Customer Reviews

Substitute: Songs from the Who

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This disc is kind of a slapped-together cd - a low-rent version of your typical tribute album. Pearl Jam, Phish, and Kelly Jones' tracks are all recorded live, and not for the purpose of this cd - they just happened to be recorded well enough to be included. This cd lacks a cohesive listen, and most of the tracks are pretty uninspired or are note-for-note imitations of the original - just with a different singer...
I bought this to hear other artists take Who material and make it their own, and what this mostly sounds like is a 'karaoke with the stars' cd.
David Bowie's track is the most inspired, but..c'mon, he did this same sorta thing with the same-era Who music on his Pinups album in the early 70s.

Great songs, and overall good performances, but most of these versions are close to note-for-note versions of the originals. The Bowie version of "Pictures of Lily" is the one real departure, and it works on several levels. The tempo, production, and instrumentation are reminiscent of Ziggy-era Bowie (especially "All the Young Dudes" or "Ziggy Stardust"). In this context, the lyrics take on extra meaning--you can imagine the young boy "relieved" by the pictures of Lily Langtry on the wall inspired to grow up to be a cross-dressing glam rocker. A great version, and one truer to the spirit of a good cover--respecting the original, but making it your own.

Songs From The Who is a compilation of Who cover songs by such devotees as Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow and others. The problem with the album is that most artists do by the number versions of the songs. Pearl Jam's version of "The Kids are Alright", Sheryl Crow's "Behind Blue Eyes", Phish's "5:15" and Fastball's "The Real Me" all sound like they could have been done at a kareoke bar. They don't add their own unique sounds to the songs and they feel sterile. Other artists do rework songs most notably David Bowie who slows down "Pictures Of Lily" into an almost dirge and Ocean Colour Scene who infuse "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" with a modern flair. The Who themselves rework "Substitute", but the result isn't that great. But at least they got into the spirit of a cover album, reworking an artist's songs into a different sound.

I have yet to hear a "tribute" album that is worth the time it takes to listen, but I still get drawn into buying them.

Here's the problem with "tribute" records: if the artists go the note-for-note reproduction route, what's the point? Who cares if Phish can reproduce "5:15"? (They don't quite, by the way. They play the same notes, but all of the passion of the original is sucked out of the performance, and the vocals sound like they were done after running a marathon) If you want to hear the original, you listen to the original...right?

If the artists go for reinterpretation, who cares? How many people listen to the Who's version of "Pictures Of Lily" and wishes it had been slower and sung in a smug monotone, ala David Bowie's version here? Classic songs done differently--with some very rare exceptions, like Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" and Joe Cocker's "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"--don't work.

Perhaps most dissapointing of all is the generally lazy vocals on this CD. Eddie Veder always sounds like he's asleep on his feet, but Sheryl Crow, David Bowie, and the singers for Phish and Fastball all sound like they phoned it in too.

Paul Weller comes off best here, but that may just be because he has spent his entire career imitating the Who.

I liked all the songs except Paul Weller's "Circles" and David Bowie doing "Pictures Of Lilly" way to slowly, these guys are the grandfathers of punk, why is that song so slow. It's twice as long as the original. some songs were standouts: Sheryl Crow's rendition of "Behind Blue Eyes" was great, Phish doing "5.15" is excellent.

Can not understant the critics of the knowledgeable and fans this cd have been gettin. If a homage cd is done with radical versions of the original songs, then, the critics tend to write off the new arrangements; and if the songs are played respecting the original arrangements, then for them, its "kareoke"....

The following bands / artists do appear here: Cast 'The Seeker', Ocean Colour Scene 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere', Paul Weller 'Circles', David Bowie 'Pictures Of Lily', Pearl Jam 'The Kids Are All Right', Fastball 'The Real Me', UnAmerican 'Naked Eye', Stereophonics 'Who Are You', Phish '5:15', Sheryl Crow 'Behind Blue Eyes' & The Who feat. Kelly Jones 'Substitute' (Live).

Only David Bowie s' version of "Pictures of Lily" takes a different aproach from the original. For me, it fails, for the critics, it sounds good. Phish s' take on "5:15" is from a live cd concert, featuring their complete QUADROPHENIA concert. They played all of QUADROPHENIA plus a funny version of MY GENERATION. You can get the cd trough their web site.

"The Seeker", played by CAST (the english band not the Mexican progresive band), and a song covered by FISH (former MARILLION singer), follows tre original, as most of the songs "covered" here.

For me the best take is UnAMERICAN s' version of NAKED EYE, since it retains all the song s' original elements. Also worty is BEHIND BLUE EYES by CHERYL CROW. In all, this is a very good album. My only complain is that, it does not include at least one JOHN ENTWISTLE song. He was THE WHO s' second songwriter, and a very good one ...

Buy one copy for you and a second for a friend......

Cover/tribute albums usually don't rate with me. This one is solid. PJ and Phish tear it up.. In fact the only song I didn't add to the MP3 library was the sheryl crow number. A fitting tribute to the band that started me down the path to exploring music. Thanks big brother!

Interesting record. These very different artists having in common their passion for the who.
In my oppinion, the versions I like most are Bowie?s, Weller?s and Sterophonics, but all of them have something good.
If you like the who, can be nice listening to other groups singing their songs, although I hate comparisons.

This CD isn't bad, but it could've been a lot better. Some of the songs were recorded live, while others are studio. It is obvious that the selections were not recorded specially for a tribute CD. But that's not the biggest problem with this collection. The biggest problem is that while this CD is supposed to be a tribute to the Who, one of the songs features the Who! It's like they're paying tribute to themselves?! This CD does contain some good Who interpretations, but it's not enough to save this compilation.

Others can play the music, but the remakes of these classic songs are lacking the punch that Pete Townshend and Keith Moon gave the band. You have to applaud Santana for his ability to mix his talents in with new artists. This may be a variation on that theme, but they don't quite pull it off. Don't even bother to listen to David Bowie's version of Pictures of Lilly. Ouch.