Customer Reviews

Lifehouse Elements

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Pete Townshend's "Lifehouse Elements" is a collection of songs from the 6-cd boxed set "Lifehouse Chronicles" available on his website. As many fans are aware, Townshend's delayed Lifehouse project (ultimately finished in 1999) figured prominently in the Who's masterful "Who's Next" album and several of these terrific songs are performed entirely by Townshend on this release. As is often the case with demo versions and remixes, "Elements'" enigmatic 11-track selection scores (as does the boxed set) more than a few hits and several misses.

The 65+ minute disc opens with the short, spoken word prologue to 'One Note' and is followed by a nearly 10-minute orchestral version of 'Baba O'Riley' performed by the London Chamber Orchestra. Both of these tracks, in addition to a somewhat irritating "Gateway Remix" of 'Who Are You' recently recorded live by Townshend's band and "enhanced" by freestyle rapper Hame, and a grating instrumental entitled 'Baba M1', form the low points of this cd. The remainder of the disc, performed solely by Townshend, is nothing short of delightful.

And there's plenty to enjoy: 'New Song' (not available on the boxed set), 'Getting in Tune', 'Let's See Action', and 'Song is Over' all sound terrific in demo form and are well-recorded. However, the real highlights of this disc (and these three tracks alone make the disc worth purchasing) are a moving and powerful version of 'Pure and Easy', a slightly restrained 'Won't Get Fooled Again', and a brilliant new acoustic version of 'Behind Blue Eyes'.

Overall, a bit of a mixed bag, but the good far outweighs the bad and this disc is an excellent sample to prepare you for the boxed set. Highly Recommended.

sometimes i wonder if the people who review these CDs have actually heard them! i'll admit, i don't own this CD, but i have purchased the complete set, the Lifehouse Chronicles, from Pete's site.

if you're expecting a remade "Who's Next" or even a full "Lifehouse" from this CD, OF COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED! what this is, is a sampler of the Lifehouse Chronicles. these are mostly demos, remember that.

if you want something more digestable, an album, buy "Who's Next". if you want to fully experience Lifehouse (i don't want to review it here, but it's a real masterpiece), get the Lifehouse Chronicles. if you want to get a view into how Lifehouse came about, but don't want to shell out £40, buy Lifehouse Elements.

OK. I understand why some people might not like this album. It is very progressive, artsy and bridges techno music with classic rock. BUT, it is incredible. If you are a TRUE Who fan, have an open mind and dig Pete Townshend, you will love this album. I also understand that some people don't think it does the original music any justice. Personally, I think that Pete Townshend's lyrics and tunes are brilliant in any shape and form. "Baba O'Riley" orchestrated makes me want to fly... it literally takes my breath away. "Who Are You (gateway remix)" shows what a timeless songwriter Townshend really is. The rapping in this specific song is ENTIRELY necessary, and if you understand Pete Townshend, then you will understand his motivations as an artist. Put your trust in his genius, pop in Lifehouse, and open your mind. Music is changing... but The Who's brilliance never wanes.

This disc isn't quite the knockout punch I was hoping for when it came out - I've always considered the Lifehouse-era songs to be perhaps Pete's greatest artistic achievement (though not neccessarily the Who's finest moment). I've alway hoped these songs would appear in a more cohesive form. I haven't heard the full box set, so perhaps it may be more reveletory.

The main reason to get this disc in my opinion is the new recordings - the orchestral "Baba O'Reilly" is quite good, and the remake of "Who Are You" is stunning - like hearing the song again for the first time. "I CAN JUST ABOUT REMEMBER WHO I AM!!" shouts the singer, sounding more riled up than he has in years. And he even manages, against the odds, to breathe life into that most overworn of Who chestnuts, "Behind Blue Eyes", with an accoustic reading that conveys all the fatigue, determination, remorse, and defiance of the song.

The remainder of the recordings are demos from the 70's. Most are quite fully produced, and professional sounding, but they're a bit workmanlike, and don't always measure up to the sonic spectacle of the band's versions. Perhaps the best of the bunch is "New Song" - I always thought the group's version was a tad slick, and Townshend sings it here with a real passion.

So do you need to own this? Well, heck, if you're enough of a Pete/Who fan to be reading this, the answer is probably yes.

If you're a fan of the Who, or of Pete Townshend's solo work, or both, this is a pretty essential recording. Not only do you get the best work of Pete's early '70's greatness, you get a unique look at how many of the Who's greatest songs evolved. I own the 6 CD set available only through Pete's website, and this. If you want the best of that 6 CD set, this is the disc for you.

I am a huge fan of the Who, but haven't got any other solo Townshend albums - I bought this to hear some of his original demos for Who's Next, and I was amazed by how complete they are as songs. When you imagine Roger, John & Keith having these presented to them, its no wonder they were willing to let Pete run the band.

The extended version of Pure and easy here is much better than the version Daltrey sang when the band recorded it, and the versions of Behind Blue Eyes and Let's See Action are equally superb.

My favorite track is the hard rocking version of Who Are You with what i consider a very well placed and powerful rap in the middle that updates the song very well to the new century.

Good stuff.

LIFEHOUSE CHRONICLES, available exclusively on Pete Townshend's e-commerce site, is an expansive documentation of the composer's lost dream child, "Lifehouse". It works mainly because of its length, at 6 discs - two containing demos, two containing new revisions of old songs, and two containing a BBC radio play.

Naturally, it is exceedingly hard to condense the piece into a single CD. While the demos on ELEMENTS are terrific, the demos excised are even better. Townshend's solo versions of "Relay", "I Don't Know Myself" and "Sister Disco" have to be heard to be believed.

Luckily, the album kept the new versions of "Who are You" and "Behind Blue Eyes". Pete Townshend always managed to sound more sincere as a vocalist than Roger Daltrey and that comes through on both of these tracks. Also, the loud, abrasive guitar on the former is a great compliment to the song.

The reasons for this single CD version are, of course, to provide the mild fan with something - but for Who fans, CHRONICLES is worth the extra scratch.
scratch.

This is a wonderful disk. If you've never listened to much solo PeteTownshend, this is good for you, if you've owned many of his albums for years, this is good for you. In the spirit of Psycholderelict, this is best listened to in one sitting, not to hear a story evolve this time, but to listen to the IDEAS evolve. Certainly the full LIFEHOUSE CHRONICLES would be more interesting, I look forward to getting them. And have songs from this album been available for years on other releases? Yes. But it is a splendid and worthy listen regardless. And if you are shopping for a Pete Townshend fan who DOESN'T have this - or perhaps only has White City, Chinese Eyes, and Empty Glass - you will be such a rock star if you buy this for them. Gift it and then wait a couple of days for the BIG hug.

Lifehouse Elements disc is a sampler of the huge five disc set of music that you can get from the man himself. These demos and alternate versions were supposed to be on the Life House album. The album was supposed to take place in a post-apocalyptic world were people cannot leave their homes because of the deadly enviroment. They are issued life suits and they're connect to an information super highway. The suits give the wearer their entertainment and
a virtual landscape they can play in. But a hacker breaks into the system telling it's wearers to come to a place called the Life house were the ultimate concert will be held. The attendees will become one with themselves and with the music. The band is The Who of course.

But that project never left the planning stages. So years later, Pete Townshend completed the project (sort of) and the BBC made the music into a radio play. the sucess of the play got Pete to take the Lifehouse project on the road and performed it live. He also played around with orchestra arrangements.

The tracks on the disc are taken from different disc on the set. Most of the tracks are demos that Pete Townshend recorded himself. He plays all the instrument and sings on all of them. The heart and soul he poured intot his project is amusing. They're even better than the finished product (in my opinion). If you enjoyed this disc them by all means get the box set. It's pricey but it's worth it.

Highly recommended!

While it's true that you don't get a sense of what Lifehouse is about from this distilaltion, you do get another "Scoop" of Pete Tonshend's creative process. It's the same with the two different Psychoderilict albums. One has the whole story, one is just the music. Take the best third of Quad or Tommy and you got a great set of songs, but no idea how it all adds up. The Lifehouse box is a must for any true Pete fan but this a good addition to the collection of anyone who has any of the Scoop records or the cd release of Who Came First. A release of the Lifehouse radio play (discs five and six in the box) would be welcomed by anyone that wanted the whole Lifehouse story but didn't want to get all the experimental, classical, and demo material that makes up most of the box. I have the box, and wrote this based on programming my cd player to play these songs in the order listed above. I've always thought that Pete was the best singer in the band, so I'd get this just to hear Him sing familiar songs a different way. The only downside is the sidemen. They're very good, but they're not Keith and John.