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The Who have a new album, first in 24 years

Though half of the original foursome, drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle, is dead, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the surviving members, are keeping the band alive. The two have come together with Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend on bass guitar to give birth to the first album from The Who since 1982's It's Hard. This one is called Endless Wire and is due out at the end of October.

The original lineup in a photograph from early in their career, from left to right: Moon, Daltrey, Entwistle, and Townshend.

Fans of the band will recognize the the high literary aspirations of the project's concept, a rock opera (a form The Who revolutionized if not invented with Tommy and Quadrophenia) somewhat based on a novella that Townshend distributed on the internet. With a catalogue like The Who's it may seem like an intimidating legacy to live up to but if the album succeeds with critics and consumers alike it would only make The Who the latest 60's megastars to release a successful album of new material. Brian Wilson, the brains behind The Beach Boys had a hit with 2004's release of the long-shelved Smile. The Rolling Stones had one last year with A Bigger Bang, and so did Paul McCartney with Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.

The original lineup in a photograph just before Keith Moon's death, from left to right: Daltrey, Townshend.

The success of these albums might be attributed to a re-aligning of the stars, so to speak, for bands like the Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, and The Who, as the sounds and styles with which they set the rock standard have recently come back into vogue with the rock zeitgeist.

Keeping close to those roots, Daltrey and Townshend didn't stray too far from home when looking for replacements for Moon and Entwistle. Zak Starkey, son of Betles drummer Ringo Starr and long time friend to the band, steps in for Keith Moon and Simon Townshend, Pete's brother, fills in on bass guitar.

A "single" from the album has already been released; "Wire and Glass" is actually an 11-minute long medley of six different songs from the new album. Endless Wire will include a bonus disc with new versions of old hits "Baba O'Reilly," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Who Are You," and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

What's left of the band today, from the cover of their single "Wire and Glass," Townshend , left, and Daltrey.

Posted by: Music

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