Courtesy: Eagle Rock Entertainment/Universal Music Group
Guitarist Pete Townshend is best known for his role in the legendary rock band The Who. The British band is one of its country’s greatest rock acts next to The Beatles, Deep Purple, Judas Priest and a select group of others. While Townshend is best known for his work as a member of The Who, he also had a relatively successful solo career. This past September Eagle Rock Entertainment released a rare performance from Townshend’s solo career in the form of Face The Face. This recording is an important artifact of sorts from Townshend’s career, and thus, a piece that fans of The Who will appreciate just as much as Townshend’s fans. That is due in part to the recording’s companion booklet. It will be discussed shortly. The recording’s set list is just as important to note in examining its presentation as its set list. It will be discussed later. The concert’s production values round out its most important elements. Each element is important in its own right to the recording’s overall presentation. All things considered, Face the Face proves in the end to be, again, a recording that The Who’s fans will appreciate just as much as Townshend’s fans.
Eagle Rock Entertainment’s recently released performance from classic performance from Pete Townshend and Deep End is a recording that fans of The Who will appreciate just as much as Pete Townshend fans. It is a very rare live recording from the two acts, as audiences will learn in the recording’s companion booklet. Speaking of the booklet, it sits at the center of the recording’s presentation. The booklet presents an in-depth history of how Townshend and Deep End came to work together thanks to writer Matt Kent. It also notes that the concert presented here almost didn’t happen yet somehow miraculously did happen. That story in itself makes the recording’s companion booklet well worth the read. As if that isn’t enough, audiences will also learn that Prince’s beloved album Purple Rain was at least one influence behind Townshend’s solo record White City: A Novel. Townshend was touring in support of that record when this concert was recorded. That, too is noted in the booklet along with a thorough outlining of the concert’s set list, another of the recording’s key elements. Before touching on that subject, one would be remiss to ignore all of the other key information that Kent includes in the recording’s liner notes. Between the material noted here and that material not noted here, the information Kent provides audiences in the recording’s companion booklet will engage audiences just as much as the concert’s set list. Speaking, again, of the show’s set list, it is the next most important piece of the recording’s overall presentation to discuss.
The booklet included in Eagle Rock Entertainment’s Pete Townshend/Deep End live recording Face The Face is a key piece of the recording’s overall presentation. It isn’t the first time that a live recording’s booklet has proven to be the recording’s most important element. At the same time, though, it is very rare for any recording’s booklet, live or otherwise, to be so critical to its presentation. Face The Face’s companion booklet is undeniably important to its presentation, but it is also not the recording’s only key element. The concert’s set list is just as important to note in examining its overall presentation as its companion booklet. The show’s set list features classics from The Who, songs from White City and hits from other Townshend solo records and even some covers among other songs. Kent outlines the concert’s set list in relative depth, again, in the recording’s companion booklet. This, again, shows the importance of the recording’s companion booklet. That relatively thorough outline also serves as a solid starting point for a musical history lesson of sorts; not just a history lesson on Townshend’s arrangements but in music history overall. Getting back on the subject at hand, the set list presented in Face to Face presents a wide swath of material and talent on the part of both Townshend and the members of Deep End, among whom included Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Considering the breadth of material and talent presented throughout the concert’s set list, it becomes clear why the set list is just as important to Face The Face’s overall presentation as the recording’s companion booklet. It still is not the last element to note in examining this recording. The concert’s production values round out its most important elements.
Matt Kent’s liner notes included in Face The Face’s companion booklet and the recording’s set list are both key pieces of the recording’s overall presentation. The booklet expertly sets up the concert experience, preparing audiences for the concert. The set list is just as important to the recording as its booklet because of the wide array of sources for the featured songs. Kent outlines the show’s set list in relative depth in his liner notes, adding even more to the concert’s viewing experience. Keeping all of that in mind, both elements are clearly important pieces to the recording’s whole. They are only two-thirds of the recording’s whole that should be noted. Its production values are just as important to note here as its companion booklet and set list. The concert looks and sounds far different than concerts recorded today. For lack of better wording, the concert’s video and audio are rough. The thing is that said rough presentation creates a certain appreciation for how far recording technology has come since 1986 (the year when this concert was originally recorded). Between the sometimes airy sound in the audio mix and the at times equally uneasy cuts between cameras, watching the concert is an interesting experience, especially for those who grew up in the 1980s. Again, it reminds audiences of how far recording tech has come since the days when this concert was captured. So really, it presents its own history lesson of sorts, too. Keeping that in mind, the recording’s production values are just as important to its presentation as its companion booklet and set list. Each element is important in its own way to the recording’s presentation. All things considered, Face The Face proves in the end to be a recording that, again, Pete Townshend’s fans will appreciate just as much as fans of The Who. It supports even more this critic’s statement that Eagle Rock Entertainment is the leading name in live recordings.
Eagle Rock Entertainment’s recently released rare performance from Pete Townshend and Deep End is a rare piece that fans of The Who will appreciate just as much as Pete Townshend’s fans. It proves once again why Eagle Rock Entertainment is the leading name in live recordings. Those statements are supported in part through the recording’s companion booklet. The booklet features in-depth liner notes by Matt Kent that will engage readers just as much as the recording’s featured concert if not more so. Speaking of the concert, its set list is just as important to the recording’s presentation as its booklet. The concert’s production values play their own key part in its overall presentation, too. Each element is important in its own right to the concert’s overall presentation. All things considered, Face The Face proves, once more, to be a recording that The Who fans will appreciate just as much as Pete Townshend’s fans. Considering the concert’s rarity and everything else noted here, it proves once again why Eagle Rock Entertainment remains to this day the leading name in live recordings. Face The Face is available now in stores and online. More information on this and other titles from Eagle Rock Entertainment is available online now at:
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