Pete Townshend - Scoop 3

2 CD set. This Japanese pressing is part of a Pete Townsend miniature LP sleeve CD release series that has been fully remastered. Imperial. 2006. Album Description

Scoop 3 - Interesting listening

This is the third installment in Pete Townshend's fun "Scoop" series. This series, begun back in 1983, collects demos, unfinished music and tracks that just didn't fit elsewhere. The first two editions contained a heavy amount of Who demos that sometimes sounded even better than the finished songs. Hearing the "one man band" versions made for fascinating listening. This third installment also included a few classic Who demos (notably "Sea & Sand" and "Can You See The Real Me", both from Quadropehnia) but seems to shift away from the Who demos and the focus is a bit more on recent solo demos and experiments. So, it probably doesn't reach out to Who fans as much as it did to Pete solo artist fans. That said, any self-respecting Who fan should be a fan of Pete's solo work and several of the tracks are very interesting - but some definitely lack the punch of a Who song. I'd recommend you purchase this set, but make sure you have "Scoop" and "Another Scoop" first - both of which are 5 star collections in my book.
May 25, 2008

Remastered journey through Pete's archive of demos...

The third installment (and last so far) of "Scoop" covers everything from demos for his solo projects ("Tough Boys" which became "Rough Boys")to Who albums (early demos for "Can You See the Real Me", "Teresa" which became "Athena", "Did You Steal My Money?")and collaborations (Pete's "All Lovers Are Deranged" with the original music he composed for it vs. the music that David Gilmour wrote for it). There's also a fair sampling of instrumental pieces and experiments. Others are interesting variations but the final recordings remain the definitive versions for example Pete's version of "All Lovers Are Deranged" which pales compared to David Gilmour's version on "About Face" but which features Pete's lyrics with a completely different melody and musical backing track. It is fun though to hear Pete sing songs that Roger had previously recorded the vocals for on various Who albums.

As with the previous editions of "Scoop" we get liner notes from Pete discussing the origin of the songs/compositions and additional background information. Some of the songs such as Pete's guitar/percussion demo for "Athena" and the unusual remake of "Eminence Front" with Pete on piano are better or different enough from the original versions to make them essential for Townshend/Who fans.

November 14, 2006

an excellent buy

I've held off buying Scoop 3; I don't really know why. Both Scoop and Another Scoop were revelatory and excellent. Maybe I was skeptical of Townsehnd's later work. Maybe I was just waiting for this reiusse. I don't know if it is a sonic upgrade, but it is another uniformly exellent batch of demos from Pete. I was uncertain that Scoop 3 could match the quality of the previous Scoops, as I thought his songwriting had diminished some over the years. Turns out that might have just been production. These demos are nearly as good as the ones on the previous Scoops, and Townshend's liner notes are, as always, highly entertaining.

At the current going price, this is a very good buy. Highly recommended. October 18, 2006

New Edition Of Scoop Catches Us Up To The Present

Each Scoop series seems to tackle Pete's material in a chronological order. The first Scoop contained material that was older, and among his first recordings (not always, but as a general rule). The demos were of rawer songs, and the new stuff tended towards earlier townshend. Another Scoop dealt with middle period townshend, such as you better you bet, and the demos reflected the more mature songwriting of that period. Now we get to Scoop 3.

This collection examines Pete's latest work, by including the newest stuff he had been working on, material that is more classical and composed, as opposed to the more rock material he wrote before. This was the first collection of new Pete material released since Psychoderelict ten years ago. It whetted the appetite, somewhat, for the new Who album that was being promised so much, but being so highly doubted. Then Wire and Glass and an October 31st release date. It's a good time to be a Who fan, as Wire And Glass was VERY promising. John and Keith are missed immeasurably, and it's debatable as to whether or not they should continue as the who.

However, and this may seem harsh, Pete has been and always will be The Who. He wrote 99% of the songs both musically and lyrically. He took the band in whatever direction he wanted to, crafted the concepts etc. And as the Scoop series illustrates, the sounds you hear on the who albums are entirely of his mind. Again, I don't mean to insult Keith or John, brilliant instrumentalists, and in John, a very good songwriter. Without John and Keith's input instrumentally, the band wouldn't have been as kinetic and electric as they were. Yes, Pete could arrange all these songs and record them easily. But could he fake chemistry? These demos all sound like demos, with a great sound, great songwriting, but no oooomph. John and Keith, greatest rhytmn section in rock history, added that oomph. Their chemistry with Pete and Roger cannot be denied. Though the sound of the who was all pete's, John and Keith took that sound and interacted with Pete, fine tuned it, electrified it, and helped make it the classic sound that it is.

Which is why they'll be missed. The new e.p. has a lot of electricity, and the bandmates do seem to click with great energy. However, it's not quite the same as that almost psychic interaction between the who that existed all the way up till moon's death. So while Pete is definitley the who, it will not be the same without Keith or John.

Sorry to go on a long tangent. The quality of the songs here is uniformly excellent. The extra material makes good segues and background music, and begs the question as to why pete hasn't scored movies, besides that awful Tommy movie. Come to think of it, his score wasn't so great on that either. Nevermind.

Basically, buy this if you have the other scoop series. It makes no sense not to. September 16, 2006

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