Roger Daltrey – Parting Should Be Painless (1984) Review | Still Going Strong After All Those Yee-aahs
Kronomyth 6.0: The double-breasted Daltrey.
’Twasn’t the parting that pained me, really, but the meeting with Daltrey’s destiny, which would seem to be singing songs written by people not named Pete Townshend. With Who’s Last in the books, Roger sleepwalks through a solo album that could have come from Bryan Ferry. One song actually did (“Going Strong”). There are the usual mild rockers here, a few creaky ballads, more or less what you’d find on any Roger Daltrey solo album. But Daltrey’s success as a singer is directly related to the number of hairs he can make stand up on your neck, and Pete Townshend knows his way around the human neck far better than Kit Hain or Simon Climie. If you’re looking for a definitive post-Who statement, you’re looking in the wrong place anyway. (White City is where you should be looking.) Of course, I’ve heard worse albums cobbled together, and the recording industry would have failed us all if it hadn’t found some venue for that golden voice. The diminished expectations I now bring to any Daltrey album are satisfied by “Walking in My Sleep,” “Parting Would Be Painless” and “Would a Stranger Do?,” just as I eventually convinced myself that “Without Your Love” was better than all right. Subsequent albums (Under a Raging Moon, Rocks in the Head) run a little hotter, so feel free to save Parting Should Be Painless for later if Daltrey the rocker is what you’re after. And, no, you probably don’t need the digital remaster either, unless you’re building some kind of shrine to Daltrey.
The Product
A1. Walking in My Sleep (Jack Green/Leslie Adey) (3:20)
A2. Parting Would Be Painless (Kit Hain) (3:41)
A3. Is There Anybody Out There? (Nicky Chin/Steve Glen) (4:16)
A4. Would a Stranger Do? (Steve Andrews/Simon Climie) (3:35)
A5. Going Strong (Bryan Ferry) (5:06)
B1. Looking for You (Kit Hain) (3:21)
B2. Somebody Told Me (Annie Lennox/David A. Stewart) (3:10)
B3. One Day (Gerald Milne) (3:10)
B4. How Does the Cold Wind Cry (Colin Towns) (3:53)
B5. Don’t Wait on the Stairs (Steve Swindells) (6:30)
The Players
Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica), Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Mickey Gallagher (keyboards, synthesisers), Robert Medici (marimba), Billy Nicholls (backing vocals), Norman Watt Roy (bass), Alan Schwartzberg (drums), Chris Spedding (guitar), Mike Thorne (synthesisers), Dave Tofani (clarinet) with Jimmy Biondolillo (string and horn arrangements, conductor). Produced by Mike Thorne; engineered by John Brand, Lincoln Y. Clapp, Harvey Goldberg, Don Wershba; executive producer: Spike.
The Pictures
Photography by Graham Hughes. Typography by Ron Brinkworth.
The Plastic
Released on elpee and cassette in February 1984 in the UK, Australia, Canada and Germany (WEA, 250 298-1/4), the US (Atlantic, 80128) and Japan (Warner, P-11448) with lyric innersleeve. Reached #102 on the US charts.
- Re-issued on compact disc on October 12, 2004 in the US (Wounded Bird, 8128).
