The Who
Wire & Glass

It had been a full 24 years since the Who released new material, excluding two tracks on a recent 2004 compilation. "Wire & Glass" is not exactly an album; it is actually an extract of 6 songs (within a single track) from the new album that will be released in October 2006.
The duration of the EP (or Maxi-Single, as you prefer to call it) is 11 minutes and 28 seconds. The various songs form a small mini-opera that tells the story of a band of boys making their way into the world of success through the use of the internet ("Endless Wire").

The style of all the songs, to my great amazement, closely resembles that of "Who's Next" and "The Who By Numbers", rather than that of "Face Dances" or "Who are You". Not surprisingly, I discovered that the first track, "Sound Round", was written by Pete Townshend (author of the entire EP) specifically for "Who's Next", but it was not recorded.

The major differences from the Who's most recent albums are a less aggressive bass, although very elegant (Pino Paladino is not John Entwistle, for better or worse), and Roger Daltrey's voice, visibly changed and aged, although still very good. The backing vocals were done traditionally by Pete Townshend with the help of his brother Simon Townshend and Billy Nicholls.
This time on drums appears Peter Huntington, drummer for Rachel Fuller, who is Pete's girlfriend (yes, girlfriend, since she is 30 years old...), because Zak Starkey preferred to tour with Oasis rather than record this little gem. In any case, the drumming is good and appropriate.

A note of merit goes to the longest track, "Mirror Door", for its power and catchiness; indeed excellent, closing the EP in a majestic way.

We don't know if this long single will "climb the charts" as many have announced. In any case, it gives great hope for the new album, and it shows us how Pete and Roger can still produce good music and, above all, can still manage to excite us once again.

Long Live Rock!