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Endless Wire
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 48 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Republic
Release Date: 31 October 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
The legendary band's first studio album since 1982 includes a full version of their mini-opera "Wire & Glass," which was recently released (appropriately enough) as a mini-album.
Also On The Web: Official Pete Townshend Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
So they've got sprawl and focus issues. But this underproduced mess of an album also has an abundance of magnificent, quirkily anthemic songwriting.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Daltrey and Townshend have made a record as brazen in its way and right for its day as The Who Sell Out and Tommy were in theirs.
Read Full Review >Mojo
No one could have predicted Endless Wire would be quite this good. [Nov 2006, p.98]
All Music Guide
No, Endless Wire is not perfect -- its parts don't quite fit together, and not all of the parts work on their own -- but it is an endearingly human, impassioned work that more than justifies Townshend's and Daltrey's decision to continue working as the Who.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
No, it does not rank with the band's best work. But yes, as long as Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey walk the earth in tandem, the Who live on.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Endless Wire turns out to be more effective and more coherent than it has any right to be.
Read Full Review >Billboard
While the Who's acoustic side has always been underappreciated, Townshend revels in it here. [4 Nov 2006]
Uncut
Madly ambitious and deeply heartfelt, it's a grand folly in the great tradition of British rock. [Nov 2006, p.96]
Hartford Courant
The current Who takes what seemed, conceptually speaking, like a really bad idea - that is, recording without Entwistle - and turns it into a triumphant re-emergence after nearly a quarter-century of creative inactivity.
Read Full Review >Spin
The highlight "It's Not Enough"... proves [Townshend] hasn't lost his knack for pop precision. [Dec 2006, p.104]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Endless Wire is a not-quite-there return to late-period Who bombast, but the stadium-ready "It's Not Enough" makes an impression, and the second-half mini-opera—a quasi-sequel to Lifehouse and Psychoderelict—gets extra points for ambition.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
The album is inconsistent -- sometimes impenetrable, sometimes enlightening -- but always engaged.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The nine tracks you must navigate before you get to the mini-opera seem like a trudge.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
It's the mini-opera that moves spryly compared to the proper rock album half.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
'Endless Wire' isn't quite as awful as it should be. [28 Oct 2006, p.33]
Q Magazine
That it doesn't fall completely flat on its face must be considered some kind of triumph. [Dec 2006, p.126]
MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
The album is unlistenable for a simple reason: Roger Daltrey.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Strangely, all the missing elements and nostalgia-grabs that make the first half of Endless Wire such a sad listen organize themselves into a form that is faintly exciting for the second part.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
Pete, sweetheart. Enough with the rock operas already, "mini" or otherwise.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Townshend's faith in rock 'n' roll as an appropriate vehicle for his biggest ideas is admirable, but Endless Wire does little to justify his devotion.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
The songs are mostly weird, overly familiar, or simply bland. [Dec 2006, p.89]
Blender
What remains is a concept that's been stewing too long and a singer who's one scream away from a hernia. [Dec 2006, p.180]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 48 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Brandon C. gave it a10:
Got to be a true fan to enjoy it so i guess i am go to see the who it's great!!
Chaz S. gave it a10:
Every song is so good it could be from a greatest hits compilation.
Gabe L gave it an8:
Allow me to start by saying this: it's a step up from It's Hard and Face Dances. A proper album to end a career on, if they choose to. The first half of the album is a bit of a muddle, but with most songs actually quite good - Two Thousand Years was a song that grew on me. One or two tunes aren't quite up to snuff, though (God Speaks of Marty Robbins confused the living daylights outta me). The rock mini-opera is quite cohesive, and despite a dip here or there, the emotions and energy seem to carry throughout the record. The sounds originally on the "Wire and Glass" single still stand out as the best of the bunch (Sound Round and We Got A Hit, especially), even though Mirror Door had its vocals rejiggered from the single. And despite what Pete and Rog say, we know that Tea & Theatre is a tribute to the fallen John Entwistle. Lord knows his thundering bass would've been appreciated. I will say, though, that getting the special edition package does yield more complete versions of We Got A Hit and Endless Wire. They sound single-worthy, for sure. All told, it's a damn good album. Not on the level of glory-era Who, but that's been the case since Keith Moon passed away. Get it if you feel like listening to the first album from this duo in two-and-a-half decades.
Rachel T gave it a9:
Bizarre at times, downright odd at others, but truly sublime morst of the time. True, it takes several listens to actually understand the mini-opera, and even then you may not get the meaning that its composer does, but the many listens are worth it, just to "get" it. However you read it, its a wonderful story, either pure analogy about humanity in general and rthe music business specifically, or semi-autobiographical, Who knows? It's a gem though, as wonderfully crafted as every one of Townshend's operas. And that's just the second half. The first half is less cohesive, more all over the place, and why not? Each song is a gem to someone, and if you don't like it, that's what the skip button was invented for, because you're sure to like one of them. This is Townshend finally in all his glory. Never before have The Who been so eclectic on one album, and never before has any band been so eclectic so well.
Michael C gave it a3:
I am stunned by the accolades. I, too, am a (more than) 30 year Who fanatic. I was jazzed to get the new CD. But after listening through, I thought it was a practical joke. Then, to be fair, I listened two more times. Sorry, folks. It is downright awful. The melodies are boring and tiresome; Daltry's singing forced and shallow and the instrument playing and sounds truly uninspired. This is the first time that I will not download every Who song from a CD to my IPOD. If this is the best that the greatest rock band of all time can do at this point, they are done.
Tom W gave it an8:
As a 30-year Who fanatic I approached this album with a lot of trepidation and the first listening confirmed my fears. The derivative opening of Fragments. Daltry's labored vocals. The micro-specificity of a reference to of all people, Mike Post. But then I listened a second and third time and stopped making comparisons to the iconic Who, instead listening to it as I did THE WHO SELL OUT and not WHO'S NEXT. The result is an album with enough high points ("Mike Post Theme," of all things, and "We Got a Hit") and enough quirky gems (I include the much-maligned "Into the Ether" here, with its beautiful Brian Wilson-like chord changes) to make it feel like I'm once again connected to the one band I take personally.
Frank B gave it a9:
There's plenty one can carp about, but I still find myself listening to it a real lot. Some good rockers and very beautiful ballads. People expecting the Who of 1965-75 might be disappointed, but it's completely ureasonable to expect that. On its own terms, this is a very fine album, with better songs than about 90% of what's out there (and better songs than any Who album since "By Numbers" or any Townshend album since "White City"). Good to hear Pete & Roger still have as much heart as ever.
