Keith Moon
Two Sides Of The Moon

This record is a gem!

1975, an era of self-indulgence, many rock stars release solo albums (The Who's Townshend, Entwistle, and Daltrey, the members of Yes all of them, the Beatles disbanded five years ago have already had their solo successes, Bill Wyman has published his "Monkey Grip" etc. etc.), and even Keith "Moon the Loon" Moon decides to make a solo record. The result: a very enjoyable album. Yes, that is the right word because Keith doesn't release an album to prove how good he is at playing the drums (and let's remember HOW good he was...), in fact, he only plays drums on 3 pieces ("Move Over Ms. L", "Crazy Like A Fox", and "The Kids Are Alright"), but releases a cover album with the sole purpose of entertaining and having fun. And he succeeds quite well.

A lot of people really participated in the album, like Dick Dale, Bobby Keys, Harry Nilsson, Klaus Voorman, Joe Walsh, and especially Ringo Starr, who, fresh from his best-seller "Ringo" (1973), helps his friend Keith in the making of this album.

It starts with "Crazy Like A Fox", which immediately shows the qualities of the entire album (the joy of playing together and the desire to have fun), but also shows its flaws (Keith's not quite perfect voice, for example); nevertheless, it remains one of the best pieces of the album. The second piece, "Solid Gold", has always been unpleasant to me because of those female choruses that I just can't stomach, while the only word to define the following "Don't Worry, Baby" (by the Beach Boys) is embarrassing. After an initial (terrible) attempt to imitate Brian Wilson's falsetto, Moon decides to use a female chorus again, and the result, although not unlistenable in itself, is scandalous compared to the original. The fourth track, "One Night Stand," is one of my favorites of the whole album, a melancholy song that shows the lesser-known side of Keith, mainly famous for his crazy faces and wrecked hotel rooms. Then it's on to the famous "The Kids Are Alright" (yes, precisely that one by The Who), and here too the comparison is unforgiving. The drums (played by Keith here) and the distorted guitars are beautiful (it's interesting to make a comparison between the guitar sound in the original '65 version and this one ten years later, to see how the guitar sound evolved over those years), but good old Moon's voice is certainly not Daltrey's.

Keith recovers with one of the most successful tracks of the work, a cover of a rather unknown but very beautiful John Lennon song (it's the B-side of "Stand By Me"), "Move Over Ms. L" is a nice rock where Keith's voice doesn't do much damage, indeed it fits well. "Teenage Idol" is also nice, which shows that even stars cry, and once again, Moon offers us an unprecedented and surprising self-portrait. Keith's voice also suits "Back Door Sally" well, which is therefore successful, while the version of "In My Life" by The Beatles is pretty bad, not good Keith! Luckily Moon picks up a bit with the final "Together", a duet with long-time friend Ringo Starr, who celebrate friendship and even find time to greet the listener.

The album can be listened to without too much difficulty, both because of its brevity and because it is clear that the musicians were having fun recording it. The biggest flaw, besides the many (40!!!) yet pointless bonus tracks of the deluxe edition, is Keith's voice, which suits only half of the album’s pieces, while in others it is decidedly out of place. This album is a gem for those who want to listen to Keith Moon's only solo effort, for all The Who fans, and for those who want to imagine themselves in 1975 Los Angeles, with plenty of sea and carefree moments.