“The chemistry was wrong”: The album Pete Townshend said got worse with age
“At one time, you’ve got it, and then you lose it, and it’s gone forever. All walks of life” famously theorised Sick Boy in the 1996 classic Trainspotting. As the junkie philosopher goes on to explain, though, the theory is particularly pertinent in the world of rock and roll music. After all, rock is forged from teenage angst and youthful rebellion, so, by all logic, rock stars become less appealing with age. Even the mod rock mastery of Pete Townshend and The Who had to come crashing down eventually.
It was back in 1964 that The Who made their first mark on the music scene of the swinging sixties, releasing a deluge of captivating rock anthems that spoke directly to the youth of the nation. Tracks like ‘My Generation’ were utterly era-defining for legions of kids looking to rebel against the conservative status quo of British society at that time. To the band’s credit, they managed to develop and adapt their sound as they progressed, refusing to stay rooted in those early sounds and expanding their musical repertoire.
During the 1970s, for instance, Townshend’s songwriting took a profound turn, as he began to focus on crafting expansive rock operas, culminating in masterpiece albums like Quadrophenia. Tragically, though, it seems as though the band never knew when to quit while they were ahead. Post-Quadrophenia projects, like Who Are You, were far from being bad albums, but there was a definite decline in the band’s output, which suggested maybe they should throw in the towel.
Then, in 1978, when drummer Keith Moon tragically died, The Who were again presented with an ample opportunity to draw the band to a close. After all, Moon’s amphetamine-fueled drumming style and endearingly anarchic performances formed an utterly essential aspect of The Who’s appeal; the band simply wouldn’t be the same without him. Nevertheless, the band chose to carry on without him, reportedly in an effort to honour his memory.
Inevitably, The Who struggled to adapt to this post-Moon period, with Kenney Jones taking his place behind the sticks. Although they did go out on tour in 1979, this new incarnation of the band was fairly disjointed; a shadow of its former self. Even still, the group managed to get into the studio to record a new album, Face Dances. Sounding more like a Pete Townshend solo record than anything The Who had produced previously, it is fair to say that the record was not well-received by audiences.
Even The Who themselves realised pretty quickly that the album hadn’t gone to plan. During a 1982 interview with Rolling Stone, Townshend revealed the band’s feelings towards the record were, “Kind of mixed.” He went on to add, “It’s not improving with age, either [laughs]. I think the chemistry was wrong, and it wasn’t just [producer] Bill Szymczyk. I don’t think we were really quite working together.”
“Roger says that you could feel on Face Dances that the band wasn’t a band,” the songwriter continued. “And what I’d like to see happen on the next album is for the Who to feel like a band, and work as a band.” As it turns out, that next record was It’s Hard, which didn’t mark much of an improvement from Face Dances.
With the benefit of hindsight, over 40 years on from the release of those two records, it is not that either of them are offensively bad; it is just that they catastrophically failed to live up to the high standards set by The Who up until that point. Still, Townshend was probably correct about them not ageing very well; it is no surprise that the material on those albums rarely sees the light of day in the modern age.
