Endless Wire (The Who Album)

''Endless Wire'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 30 October 2006 in the UK through Polydor Records and the following day in the US by Universal Republic. It was their first new studio album of original material in 24 years following the release of ''It's Hard'' in 1982, as well as their first since the death of the bassist John Entwistle. It was originally due to be released in early 2005 under the working title ''WHO2''.

''Endless Wire'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted at #7 on the ''Billboard'' album chart and #9 in the UK. Portions of it were featured on The Who Tour 2006-2007. Most of the songs from this album were used in the rock musical adaptation of ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' which debuted in July 2007 as part of Vassar College's Powerhouse Summer Theater workshop series.

History and composition

Most of what is known about the development of the album has come from Pete Townshend's website. On 21 March 2005, Pete Townshend announced the postponement of the new Who album. On 24 December 2005, Townshend announced that manager Bill Curbishley had introduced a "great scheme" to allow the band to tour in mid-2006 in support of new material, even if Townshend did not have "a full thirty tracks ready to go." On 20 March 2006, Daltrey announced that he and Townshend were making progress with the album and that Townshend had written a song about Stockholm syndrome, titled "Black Widow's Eyes". Daltrey also said that Townshend was playing some bass on the album.

On 28 March 2006, Townshend announced through the diary portion of his website that a mini-opera, titled "The Glass Household", now formed the core of the album. It is based on his novella ''The Boy Who Heard Music''. He also announced plans to have a shortened version of the opera released prior to the release of the full album. This diary entry also confirmed the line-up of the band: Pino Palladino on bass, Pete Townshend on guitars, his brother Simon Townshend on backing vocals, and John "Brass Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards. Peter Huntington, from Rachel Fuller's band, was on drums because Zak Starkey was touring with Oasis.

On 9 April 2006, Townshend announced that the shortened version of "The Glass Household" had been played to executives at Polydor, and a release date had been set for June, with a tour of Europe following, and the album in September. On 3 May 2006, Pete Townshend posted on his diary page that the mastering for the new EP, titled '' Wire & Glass'', was complete and that the tracks would soon be sent to Polydor. Townshend anticipated a mid-June release for the EP, and a mid-September release for the full album. He had also announced that the Who would begin rehearsing for their tour, during which time Townshend would finish recording the rest of the album with Roger Daltrey.

A version of "It's Not Enough" was released online at artistdirect.com. "It's Not Enough" had tentatively been announced as the first single off the album, to be released simultaneously.

On 3 October 2006, "It's Not Enough" was made available on iTunes. "Tea & Theatre" was also made available. Then on 14 October 2006, Polydor built a website for the album, endlesswire.co.uk, on which samples of the songs "We Got a Hit", "Endless Wire", "It's Not Enough", "Black Widow's Eyes", "Mike Post Theme", and "Man in a Purple Dress" were made available to listen to, but not to download. As of 23 October 2006, the entire album was available to stream on music.aol.com.

''Endless Wire'' debuted at #7 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling about 81,000 units in its first week of release.Hasty, Katie
"'Montana' Zooms by Manilow For Second Week at No. 1"
billboard.com. 8 November 2006.

Additional songs

In addition to the 19 tracks listed below, three songs were either considered for inclusion on the album or reportedly recorded for the album but were left off:

*"Ambition"
Reportedly written in 1971 for the ''Lifehouse'' concept, Townshend debuted this song on '' In the Attic'' in 2006.

*"Uncertain Girl"
Another song that was debuted by Townshend on ''In the Attic'' in 2006. It was recorded in the studio with Zak Starkey on drums, and Daltrey on vocals, but Townshend expressed doubt on whether it would make it on the album or not when he first played it on in the Attic, and it was not included. However, it did make an appearance in the Vassar College workshop performance of the rock musical ''The Boy Who Heard Music''.

*"How Can I Help You, Sir?"
On 18 December 2005, Pete Townshend posted a diary entry that chronicled the recording of this track:

The video can be downloaded from Townshend's site. In 2015 the track was released on Townshend's solo compilation Truancy.

Adaptation as a rock musical

Townshend is also working the songs from this album into a full-length rock musical, a rough version of which debuted 13 July 2007 as part of Vassar College's Powerhouse Summer Theater workshop series. The production was adapted and directed by Ethan Silverman and presented as a staged concert reading with minimal dialogue. The cast included John Hickok as Ray High, Jon Patrick Walker as Josh, Matt McGrath as Gabriel, and Bree Sharp as Leila. Songs in this adaptation included:

Act I
*"Prelude"
*"Pick Up the Peace" – Ray
*"In the Ether" – Josh, Ray
*"God Predicts Marty Robbins" – Gabriel, Ray
*"Unholy Trinity" – Gabriel, Josh, Leila
*"Trilby's Piano I" – Gabriel
*"I Can Fly" ( Fuller) – Leila
*"There's No Doubt" – Gabriel, Josh, Ray
*"Endless Wire Prelude" – Josh, Leila, Gabriel, Ray
*"Sound Round" – Ray and Company
*"Real Good Looking Boy" – Ray, Josh, Gabriel
*"Trilby's Piano II" – Trio
*"Fragments" – Company
*"Endless Wire" – Company

Act II
*"We Got a Hit" – Company
*"She Said He Said" – Gabriel, Leila
*"Uncertain Girl" – Josh
*"Heart Condition" – Leila
*"It's Not Enough" (Townshend/Fuller) – Gabriel, Josh, Leila
*"They Made My Dream Come True" – Ray
*"In the Ether" – Ray
*"Trilby's Piano III" – Gabriel, Josh, Leila
*"Mirror Door" – Company
*"Fragments" – Company
*"Tea & Theatre" – Ray, Josh, Leila

The song "Real Good Looking Boy" was previously issued on the Who's compilation album '' Then and Now''. The song "I Can Fly" was previously issued on Fuller's EP ''Shine''.

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

Compact Disc edition of ''The Who Live at Lyon''

Recorded at the Théâtre Antique, Vienne, Isère, France (near Lyon) on 17 July 2006. Included as an extra in Europe, Asia, and at Best Buy stores in the US.

DVD edition of ''The Who Live at Lyon''

#"I Can't Explain" – 3:04
#"Behind Blue Eyes" – 4:39
#"Mike Post Theme" – 3:41
#"Baba O'Riley" – 5:59
#"Won't Get Fooled Again" – 10:03

Personnel

The Who

*Roger Daltrey – lead vocals
*Pete Townshend – guitars, vocals, bass guitar, drums, piano, keyboards, violin, banjo, mandolin, drum machine

The Who principal musicians

*John "Rabbit" Bundrick – Hammond organ, backing vocals
*Simon Townshend – backing vocals
*Pino Palladino – bass guitar
*Zak Starkey – drums on "Black Widow's Eyes"

Additional musicians

*Peter Huntington – drums
*Billy Nicholls – backing vocals
*Lawrence Ball – electronic music on "Fragments"
*Jolyon Dixon – acoustic guitar on "It's Not Enough"
*Stuart Ross – bass guitar on "It's Not Enough"
*Rachel Fuller – keyboards on "It's Not Enough", orchestration supervisor on "Trilby's Piano"
*Gill Morley – violin on "Trilby's Piano"
*Brian Right – violin on "Trilby's Piano"
*Ellen Blair – viola on "Trilby's Piano"
*Vicky Matthews – cello on "Trilby's Piano"

Design

* Richard Evans – Design and art direction utilising elements created with the Visual Harmony software designed by Dave Snowdon and Lawrence Ball.

Charts

"It's Not Enough" reached number 37 on the US ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it was released as a B-side with "Black Widow's Eyes".

Certifications

References

External links

*

Endless Wire liner notes – Song-by-song liner notes for the album

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endless Wire (The Who Album)
2006 albums
Polydor Records albums
The Who albums
Universal Records albums
Albums produced by Pete Townshend