THE WHO

Face Dances

Warner Bros. HS 3516

There was something wrong with the show, something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but disturbing nonetheless. It was The Who, the Omni show of last summer. It wasn't the heat, and it certainly wasn't the performance, which was as flashy as ever. But something was missing.

I've seen The Who perform in a variety of venues under the strangest of circumstances. We've grown old together. Maybe that was it. There was something missing after all, the wildness and exuberance of our misspent youth, the need to assert the young man's blues and shake it all over. They were pros, doing it by rote these days; and we were fans, behaving exactly as we should at a Who concert. It used to be more spontaneous, it used to be fun instead of a civic obligation.

Face Dances, The Who's first album under a new deal with Bugs and the gang at Warner Communications, is a continuation of the problem I first felt at the concert. The production is flawless; the playing, writing and singing top notch; but it just doesn't mean as much to me as say, Live At Leeds or The Who Sing My Generation do after all these years.

This year's effort sounds like a group therapy session concerned with mid-life crises. It's a helluva change from being the toughest, brashest kid on the block. Instead of the raw, gut sound of Townshend's guitar, we get the technological stimulation of the keyboards and synthesizers.

"You Better You Bet'', the first hit off the album, is a victim of this Middle Age Blues. The song has everything The Who do best: clever lyrics, tight harmonies, and a pop - rock sensibility unmatched by anyone. But why am I not jumping up and down? Where's the guitar, Pete? Where are those glorious power chords?

I will do something admittedly rare for a reviewer; I will admit that I may be wrong. I might have missed the whole point, blinded by my memories and expectations. Townshend and The Who have been the voice of a generation. They wrote our anthems and chronicled our progress. From "The Kids Are Alright" through Tommy and Quadrophenia, they have dealt with the problem of growing up crazy and growing old with a vengeance. That they have mellowed out, is admirable. That they can still produce quality music is equally admirable. That they are no longer the rough-and-tumble leaders of a movement celebrating youth is my problem.

I got this feeling inside, I can't explain. Who albums used to be able to help me figure it out.

-Allen Rabinowitz