Customer Reviews

Too Late The Hero

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 80s gave us more than its share of truely awful music. As this wave of crap started to wash over us, John Entwistle released Too Late the Hero. It is clearly a product of it's time, but unlike the rest of the music of the time, John's music snaps and pops with sharp lyrics and great playing. Joe Walsh handles guitars and shows why he is among the best in the business with tight, business like playing. An enjoyable treat is the bass/guitar duel in Dancin' Master. The title track again shows that John was a few steps ahead of his contemporaries. The song sounds as if Genesis should have recorded it, minus the Genesis suck factor. There's the sadly prophetic Love is a Heart Attack that has rif that Tool would proudly call their own. The album isn't a stand out like Smash Your Head Against a Wall or Whistle Rymes, but a good and throughly enjoyable listen.

...yeah, sure, "The Rock" and "Vanpires" came after this album, but I prefer to see this as the proper end to John's solo career. In fact, it sounds quite fitting as a tasteful swan song, after the questionable nature of his two previous solo albums (Rigor Mortis, The Ox) and compared with the seriously-uneven territory of the upcoming two JEB albums (The Rock and Vanpires). Somewhat sadly, though, "Too Late the Hero" also sounds like a fitting end due to the retro-morbidity of the entire affair; despite the fact that the album is far less doused in black humor than, say, "The Ox," the specific nature of some of the songs sounds somewhat odd in the light of John's untimely death.

So what do we have here? Well, we're definitely into eighties territory, but surprisingly enough, the production isn't too terribly sterile (although the opening "Try Me" telegraphs its eighties-ness a bit much in its first minute) and the material is surprisingly inspired. This is John's "Cloud Nine," where he realized that coasting simply wasn't working; consequently, one feels a real sense of effort here, even in some of the less successful experiments.

The material? I think it's almost uniformly excellent. "Try Me" is a goofy sendup of eighties romance songs (the idea seems to be "Try me! I'm better than cocaine!"...see what I mean about the hindsight morbidity?), "Talk Dirty" is a...well, I'm not sure what sort of genre I can pin on it, but it's damn catchy. "Lovebird" marks a surprising detour into sincerity, which makes the Cloud 9 comparison even more fitting; there's a *very* Harrison-esque slide part on it. "Sleeping Man" and "I'm Coming Back" are excellent songs, but are in my opinion the closest the album gets to real filler.

"Dancing Master" is absolutely fantastic, though. It's a disco song, to be sure, but part of what made disco so truly irritating was its lack of self-awareness (i.e. it didn't know how absurd it is), and "Dancing Master" has self-awareness in spades. It's catchy, it's immaculately recorded, and it has an utterly jaw-dropping bass solo in the middle. *Yes*. "Fallen Angel" is great as well.

"Love is a Heart Attack" brings us back to hindsight morbidity territory, but screw it, I really like the song (an opinion not universally shared, apparently). It's a catchy, reggae-esque bit of wonderment. That is all.

"Too Late the Hero" is, of course, the big track from the album, and is on both of his hits comps, and is really, really touching...god, I wish John's voice hadn't be so shot near the end of his life, as he had a hard time sounding like this from this point on. That said, despite the fact that parts of it sound like a cooldown from a Jane Fonda workout tape (the eighties striking again, y'see) it's an utterly great song, and a wondrous way to conclude the album.

The verdict? In my opinion, "Smash," "Whistle" and "Too Late the Hero" make up the essential body of John's solo work; there're tracks I like on Mad Dog and Rigor Mortis, but in my opinion those two can't quite measure up. If you enjoy Smash and Whistle--and, generally, like John's songwriting--this is an excellent addition to your collection.

John Entwistle was on fine form in the recording of this piece, but the material itself seems a little generic compared to his 1975 offering, which had a little more of his characteristic humor.

I think the lag comes from (perhaps) Entwistle trying to invent for himself a musical concept not dependant upon his relationship with the Who.

If you have a warm place for Entwistle (or, for that matter, Joe Walsh or Joe Vitale), this piece seems worth the money.

I have always been a big Who fan.

Too late the hero has always been a favorite of mine among John's cannon of music. The album has it's fair share of classic John Entwistle humourous lyrics and topics.

I consider it one of John's best solo ventures.

I am also a big fan of Mr Joe Walsh and Joe's playing is all over the album. It would have been great to have seen them collaborate even further.

John's awesome bass work is well displayed throughout especially on "Dancing Master".

Favorite tracks are "Try me" which starts off the album in stellar fashion, "Sleeping Man", "Fallen Angel", and the epic "Too late the hero" title track. This song should have been a hit back in the day.

Probably Entwistle's best chance at a commercial solo hit.

The album has it's small spots of cliched rock tendancies, but you can tell the guys were having a great time making this album. It's still played in the car and house after all these years with enthusiasm.

If your a Who nut or ardent admirer, I would highly recommend this album.

Rest in peace John.

Who knew. This gem, which I ignored for 25 years, except for "Fallen Angel" and the title track which are on "Thunderfingers", showcases great music, John's distinctive voice, and a dose of good time rock and roll.

My particular favorite is "Sleeping Man", with great vocal melodies, bass licks, and Joe Walsh's distinctive guitar work. All of the other tracks are solid, and the CD includes the usual detailed liner notes with John's thoughts behind the songs. If you are a fan of his, you won't be disappointed.

John's excellent bass playing on this recording is a standout as you might expect from The Who's long time bassist. However, I find his vocal ability quite appealing. "Try Me", "Lovebird" and "Fallen Angel" are three of my favorite cuts. Not to mention Joe Walsh's fine guitar playing. This solo effort is truely underated and overlooked! The Ox rules!

1. Try Me

2. Talk Dirty

3. Love Bird

4. Sleeping Man

5. I'm Coming Back

6. Dancing Master

7. Fallen Angel

8. Love Is a Heart Attack

9. Too Late the Hero

(4.5 stars)

This was the first of John's solo albums which I got, and I've liked it so much it made me very eager to acquire the rest of his solo catalogue. Not having anything to compare this album against at the moment, I can't say that it's not as good, characteristic, or whatever as his usual, if it's better than usual, or if it's about equal to his other albums. However, I think I'm still going to really like it even after I've gotten the rest of his albums. It holds up very well on its own merits. It's got that trademark early Eighties sound to it, but not really in an overtly dated way, nor does that sound wash over one's entire being the way it does with some other songs from the era. And being a child of the Eighties, I have a natural sentimentality towards that type of sound anyway.

While obviously no one is ever going to mistake John's solo output for Pete's, he had an interesting and unique musical voice and vision too. Of all of the members of The Who, he probably most deserved to have a solo career, even if his records weren't as popular as the ones from Pete and Roger. Just like George in The Beatles, John also had to put up for years with having his contributions ignored, or only being thrown a couple of bones per album, even after he really began maturing and growing as a songwriter. There was no way he could have fully expressed himself musically if he had only had his songs done with the band. Only as a soloist was he able to have free reign. There are really so many amazing parallels between the two of them, beyond just being the Quiet Ones of their respective bands.

Favorite songs include "Talk Dirty" (it's not really a great song, but it is really fun and catchy), "Lovebird" (a really poignant and beautiful love song, sung very beautifully, the type of song I never would have pictured John writing or singing), "Fallen Angel," and the haunting epic title track, which, like so many of the other songs on here, has such great lines. Still waters really run deep; John was just as capable of deep profound songs as Pete, and also had a lot of quirky wit and dark humor. Though not all of the songs are as good as others, none of them really seems like filler. At most the record has one or two near-fillers. The album also contains the eerily prophetic "Love Is a Heart Attack," perhaps one of his strongest solo songs, and which he performed at all of his solo shows. This is a very good album from a vastly underrated singer and songwriter, and of course he gets to show off his amazing prowess on the bass as well. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in lesser-known early Eighties music or John's solo career.

Great solo effort that will grow on you - 4.5 stars. Holds up very well after 25 years.

Top songs on here - Try Me, Love Bird, I'm Coming Back & Love is a Heart Attack.

Love is a Heart Attack proved to be prophetic for John Entwistle. He actually met his end under the same circumstances the song describes. Maybe he knew his vices would eventually get him? He played it live everytime I saw him on a solo tour, so figure it was always on his mind.

Joe Walsh plays some great guitar solos adding a nice dynamic.

OK his albums are not as good as Townshend's...but at least they are better than Daltre'y or Moon's...This record was done very much in a hard-rock vein and is not bad at all even if it lacks the punch of the Who.