Customer Reviews

The Best Of Pete Townshend: Coolwalkingsmoothtalkingstraightsmokingfirestoking

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't say I have been the biggest Who or Peter Townshend fan, but lately more and more I find myself really getting into his music. One thing that really brings a great appeal to his music are two things: 1) The Concept/Theme Album - nobody does this better than Townshend; 2) Townshend has never felt he has had to follow the "formula" in the music business. As for the Concept/Theme albums, I think Pete's work really proves he is more han a songwriter and a performer, but a true musician. A Pete Townshend album can prove to be a viable piece of entertainment like any movie or program. As for not following the "formula", Pete isn't afraid to try new things and new directions. This is something that more people in the music industry need to do. This particular CD "The Best of Pete Townshend: coolwalkingsmoothtalkingstraightsmokingfirestoking" isn't going to provide a theme. To get a theme, you are going to need to explore Pete's individual works. However, you are going to get a good taste for how Pete Townshend has shown he can do things his own way. As you listen to his songs, you will really see how each of Pete's songs is basically a soundtrack for their corresponding album.

The collection includes 13 songs from previous Pete Townshend albums. There is also an unreleased song called "Uneasy Street" as well as new remixed version As for the previous works, "The Best of Pete Townshend" does a nice job at spreading the wealth among Pete's solo albums. "Empty Glass" leads the way with three songs ("Rough Boys", "Let My Love Open the Door" -original version, and "A Little is Enough"). "Rough Mix" has two songs ("Misunderstood", "Street In the City"), "White City - A Novel" has two songs ("Give Blood", "Face the Face"). "The Iron Man" has one song ("A Friend is a Friend"). "Who Came First" has two songs ("Sheraton Gibson", "Pure and Easy"), "All The Best Cowboys" have two songs ("Slit Skirts", "The Sea Refuses No River"). "Psychoderelict" has one song ("English Boy"). I was disappointed that "White City" and "Psychoderelict" were not better represented on this collection. I was also disappointed that some of the work done from Townshend's "Scoop" album series were not included on this collection either.

This collection does not chronicle Pete's work in chronological order. From looking at how the songs are arranged on the album, there doesn't appear to be any theme or logic to how they were ordered on the collection. The only logic is that the unreleased tracks are saved for the end. Although it doesn't seem like a big deal to satisfy my preference for chronlogical ordering, I would expect Pete to try to assemble some theme or logic to this collection.

The selections on this collection speak for themselves. My all time favorite solo Pete Townshend track is "Face the Face". This is as good of a song as any. If I can say something good about the ordering is that "A Little Is Not Enough" precedes "Face the Face". "A Little is Not Enough" is a terrific song . Although it is from a different album and has a vastly different feel than "Face the Face", the ending of "A Little is Not Enough" has perfect segue into "Face the Face". "Face the Face" is the full unedited version. I look at this song having one of the greatest introductions of any song ever. It starts out with some soft bass and piano play, then you hear a horse galloping slowly down a city street. Then a drum beat follows picking up the tempo. Following those parts, the pace switches again and the drum beat gets louder. You hear the "Face the Face" backing vocals, then Pete then launches into his vocals "You must have heard the cautionary tales..." The rest of the song is just a terrific ensemble with horns and guitar with give this song the theatrical, beyond-music feel that so much of Pete's work has.

I'll give mixed reviews to the new material. "Uneasy Street" is a very well written and crafted song by Pete. This was a song that was supposed to be on the "Psychoderelict" album, but never made it on there. I can see how this song could have fit into the story of Ray High (the character in "Psychoderelict"). It isn't a bad song and does have a storytelling element to it. In the liner notes, Townshend explains why he left this song off of "Psychoderelict". The worst song in this collection is the remixed version of "Let My Love Open the Door". The collection also includes the original version and that is the only one I listen to. The remix of the song brings a softer, calmer element to the song. However, I thought what made "Let My Love Open the Door" such a great song was a combination of a great beat, tempo, and instrumentation. The remix of this song takes a lot of the life out of the song.

There are no lyrics included in the liner notes. I would have liked to see lyrics included because Townshend is such a great songwriter. I would have especially liked to get lyrics for "Uneasy Street" - the new song. However as mentioned above, Pete doesn't follow a "formula" - and this collection is no different. What you do get is a writeup in which Pete Townshend describes in conversation (to someone named John Pidgeon) each of the tracks on this album. I find this extremely valuable and you will get some terrific insights into Pete's music.

All in all, this is a very good collection. This does a great job at providing Pete's work. For the new Townshend fan - start here and then move to his concept albums. The seasoned Who and Townshend fan may find this overkill.

Pete Townshend to me has always been one of the most interesting people in the entertainment (let alone Rock-n-Roll) business. His lyrics are usually great, and his musical horizons are constantly expanding. I have never liked the label "Best of.." because that is subjective to each and every listener. I have all of Petes solo work and STILL bought this CD. I would replace a couple songs with choices that reflect my taste, but this collection is a fabulous overview of a legendary and brilliant musician/songwriter!

THE BAND: Pete Townshend (guitar, lead vocals)... and an assortment of players over the decades including - John "Rabbit" Bundrick (keyboards), Simon Townshend (guitar), Jon Carin (guitar, keyboards), Pino Palladino (bass), Kenney Jones (drums), Simon Phillips (drums), Doug Sandom (drums), and Zak Starkey (drums).

THE DISC: (1996) 15 tracks clocking in at just over 70 minutes. Included with the disc is a 5-page foldout containing song titles/credits/times, a brief paragraph from Townshend about each song, several photos of Townshend over the decades, what song came from which album and the year released. This compilation covers his solo career from 1972-95. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Atlantic.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: Who Came First (2 songs), Rough Mix (2), Empty Glass (3), All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (2), White City (2), Iron Man/Musical (1), Psychoderelict (1), Unreleased (2).

COMMENTS: Pete Townshend's solo career is a total mixed bag of hits and misses. Outside of "Empty Glass" (1980) and perhaps "White City" (1985)... not one album stands out as a must have. Townshend has a few compilations out there - most notably "Definitive" (17 tracks in chronological order) released in 2007, and the extensive 2-disc "Gold" (with 34 songs) released in 2005. This "Coolwalkingsmoothtalking..." is very close in track selection to "Definitive", but the songs on this mix are not in order of year released... which in my opinion hurts it. THE GOOD: All the staples (though in reality, not many) of Townshend's solo career are here - "Rough Boys", "Give Blood", "Face The Face", "Slit Skirts", "Let My Love Open The Door", "Sheraton Gibson", etc. The minor hits are covered well - including "Misunderstood", "Pure And Easy" and "Street In The City". Townshend's acoustic guitar work on "Pure And Easy" and "Sheraton Gibson" really stands out... not to mention the piano at the end of "Friend Of A Friend", and the orchestra in "Street In The City". The remastered sound is top notch - sounds like all the songs were recorded within the last year... not decades ago. The words written in the liner notes from Townshend are great insights to the songs (including things going on during the recording, stories and intentions of each). THE NOT SO GOOD: As mentioned previously, Townshend's solo material is hit and miss... up and down... fast and slow... good and bad. The songs on this compilation are for the most part slow and safe and unlike anything he did with The Who. I loved the rebel, the windmill guitar antics, the shredding solos, the blazing energy. Outside of only a few rocking songs ("Rough Boys" and Face The Face" being the best upbeat tunes of the lot) you won't find many power chords here. In fact, many of the songs here are closer to Fleetwood Mac's catalog of music, than The Who's. The lyrics on some of Townshend's solo material are downright weird... "Give Blood" (I can see this working if he was writing this for the Red Cross), "A Friend Is A Friend", and "The Sea Refuses No River" to name a few. History has shown it's extremely hard for an musician to go out on his own and sustain a career as a solo artist after so many years belonging to a most famous and powerful rock band. The key word here is 'sustain'. There are a few exceptions (i.e. - Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Phil Collins, Ozzy, and Sting to name a few), but for every solo artist that's made it, you could name twice as many that simply couldn't hold onto the success they had outside of their main band (i.e. - Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Paul Rodgers, Slash, Ian Anderson, Jerry Garcia, David Gilmour, Ian Gillan, Keith Richards, Jerry Cantrell, etc). I must put Pete Townshend in the latter of the two groups... he's had a taste of success over the decades as a solo artist, but the hits are/were simply too few and far between. His solo material simply is not on par with anything ever written and performed by The Who... Townshend and Roger Daltry had a chemistry together that has since been unmatched. OVERALL: Some very good songs here all presented in their remastered glory. Great for those interested in the better songs and not wanting to invest in the individual releases. There is one studio album that stands above the rest... "Empty Glass" - look for the remastered edition with bonus tracks. This "Coolwalkingsmoothtalking..." is a nice introduction... dandy to have a taste of Townshend's solo material all in one place even if it is hit and miss (4 stars).

I'll start off by saying that I think it is impossible to collect a representative sampling of Pete Townshend's solo work on a single disc (much as it is impossible to have a single disc "Best of The Who", but that's another story). Other than the snappy single "Let My Love Open the Door" from 1980's "Rough Boys" album, it is difficult to select what are the "best" tunes from this eclectic and intellegent artist. I'll go along with "Pure and Easy" and "Sheraton Gibson" from his first obscure solo album ("Who Came First"), but why only one track from his excellent 1978 collaboration with Ronnie Laine? And his fine 1986 album "White City" is also represented only by the unusual single "Face the Face."

Bottom line is, this album should have been a double disc collection at the minimum. Pete Townshend is not a singles artist, and to treat him as one does his solo career a disservice. But I will give it four stars for the excellent material that IS included.

It is the cheapiest new CD I ever bought (5.99 $cad). Nobody can't afford not to have it.

I don't know, I always been fascinated by the guy, I like his dynamism, he seems to have so much fun in doing what he does in his work with The who and in his solo carreer.

His best song are on there "Face the face", "Give blood", "Let my love open the door", "Rough boys" and the rest is not to be neglected.

I love to listen to Pete Townshend at any time! I bought this CD and I have to say that it is my favorite "best of" compilation of all time. I simply cannot believe how Pete Townshend writes so many excellent songs by himself in so many diverse ways. I bought this CD for only one song and it was "Let My Love Open the Door". I just assumed the rest of the CD would be good without ever hearing any other of the songs. I'll tell you something: I was right! The rest of the whole CD was perfect! "Rough Boys", "English Boy", "Face the Face", if I continue I'll list the rest of the CD because they are all perfect songs. There is no other songwriter that is as talented and excellent as Pete Townshend on Earth and there never will be because he is labeled in my mind as THE BEST! I just wish he'd go on tour again.

Peter Townsend's solo career, anthologized here, features many of the spiritual, thought-provoking themes he brought more loudly to light with the Who. This could've earned five stars just for its liner notes; Townsend, always articulate, discusses the minutae of songwriter from the combustion of "Give Blood" and "Rough Boys" to the revelation that the "My" in "Let My Love Open The Door" was God.

His mentoring relationship with Meher Baba is explored on the gentle "The Sea Refuses No River," while the choppy rhythms of "Misunderstood" (a line of which inspired the CD's title) form a song originally submitted to the band and felt more personal. Townsend provides his original, more organic "Pure and Easy," which nearly made "Who's Next," while things end unsatisfyingly with a fussy, unnecessary remix of "Let My Love." "Coolwalking..." is a needed for Who and Townsend fans to understand the depth of their respective musics. But it lacks too many essential radio tracks ("My Baby Gives It Up," "Crashing By Design," "Jools & Jim") for full classic status.

well let me tell you that the moment that I heard this song on I think it was either look who's talking or look who's talking too, but either way I fell in love with this song the moment I heard it, you know Pete isn't your normal rock and roll type of guy where you know the only damn instruments are basically electric gutars and drums, pete townshend reminds me of like Toto or Kansas or elton john because they all have some things in common, and that is that in their music they have like a variety of instuments and melody in their songs its not all like rock and roll stuff its different in a excellent way. that is what I love about Pete Townshend, he is a different rock and roll performer who doesn't just have electric gutars and drums, but a whole variety of instuments, so my advice for you is if you are trying to find some great music and don't have a clue what to look for, give pete townshend a try I think he is just great.

i love the who.. they are my favorite band.. so i of course have all of the band members cd's and Who cd's.... even the not half bad keith moon solo record..hahaha... the person from chicago should change his stars to five from three because that person is OBVIOUSLY MISTAKEN. if he was a true Who fan, he OBVIOUSLY would have known that "reminence front" is really "Eminence Front" and that's a Who song and not a Pete Townshend solo song. this album is amazing... rough boys, to let my love open the door, to pure and easy, to even the unreleased gem "uneasy street".. from rock and blatant anger, to divine love, this is the cd that showed me all the sides of Pete Townshend and was one of the main reasons why he is the second best lyricist to bob dylan and the greatest musician/composer in music history. MISS YOU OX...RIP JOHN.. i'll miss ya. GET THIS CD IF YOU ARE A "TRUE WHO FAN" like I am. and open your eyes.

As a hard core fan of Pete Townshend, I can't rate this collection five stars because there are too many songs missing that deserve consideration for a career retrospective. However, if you're a casual fan, this is probably the best collection of Townshend's music to buy. It includes all of PT's most popular songs, that is those that still get radio play ("Let My Love Open the Door", "Slit Skirts" and "Face the Face"), as well as enough of his lesser known tunes to give you a good idea of the various directions he has taken in his career.

Those really into Townshend's music will be better served with the more recent "Gold" double disc collection, but this "Best of..." collection is ideal for those who just want a few highlights from one of rock's most interesting and talented songwriters.