All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes [Import]

Pete Townshend | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 11, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Yellow
• ASIN: B000FZEQ0K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,617 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sea Refuses No River

2. Communication

3. Exquisitely Bored

4. North Country Girl

5. Slit Skirts

6. Uniforms

7. Prelude

8. Somebody Saved Me

9. Face Dances (Pt. 2)

10. Stardom In Action

11. Stop Hurting People

12. Vivienne (Bonus Track)

13. Man Watching (Bonus Track)

14. Dance It Away (Bonus Track)

Editorial Reviews

CD ...Chinese Eyes

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No wonder he got so many female fans when he went solo! August 1, 2004

By Anyechka

Format:Audio CD

A lot of critics panned this album when it came out in 1982, but it's very highly regarded by many fans. A good artist makes music that comes out of the heart and soul, with the true fans in mind, instead of writing ordinary pop fluff that might be very commercially successful and critically-acclaimed but not remembered or thought highly of in the long run. This was the first of Pete's solo albums which I got, after having queried the girls on the lists I'm on for female Who freaks about which of his solo albums would be best to start with. It really is an ideal album if you're just getting into his solo work (EG is also a great place to start). Personal introspective songs like "Stop Hurting People," "Stardom in Acton," "Somebody Saved Me," and "The Sea Refuses No River" weren't written to make some fast money or get rave reviews, but to share one's soul and heart, in all their naked, raw, painful, poignant glory, with people who truly care about the artist. It's saying "This is who, how, and why I am; take me or leave me." And expressing one's inner spiritual and emotional turmoil in song was no longer hip by 1982, so of course critics wouldn't like it.

Unlike EG, this would not have made a good Who album as well as a solo album. There's no wonder Pete got such a huge female following when he went solo, because the types of songs he wrote changed in scope. Female Who freaks are a minority because most women don't get into the type of loud angry rock they did, but Pete's solo work is just the sort of thing that the average woman would fall in love with, being so personal and sensitive. Too many other artists tank when they go solo, since they're still singing the type of songs they sang with their original band and can't break out of the mould to create their own new identity, with a unique identity and vision.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Townshend's best solo work... October 27, 2007

By Grigory's Girl

Format:Audio CD

This is Townshend's best solo album (in my not so humble opinion), and it's so good that it can sit alongside several of Pete's classic Who recordings. It came out right around 1982 or so, and it's a vast improvement over The Who's It's Hard, which came out right around the same time. It's like Pete saved all his best material and passion for his solo album here. There are only one or two throwaway songs (Exquisitely Bored and Communication), but they're still good. The rest of the material is absolutely first rate. The opener, Stop Hurting People, is beautiful and majestic even, with a great synthesizer line (Townshend really knew how to use that machine. He never had any cheesy synthesizer lines). The Sea Refuses No River is a great Pete epic. I also love Stardom in Action and Uniforms, and the album's single, Slit Skirts, is a great closer to a great album. The lyrics here are some of the best that Townshend ever came up with. And the obtuse, verbose, somewhat obsfucating title is very cool too. Townshend managed to make up for the mediocrity of It's Hard here. Perhaps he was subconsciously trying to break The Who up. Who knows? Regardless, we have this great album we can enjoy over and over again....

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry & Production Meet February 7, 2006

By Mad Ludwig III

Format:Audio CD

First, the basics: This is an excellent CD. The writing is primarily excellent, occasionally inspired, and w/ just a few 'wince' moments that let you see the Man Behind the Curtain. Then there's the music w/ all of Mr. Townshend's trademarks: melodies with intelligent hooks that propel the song, not make the song subservient to the hook; world-class musicianship, powerful choruses, AND that thing fans have come to expect (poor Pete) -- Mr. Townshend's ability to consistently provide us with a hand-full of turns-of-phrase that so perfectly match their musical settings they become a permanent part of us. And then there's the production values. Superb! Awesome! Richly Satisfying!

Secondly, reading the other reviews of All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, I'm struck by the criticisms of "overproduction," "pretentiousness," etc. Those reviewers probably weren't there in the 70's when the Rock-Zeitgeist became ripe w/ the desire to, 'have it all:' to have authentic rock 'n roll, WITH grown-up lyrics/subject matter AND WITH top-quality production values. A little poetry added to the mix would be nice, too.  When All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes hit the racks, we had a whole record that fullfilled that Zeitgeist. But even more to the point, if you want more from your Rock than escapism, if you've ever had that sublime experience of enjoying good music WHILE feeling you were taking part in the greater-conversation going on in our culture -- YOU NEED THIS RECORDING.