- Audio Cassette (17 Oct 1990)
- Format: Import
- Label: Atlantic / Wea
- ASIN: B000002JL3
- Other Editions: Audio CD
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Give Blood |
| 2. Brilliant Blues |
| 3. Face the Face |
| 4. Hiding Out |
| 5. Secondhand Love |
| 6. Crashing by Design |
| 7. I Am Secure |
| 8. White City Fighting |
| 9. Come to Mama |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The soundtrack to a very hard-to-find video, White City finds Pete doing what he does best. Reflecting.
Although a lot of the symbolism will mean nothing to anyone outside London (White City is a London housing estate apparently) the images can be applied to anywhere. We all know someone who 'drives to comittees in their German car'...we can all 'look over chequered fields to see the towering web of steel'.
Some fantastic guitar work by Dave Gilmour finishes off this unusual album...I dock the CD one star for not including the extensive sleeve notes provided with the vinyl version I bought oh so many years ago!
This is a sort of Solo Quadrophenia.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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36 reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
A Masterpiece - Don't buy it if...
1 Jan 2000
Format:Audio CD
This CD is a masterpiece. Don't buy it... if you want more Who music. I'm not even sure it's rock. The music - or "novel" as it's subtitled -- defies genre. (Liner notes state that White City is a film written by Pete Townshend.) Townshend always refused to be confined by traditional rock music format, as demonstrated by his fondness for "rock operas," and quirky Who songs.
The whole of it is a fine composition, with tracks linked lyrically and musically. It's best listened to in its entirety. With each listen you'll hear something new. (I can say this even after having worn out a cassette of same.) Townshend layers the music, and fills many "unused spaces" with surprising sounds (in a much more disciplined way than, say, Beck). He uses vast and unusual combinations of instruments, such as the harmonica and horns in "Face the Face." He uses repetition, and strings the listener through 2-minute intros. Lyrics contain their own layers of meaning and word craft that come to light over time.
This "album" elevates Townshend to a level of compositional artistry that most musicians will never see... largely because they don't even know it's there.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
townshend's best
29 Nov 2005
Format:Audio CD
This is one of the most underrated albums in the history of rock. Townshend's vocals are absolutely soaring - I can't think of many vocal performances on an album that even come close to the level of emotion he conveys on this one. Every song is brilliant and the album is extremely diverse. Songs vary greatly in style, no two songs are alike. The lyrics are great as usual. Crashing By Design is one of those songs that you listen to and wonder how in the world it didn't become a top ten smash, it is unbelieveably catchy. And the lyrics on this one in particular are so poignant, you can really tell that this is a guy who has known some emotional turmoil. I haven't seen many people talking about Hiding Out in the reviews, which is surprising - he is absolutely pouring his soul out in this one, the vocals reach for the sky. Give Blood, White City Fighting, Face the Face, some really urgent, angry, moving stuff throughout. Face the Face will make you get up and bounce around the room, the groove is completely infectious. A rave up that builds and builds almost gospel-style, with a million different instruments. I am Secure is a beautiful, introspective piece that shows that Townshend is that rare breed of artist that can range from screaming rock anthem to heartwrenching ballad and make both really work. I can understand why Pete was really disappointed by the lack of recognition and appreciation by the press and the public for this album, as it deserved a lot more attention than it got. Pete Townshend is one of a handful of songwriters in rock history who is possessed of true genius, and i think this is his best album.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
His last Top 40 album
2 Aug 2004
Format:Audio CD
This album came out in November of 1985 (a month before my sixth birthday), and was the last Top 40 album Pete put out, as well as the last Top 40 album by any of the remaining three former members of The Who. The third track, "Face the Face," was also the last hit single by any of them; it reached #26 in America, the same position the album reached on both the American and British charts. (There's also a film of this album, with some songs that weren't included on the album, but I haven't seen the film yet; the main character is named James, a grown-up version of Jimmy from 'Quadrophenia.') Though it's billed as a novel, which might seem pretentious to some people, and has a very Eighties (i.e., overproduced) sound to it, it's very tight and consistent. It's also a concept album, about a middle-aged man having some difficulties in life coming home to the place he grew up and feeling disillusioned by what has happened to the place in spite of good childhood memories, and concept albums just aren't considered hip anymore.
My faves on here are "Face the Face" (so loud, thumping, and energetic, particularly the long and tense build-up in the beginning), "Give Blood" (which also has an amazing musical build-up before the lyrics begin), "Brilliant Blues" (the only song on here where he uses his trademark high notes; it shows he takes care of his voice instead of constantly showing off with a tenor/low-range falsetto just because he can), "Crashing by Design," "White City Fighting" (co-written with David Gilmour), and the closing track, "Come to Mama" (which has a beautiful sweeping flourish of instrumentation as it winds down towards the end). This is an album that shows how to celebrate middle age and turning forty musically properly. Instead of still singing about the same old things or writing about lusting after hot women, he's writing and reflecting on getting older, becoming disillusioned with the place he came from, not being so young anymore, and dealing with romantic rejections. Too bad more artists can't write mature albums like this when they get older instead of living in the past and still writing the kind of songs they did when they were in their twenties.
My faves on here are "Face the Face" (so loud, thumping, and energetic, particularly the long and tense build-up in the beginning), "Give Blood" (which also has an amazing musical build-up before the lyrics begin), "Brilliant Blues" (the only song on here where he uses his trademark high notes; it shows he takes care of his voice instead of constantly showing off with a tenor/low-range falsetto just because he can), "Crashing by Design," "White City Fighting" (co-written with David Gilmour), and the closing track, "Come to Mama" (which has a beautiful sweeping flourish of instrumentation as it winds down towards the end). This is an album that shows how to celebrate middle age and turning forty musically properly. Instead of still singing about the same old things or writing about lusting after hot women, he's writing and reflecting on getting older, becoming disillusioned with the place he came from, not being so young anymore, and dealing with romantic rejections. Too bad more artists can't write mature albums like this when they get older instead of living in the past and still writing the kind of songs they did when they were in their twenties.
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