The Who
“ENDLESS WIRE”
RATING: 2 1/2 SOUND LEVELS
It’s been 24 years since the Who issued an album of new material, and there’s something edifying in the stubbornness of their struggle with the same old devils: morality, God and man, the nature of reality, the mysteries of love, the role of rock. The album is inconsistent–sometimes impenetrable, sometimes enlightening–but always engaged. But Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and their accompanists have trouble making music to measure up to the thematic ambitions. Daltrey tries an assortment of vocal approaches and largely holds his own. But the music itself shows signs of strain. It’s not a record to reconfigure the band’s legacy, but it’s a handful.
