hard and Face Dances left off, "Mirror Door" honors the landscape The Who helped create by acknowledging the overarching power of music, Daltrey and Townshend wringing one last distinctly Who song out of their souls. With "Tea & Theater," Townshend seems to have written the eulogy for his legendary band. With Daltrey powerfully singing that "the story is done" over Townshend's acoustic guitar, the two issue possibly the last word on all things Who: "a thousand songs - still smolder now/we played them as one - we're older now/all of us sad/all of us free/before we walk from the stage/two of us/won't you have some tea?"

Labels: Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, The Who