Endless Wire
| The Who
Endless Wire
Endless Wire is the eleventh and most recent 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 album of original material in 24 years following the release of It's Hard in 1982. The album was originally to be released in early 2005 under the working title WHO-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Nov. 2006 The song-cycle heritage of Tommy and Quadrophenia remains within their now limited range.
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The Guardian
Oct. 2006 There are moments of sparky excitement.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
Oct. 2016 But Townshend and Daltrey are 71 and 72 respectively so Endless Wire might be their last grand recorded statement. We should all probably appreciate it a little more. Now is a good time to start.
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Uncut UK
Oct. 2006 Madly ambitious and deeply heartfelt, it’s a grand folly in the great tradition of British rock.
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Spin
Dec. 2006 A self-contained gem that proves the guitarist hasn’t lost his knack for pop precision.
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All Music
Oct. 2006 It is an endearingly human, impassioned work that more than justifies Townshend's and Daltrey's decision to continue working as the Who. Hopefully, it will lead to another record or two but if it doesn't, Endless Wire is certainly a better final Who album than It's Hard, which is quite an accomplishment after a quarter-century hiatus.
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Sputnik Music
Oct. 2006 Its some of the old Who, a lot of the "new Who", and Who like in various different ways. But is it The Who.
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Pop Matters
Oct. 2006 This incarnation of the Who stands up fine under the burden of history, and let's just acknowledge that it's its own thing.
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Hybrid Magazine
The Who's new album is music that can fit into people's present day lives. As artists, they portray the present with reflections from the past and their eyes focused on what they can do now.
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Vintage Rock
Endless Wire is the best Who album since Who Are You. the Who album fans have been waiting for. At this stage in the game, to expect anything on a grander scale is pointless, futile and unrealistic.
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Paste Magazine
Jan. 2007 But the record is ultimately sad in a way that has nothing to do with art—the sound of creativity spent.
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WPGU
As a whole, Daltrey and Townshend’s latest effort is a success. It certainly can’t compare to the band’s earlier work, when Keith Moon and company were still in the picture, but Endless Wire is a decent Who album. The Who’s average is still much better than most contemporary artists’ best, and this album reminds us of this.
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Classic Rock Review
Feb. 2013 it is a rare, unexpected move from a Hall of Fame band, creditable for being more than the usual Give The People What They Want pension scheme. In most instances, the best case scenario for a reunion album is to justify its existence, to appear as more than just a pointless exercise in career perpetuation.
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Louder Sound
Nov. 2006 But after the complexity of the preceding material a bit more head- scratching doesn’t hurt, culminating in the, frankly, quite mad Mirror Door, where Pete name-checks his own musical heroes. A typically English-sounding ending, that gets better every listen.
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On Milwaukee
"Endless Wire," the lifeless new release from the band calling itself The Who, will go down as one of the saddest codas to a magnificent legacy as ever there was.
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IGN
Dec 2006 Yet even by removing such exacting standards, Endless Wire is just not a good record. It's Willie Mays patrolling center field for the Mets in 1973; it's Babe Ruth hitting .181 for the Boston Braves in 1935. It's just not good. It's sad to say, but it's true.
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Mark Prindle
Focus on the quality of the NEW riffs, I say! And try not to throw the CD in the toilet upon hearing "Baba O'Riley Pt. II" at the very beginning. Pete didn't even write or perform that synthesizer piece; it was programmed by some fellow named Lawrence Ball.
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Musicbox
Dec. 2006 Endless Wire is, despite the inherent messiness of its construction, far better than anyone could have (or should have) expected.
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J Post
It's enough to make you cry for Keith Moon, John Entwhistle, windmill guitar chords, lassoed microphones and the inevitable journey from youth to old age - and to be thankful for the gifts that Pete Townshend, who didn't die before he got old, still possesses.
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The Aquarian
Pete Townshend has, by some miraculous feat, brought the magic of The Who back to life. The music may be fresh and the band is two members short, but by listening to the album you would never know. It’s that solid. In A Word: Reborn
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Rock n World
Townshend and Daltry still manage to carry the Who, and with releases as good as Endless Wire they have the makings of a career renaissance. If not commercially then definitely artistically.
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Soul Scratch
It’s telling that Townshend sings more songs on Endless Wire than on any previous Who album, but both he and Daltrey sing as well as they ever have. It’s just beautiful.
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Boise Weekly
Fans shouldn't buy this album expecting the crunch of Who's Next or Quadrophenia or the cleverness of Who Sell Out. But those looking for a more satisfying final (or is it?) chapter than the band offered the first time around will find plenty of interesting and familiar elements to mull over on Endless Wire.
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Something Else Reviews
Jan. 2007 In the brilliant, circular overture of synthesizer and riff that opens 2006’s “Endless Wire” we find a triumph for what’s left of the Who.
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Adrian Denning
What, it wasn't recorded in the 60s or 70s? Pete has set a damn fine set of Who songs to Who vocals. That's all that really matters. It sounds like a Who album should sound like.
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Review Journal
May 2016 The Who’s last studio album, “Endless Wire” came 10 years ago, in 2006. Townshend and Daltrey would often perform its final song, “Tea & Theatre,” together as a final acoustic encore: “We’re older now, all of us sad, all of us free.”
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Robert Christgau
But it's the leader who decided prog was a peachy idea, the leader who designates yet another song cycle a "mini-opera," the leader who gives the orders around here. So the album is also unlistenable for a complicated reason: Pete Townshend.
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CS Indy
The Who strive for greatness, which is why in the end, Endless Wire fails to deliver on its promise.
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Irish Times
This is a more rounded, intelligent and tuneful record than one would ever have hoped for - a canny blend of straight-ahead, old school rock/folksy songs and a "mini-opera" section
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Whitgunn
Is an endearingly human, impassioned work that more than justifies Townshend's and Daltrey's decision to continue working as the Who. Hopefully, it will lead to another record or two.
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Melodic
The Who releases a brand new studio album after 24 long years but to my surprise - it works!
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EW
Compare all this uncompromising eccentricity and ambition with the craven commerciality of certain other boomer bands, and you won’t have to think long about who’s still got it.
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NPR
The wild animal bombast of the band's youth is gone and Townshend's writing is now laced with more acoustic guitars and introspection. But unique flashes of brilliance remain.
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Rolling Stone
Daltrey’s voice is deeper and darker now, even in total roar — you can hear the extent to which he has punished it in long service to Townshend’s songs. Sounds more like a reinvigorated Who .
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Prog Archives
July 2007 Overall an exciting return to form for the Who and well worth the wait, though not an essential Prog album, who knows if they'll come up some more music in the future - but not 24 years please guys!!!
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Ultimate Guitar
Nov. 2006 I should give them a credit - just for taking a fight and releasing an album of 19 new songs...
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Areuonsomething
The lead and background vocals on "Endless Wire" are all top notch, and even though Dec. Dec. 2006 Daltrey's trademark gut-wrenching style has been tainted slightly by the passage of time, he still has the ability to inject a lot of muscle into the music.
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SwapaCD
Nov. 2006 Roger Daltrey sounds older, wiser and deeper, but he certainly does not sound weary. He sings with vigor, and he proves he is still the consummate vocal conduit for Townshend's lyrics.
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Review Magazine
Nov. 2006 Townshend and Daltrey show with Endless Wire that they still have something to say and, perhaps just as important, have the chops with which to say it.
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Slacker
Jan. 2014 , The best of Endless Wire does indeed connect at a gut level, even if it's in a considerably different way than it was in the past: instead of being visceral and immediate, this is music carries a slow burn.
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Metal Reviews
Dec. 2007 Remember, age is only a number and you are only as old as you feel. May Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and all of the other rockers I mentioned at the beginning of this review rock until they drop!
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Music Direct
Endless Wire found The Who reinvigorated and reclaiming both their hard-rock muscle and introspection.
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Bob's Bloggery
Jan. 2007 To tell us that the Who – the Who we remember and loved – is back. It seems that I keep going back to it because I think there is more there and I just can’t put my finger on it.
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Steve Hoffman
Sept 2006 I got a early advance promo of the full new CD today and while my promo has no artwork, it does have ALL 19 tracks and while I'll admit of not being the biggest WHO fan, I can safely say, that I believe that "almost" every WHO fan is going to like this album!
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Daily Vault
May 2007 I have listened to Endless Wire three times in the past week and it does not get any better. After the third listening I had to clear my mind and pull Who’s Next and My Generation out of storage. I feel much better now.
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All CD Covers
Whereas on other albums, The Who of old lived by if you didn't hear me I will start shouting, on this cd it amounts to a slight raising of voices.
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Louder Sound
Sept. 2016 . Everything here is fine, but the overwhelming feeling is that none of these songs should ever trouble The Who’s live set. Performances are accomplished, but where’s the fire?
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CD Universe
Roger Daltrey can still sing up a storm, while Pete Townsend certainly knows his way round a good crunching tune.
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Metal Music Archives
Their was some alright moments, and some songs had their moments, but they were mainly ruined by bad choices. It is by far the worst album they ever made, but it still proved they have enough ability to still make music, which is kind of a relief.
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Juno UK
This is an endearingly human, impassioned work that more than justifies Townshend's and Daltrey's decision to continue working as the Who. This is quite an accomplishment after a quarter-century hiatus.
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Austin Chronicle
Nov. 2006 Thankfully, Endless Wire's first nine Townshend's garrote their predecessor, 1982's It's Hard. "A Man in a Purple Dress," "Black Widow's Eyes," and Supreme Being "God Speaks of Marty Robbins" bust into the Hall of Who, anarchic, melodically adult, meditative.
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Share the Files
Oct. 2006 No, it does not rank with the band's best work. But yes, as long as Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey walk the earth in tandem, the Who live on.
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