Customer Reviews

Celebration: Music Of Pete Townshend

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

 

 

For a few years, our local NPR station has been playing a tantalizing snippet at 8AM, I was sure it was an orchestral arrangement of "Won't Get Fooled Again", and gradually edged closer to the truth. Thanks to KCHO's news director Todd Thornton, i was steered to the source, and found a copy at Amazon.com And was stunned; the whole of the work is simply amazing. As another reviewer pointed out, "Baba O'Reilly" is truly outstanding. If you are in any way a Who fan, buy this immediately if you can, and do not have it already.

this is a solid effort for a 50-year-old rocker! the band is excellent, w/ the outstanding simon phillips on drums, pino palladino on bass, and the julliard orchestra directed by michael kamen. townshend and the ox make cameo appearances, as do linda perry, david sanborn, and the chieftains. the sound is carnegie hall golden, and roger sounds like he's still got some left.

An eclectic mix of Who favorites and standards, performed by Roger Daltrey with Guest musicians. Roger performs our favorites in ways we've never heard before. John Entwistle's bass solo is one of the greatest ever recorded. Don't miss Daltrey's reworking of the Townshend solo song, " The Sea Refuses No River" !

I had the pleasure of watching the video of this concert. Although Daltrey by this stage of his life is beginning to look almost silly twirling that microphone, that doesn't take away form the fact that this is just a great set! Back by a strong group as well as an Orchestra from the Julliard School of Music, and joined by many special guests, including "the man himself, Pete Townsend" Daltrey shows why there can never be any other lead singer for the Who. The power of his vocals, even on a night where he wasn't at the top of his game, matches perfectly with the wonderful music of Townsend. I would recommend this to ANY Who fan.

All 3 surviving members of The Who are on this excelent recording. The best song is "The Sea Refuses No River" (what a shame Pete Townshend did not give the band this song to record for "Face Dances" or "Its Hard"). Also the only live renditions of "Song is Over" and "Imagine a Man"are included on this CD. Daltrey s' voice sounds a little tired but he did a fine job all the way. PT sings "Who are you" and John Entwistle is on "The Real Me". This Cd, along with "Under a Ragin Moon" and "Rocks in the Head" are Roger Daltrey s' best. Get them.

I bought the DVD, and the mix on the vocals are poor. If you like orchestral arrangements,the Overture by Michael Kamen alone is worth the price. The opening sends chills up your spine. He uses the classic Kamen overrun of trumpets at the end, and although I am now getting the audio CD,watching Michael conduct the orchestra, with Simon Phillips on Drums is an experience in itself. Kamen famous for his soundracks (Holland's Opus, X-Men, and Braveheart) are but a few of his credits.

Celebration chronicles Daltrey's 50th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall. The original recording of the concert had god awful sound and was panned by all who unfortunately purchased it. This cd succeeds where the original failed in all areas. Sound is great and it includes The Sea Refuses No River, which was left off the old disc. A great setlist, a great guest list, and a fine recording make this a must for all Daltrey / Who fans

The concept of this is good...Roger Daltrey traveling about to do Townshend's song, especially with orchestral backing, and some guest shots.

This tour pretty much ground to a halt in the US due to low ticket sales, but when it was going had its moments.

The arrangements for the symphonies are quite good, and you hear a very different quality from some of the Who's most powerful rockers. Also, hearing Daltrey do his version of "The Sea Refuses No River," a Townshend solo track was interesting.

Pete shows up for "Who Are You," but he, Rog and Entwistle never actually get together on stage.

Another rub: the best stuff was left to the TV show! Daltrey, joined by Entwistle and Chieftains, and John's thundering acoustic bass work...why was that not here?!?

Linda Perry shows up to growl her way through "Dr. Jimmy," but that was kind of take it or leave it.

In any case, a show that started with good intent and was ground down, perhaps under the grandiose planning.

THERE ARE SOME GREAT MOMENTS ON THIS CD, ESPECIALLY IMAGINE A MAN

This is Roger Daltrey singing songs written by Pete Townsend. Most were Who songs, but a few are from Townsend's solo career. He is backed up by a standard rock band, an orchestra, a choir and some guest stars. The CD is 70 minutes long.

This show is also offered as a DVD, which is supposed to have poor video and sound quality.

There are a number of probems with this CD, including the mix, the song arrangements and Daltrey's voice.

I knocked this down a star because of the poor mixing of the sound. Much of the music can be muted or hard to hear. John Entwhistle is featured one of the songs, but his bass quitar fades in and out. For a concert with orchestra and choir, the mix has to be vibrant.

Daltrey's voice is not in top shape. His voice cracks in parts. Sometimes it doesn't sound like he can reach the full range. If this were a studio album, they would have waited until his voice had recovered before recording this.

Some of the arrangements of the songs are just boring, like The Song Is Over, The Real Me and After the Fire. The studio versions of these songs are much more alive and interesting. The Sea Refuses No River is particularly boring. And, who needs to hear another version of Pinball Wizard? Linda Perry's vocals on Dr. Jimmy are just horrible. I complained about Daltrey's voice not being up to par, but she is just terrible.

The CD starts out with a 7 minute Overature, featuring snippets of music from numerous Townsend songs. The problem is that they try to cram too many songs into 7 minutes, sections from each song are just too short, and the whole thing comes off as annoying. Listen to the overature on Tommy and see how it should be done, where enough time is given to each song.

But, there are some wonderful moments on this CD. The best is Imagine a Man, where the song and the arrangement are a perfect match. There is also a very fun version of Baba O'Riley, featuring the Irish folk band, the Chieftans. The is a very power version of 5:15. Both Who Are You and Won't Be Fooled Again are very good, in spite of these both being overplayed songs.

Many of the Who songs have been played to access. To make a CD of these songs interesting and just not another tedious repeat, it is necessary to do something special with the song. The 4 minute Imagine A Man is a prime example, and almost makes this worth buying on its own.

Is it worth buying this CD? I would say there is about 32 minutes of really good music on it. I'm going to rip those songs and dump my copy of the CD.

ROger's been singing Pete's songs for most of his life and this is a great and grand release. Highly recommended if you are a Who fan. Baba O'Riley is a highlight here.