Posted on 12/21/2019 8:04:34 PM PST by DoodleBob
In a new interview with the Toronto Sun, THE WHO guitarist Pete Townshend said that fans shouldn't be surprised that the band's first new album in 13 years, "Who", bears little resemblance to THE WHO in terms of that classic ferocious rock sound. "It doesn't sound like THE WHO from those early heavy metal years," he explained. "We sort of invented heavy metal with [our first live album] 'Live At Leeds' [1970]. We were copied by so many bands, principally by LED ZEPPELIN — you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar and some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix for example, did it far better than we did. CREAM, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in '67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense. So people who want to hear that old heavy metal sound, there are plenty of bands that can provide it. So it's not really what we can actually do today. Even if we wanted to, it was never high on my list of wishes."
Townshend told The Pulse Of Radio that THE WHO was among the most versatile bands of its era, and that its musical talent freed him to write material that frequently covered many different genres. "...THE WHO never gave me a clear brief," he explained. "They never said to me, 'We wanna be a comedy act,' but if I gave them comedy songs, they were brilliant at them. They never said to me, 'We wanna be a girl-friendly band,' but if I gave them a love song, they would do it brilliantly. They never said, 'We want to be a heavy metal group' — if I gave them a heavy metal song, they did it brilliantly.
(Excerpt) Read more at blabbermouth.net ...
Nope. Black Sabbath invented heavy metal.
Townshend is still inventing The Who....
Windmill power chord!
Rock on Mod Cons!
Wrong. KISS invented everything. Ask Gene he will tell you.
The lyrics to Ball and Chain are enough to put me off the new album.
Down in Guantanamo
Whew, still waiting for the big cigars
Down in Guantanamo
Whew, still waiting for the big cigars
Been a breach of promise
Still guilty with no charge
Sure, whatever you say Pete
Townshend is so arrogant and egotistical, it’s hard to take him seriously anymore.
That being said I still like a lot of their music and if they have new stuff coming out, I’ll have a listen.
Are you freaking kidding me?!?!
What a bunch of d...s
Dunno about that. I lived through the 60’s and nobody back then considered The Who as heavy metal. Turning the amps up does not heavy metal make.
“We were copied by so many bands, principally by LED ZEPPELIN”
HA-HA-HA-HA....and the polls say hillary has a 99% chance of beating Donald Trump...
I always considered The Who to be the first punk rock band years before it became a named thing.
“P.p.p.people try to put us down!”
It’s hard to do heavy metal with mini-humbuckers plugged straight into Hiwatts. :-)
The Who was not heavy but rather dynamic, punchy and lyrical.
No question.
Masters of Reality
Got it in one.
Ozzie rules!
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