Pete Townshend: White City CD Track Listing

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Pete Townshend White City (1985)
Originally Released November 1985\nRemastered + Expanded CD Edition Released February 13, 2006\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: After the experimental All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, Pete Townshend returned to a more traditional form of concept album with White City: A Novel. Built around a loose narrative concerning urban despair, the album doesn't work very well conceptually, yet a handful of the individual songs are among his finest solo work, including the punchy "Face the Face" and the anthemic "Give Blood." -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nPete's slide begins here, January 23, 2006 \nBy ElvisCostellosWeiner "Chekhov Is The Greatest" (Michigan)\n\nAfter two great albums, Pete loses himself a bit here. The cliche goes "before he mastered the synths, here the synths master him" but it's very true; he often seems completely tied to his synths. And where as on All Cowboys this was thrilling, as Pete pulled tones and sounds out of them that were unexpected, here he just seems to play on the preset tones. The songs lack energy sometimes, sometimes are very cheesy, and are not among his best. \n\nBut hey, it still has great stuff. Some of this material is among his best ever, melody, lyrics, and arrangement wise. There's just something lethargic about the album that is hard to get over. A very dead sounding album; maybe pete was a heroin addict now? \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Fine Soundtrack to An Interesting Story, March 23, 2005 \nBy tgfabthunderbird (York, PA United States)\nThis album came to my college radio station in 85, and it got significant airplay, all the tracks by the time we got done with it. \n\nIt was not until sometime later that I got hold of the video, and it's now in my collection. \n\n"White City" is a section of London that apparently was some sort of experiemental, post-war community. Townshend explains this in length in the commentary following the video version. \n\nThe story of two people living in a section of London fallen on hard times is a good one, gritty and believable. Musically, the album stands alone, but there is little to explain its significance unless you see the video. \n\nOn their own, the songs are strong, with a propulsive "Give Blood" kicking off. "Face the Face" still gets some airplay now and then, a thumping track. A R&Bish "Hiding Out" and a bluesy "Secondhand Love" are all good stuff. \n\nThe contributions from the likes of David Gilmour, the Kick Horns and others make "White City" a good solo outing for Townshend, but again the movie rounds out the whole story. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nHis last Top 40 album, August 2, 2004 \nBy Anyechka (Rensselaer, NY United States)\nThis album came out in November of 1985 (a month before my sixth birthday), and was the last Top 40 album Pete put out, as well as the last Top 40 album by any of the remaining three former members of The Who. The third track, "Face the Face," was also the last hit single by any of them; it reached #26 in America, the same position the album reached on both the American and British charts. (There's also a film of this album, with some songs that weren't included on the album, but I haven't seen the film yet; the main character is named James, a grown-up version of Jimmy from 'Quadrophenia.') Though it's billed as a novel, which might seem pretentious to some people, and has a very Eighties (i.e., overproduced) sound to it, it's very tight and consistent. It's also a concept album, about a middle-aged man having some difficulties in life coming home to the place he grew up and feeling disillusioned by what has happened to the place in spite of good childhood memories, and concept albums just aren't considered hip anymore. \n\nMy faves on here are "Face the Face" (so loud, thumping, and energetic, particularly the long and tense build-up in the beginning), "Give Blood" (which also has an amazing musical build-up before the lyrics begin), "Brilliant Blues" (the only song on here where he uses his trademark high notes; it shows he takes care of his voice instead of constantly showing off with a tenor/low-range falsetto just because he can), "Crashing by Design," "White City Fighting" (co-written with David Gilmour), and the closing track, "Come to Mama" (which has a beautiful sweeping flourish of instrumentation as it winds down towards the end). This is an album that shows how to celebrate middle age and turning forty musically properly. Instead of still singing about the same old things or writing about lusting after hot women, he's writing and reflecting on getting older, becoming disillusioned with the place he came from, not being so young anymore, and dealing with romantic rejections. Too bad more artists can't write mature albums like this when they get older instead of living in the past and still writing the kind of songs they did when they were in their twenties. \n\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMisunderstood", May 15, 2001 \nBy K. Manzel (Falls Church, VA United States)\n\nI'm confused by people who say this album is not as good as "Rough Mix" or "Empty Glass," especially "Who Came First." This is an artist at his sober, clarified, focused best. When you listen to this aurally intoxicating album, you are hearing an artist who's created an album with every note, every effect, every intonation exactly as he intended it to sound. \nI listened to "White City" once or twice about ten years ago, and just again picked it up a month ago. I think I was too young to appreciate its layered complexity. I can't stop playing it, and I have--and enjoy--all the albums mentioned above. "Crashing by Design" is such a singular lyrical and musical gem that it takes probably 10 listens before even catching all the meaning, let alone the multiple dimensions of space he explores with the sound. \n\nWhat a pity, Townshend was so crushed by the critical and public disappointment in this album that he never plays even a single cut from it live. That may be the most telling aspect of the passion he poured into "White City." Please give it a listen. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOverlooked and Underappreciated, February 21, 2007 \nBy Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX)\nMany long-time fans of The Who missed out on the underpromoted solo efforts by various members of the band. Of all those works that I have heard, only Pete Townshend's have any real merit. I was pretty stoked when I read in the English music press that some of Pete's early work would be remastered and re-released. But it was obvious from the article that the writer didn't think much of White City. \nI disagree. White City is nearly a masterpiece, and is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated of all Townshend's works. I liked it when it was originally released and I like it just as much in the remastered edition. While Roger Daltrey was the Who's powerhouse vocalist, it was always Townshend to whom the band turned when the vocals required a touch of nuance and emotion. And on White City, there is a lot of both. \nWhite City itself is apparently one of the housing "estates" that are the legacy of the postwar socialist policies of the British government. Our equivalent in the US is "the projects". And both seem equally mind-numbing and violent places in which to live. This "estate" seems to be the subject of about half the CD. Songs like Hiding Out, I Am Secure, and White City Fighting paint quite a picture. \nLyrically, White City is flawless. Musically, I have my favorites. Those are the hard-driving Give Blood, the jaunty Brilliant Blues, the pounding Face the Face, the angry Secondhand Love, and the soothing I Am Secure. If you are an old Who fan and never got around to hearing any of Townshend's solo work, well you ought to hear this. And by the way, I had none of the defects on my CD mentioned by another reviewer. Maybe his was from a bad batch. \n\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Chris Thomas \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Pete Townshend, Steve Barnacle, Mark Brzezicki, John "Rabbit" Bundrick, Tony Butler, Peter Hope-Evans, Dave Gilmour, Simon Clark, Roddy Lorimer, Dave Sanders, Tim Sanders, Peter Thoms, Chucho Merchan, Pino Palladino, Simon Phillips, Clem Burke, Phil Chen, Ewan Stewart, Jackie Challenger, Mae McKenna, Lorenza Johnson, Emma Townshend.\n\nRecorded at Eel Pie Studio, Twickenham; Eel Pie Studio, Soho, London; A.I.R. Studios, London.\n\nWHITE CITY, which Pete Townshend called a novel, recalls the depth of TOMMY. There are many memorable tracks on this collection, including "Hiding Out," whose deceptive sweetness belies the detached destruction of "Crashing by Design." The bracing "Face the Face" is as musically gripping as any of Townshend's solo work, as is the rumbling "Give Blood." Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour lends on a hand on the former and Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki puts his walloping stamp on various cuts as well.\n\n\nROLLING STONE REVIEW\nAccording to legend, Roger Daltrey once predicted that Pete Townshend would be a great songwriter only as long as the guitarist had hellhounds on his trail. At age forty, Townshend has left behind his two biggest traumas -- drugs and the Who -- and has begun two new careers, literary editor and family man. In "Brilliant Blues," Pete dismisses the anguish that has plagued his personal life and muddled his recent work and declares: "The brilliant blues/Will never flow this way again." In short, Daltrey's prediction has come true. Yet White City is a clear, organic parable of hope triumphing over despair, making this Townshend's best work since Empty Glass.\n\nIn "I Am Secure" and "Hiding Out," Townshend contrasts his penthouse privileges with the grim streets below; "I am secure in this world of apartheid," he admits. The doom of these two songs ("And out in the one-way streets/Is a swelling maze, without a door") is challenged in "Crashing by Design," where Pete argues against the notion of fatalism and for personal responsibility. That spirit, in turn, carries over to "Face the Face," with its urging to pursue idealism despite "the ghosts of failures spray-canned up on the wall." On the radio, the song seems little more than an annoyance (Tylenol must have sponsored the drum mix), yet its value lies in its thematic significance. The title places the song in the context of Who history, from "I'm the Face" (their first single as the High Numbers) to Face Dances (their disastrous first post-Moon LP), and the lyrics combine the familiar themes of personal honesty (see "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Eminence Front") and public motion ("Let's See Action"). "Keep on cooking/Keep on looking/Gotta stay on this case," Pete enthuses.\n\nThe swing backing is appropriate, too, because Townshend's plan for facing the face involves a lot of traditional morality -- he praises fidelity (the raging "Secondhand Love," where he sings as well as Daltrey ever has), denounces insular pride ("Come to Mama") and mocks the modern notion of heroism ("Give Blood"). And, despite an impressive set of backing musicians, Townshend's arrangements favor the essentials -- only Peter Hope-Evans' smokestack harp on "Face the Face," Pino Palladino's bass, and Townshend's own acoustic fury on "Come to Mama" emerge from the communal chordal strength.\n\nIn "White City Fighting," Pete remembers his violent past, sounding just a bit wistful for his days as a rough boy. Yet he seems to have finally found comfort in maturity, and that feeling warms and informs White City. The values embraced by the album make it Town-shend's most relevant work in years -- as he concludes on "Brilliant Blues," "And now is the time to say ... it's time." (RS 465 -- Jan 16, 1986) -- ROB TANNENBAUM
This rock cd contains 9 tracks and runs 38min 41sec.
Freedb: 65090f09
Buy: from Amazon.com

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