‘Face Dances’: The Who album Pete Townshend called “short-sighted”
Rock and roll is an endlessly broad spectrum composed of countless iconic groups, each with its own unique sound and importance. When looking back on the history of the trailblazing genre, certain names are utterly unavoidable, and The Who certainly falls into that category.
From their days as youthful mod rebels in the mid-1960s to their position as global rock gods, the Pete Townshend-led gang have crafted some of the most successful and enduring rock records of all time. In all that excitement and rock anarchy, it can be easy to forget some of their more disappointing efforts.
Townshend formed The Who with clear artistic principles and a manifesto to reinvent the musical landscape. Almost immediately, the group found mainstream audiences with singles like ‘I Can’t Explain’ and the era-defining ‘My Generation’, but their timeless appeal came with Townshend’s innate ability to move with the times. A band of lesser motivation might have stuck to the mod rock sounds of ‘My Generation’ indefinitely, attempting to recapture its commercial success, but The Who consistently sought to push the boundaries of the rock genre.
Postmodern masterpieces like The Who Sell Out predicted the band’s later journey into the world of rock operas. They crafted seminal records like Tommy and Quadrophenia, which cemented the band’s position at the top of the rock and roll pyramid. Not only had they soundtracked the swinging sixties, but they proved their ability to adapt to a changing musical landscape—a quality that eluded many of their early contemporaries.
That is not to say, however, that The Who were always flawless in their output. Like every group of their stature, the band had their fair share of off-days and miss-hits, particularly following the death of Keith Moon. A true original, the anarchic stylings of Moon were utterly essential to the rebellious sound of Townshend’s band, going right back to their beginning. When he passed away in 1978 at the age of 32, many assumed that The Who would pack it in, but Townshend was keen to continue the band, honouring the life and work of his fallen comrade.
Inevitably, the band’s performance and material took a hit after Moon’s passing, and the 1981 album Face Dances, featuring drummer Kennedy Jones, was a prime example of that fact. More akin to a Townshend solo album than a Who record, Face Dances was overblown and sonically confused. Townshend himself recognised his mistake, once admitting, “It was very short-sighted of me. It was really with the best of intentions because I wanted the band to have material that was equally as varied as I would get on a solo album.”
“On our first two albums, we did stuff that ranged from comedy songs through tender love ballads to just general insanity,” he recalled. “And it’s not that I want to get back to quite those extremes, but it is nice not to be bound by limitations. Having enjoyed it as a solo performer, I thought, well fuck it, why can’t the band do it? And the band can’t do it because they’re so wrapped up in their own traditions.”
Although The Who’s ‘traditions’ seemed to constantly change from album to album, the individualism of Face Dances was a step too far for the band, and it did not sound like a Who record at all. Still, the previous Who albums remained as a beacon of rock and roll excellence, and their later efforts aimed to rectify the “short-sighted” approach of that early 1980s miss-step.
