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Don't buy this album expecting a bunch of Who-like performances from Roger Daltrey. Let the fact that Leo "All By Myself" Sayer was one of Daltrey's primary collaberators on this record tell you all you need to know about it. Instead of The Who's sonic power, you get instead a lot of neo-hippie folkie silliness, and some occasional overreaching orchestral arrangements. That's not to say its all bad. In fact, some of the songs succeed on a guilty pleasure type level. Particularly the two song suite "Its a Hard Life/Giving it All Away," an orchestral number that gives Daltrey a chance to test his full vocal range with powerful overwrought emoting. "You Are Yourself" (wow, what a dopey title) is nearly as good in the same vein, while "Thinkin'," "One Man Band" and "Weight of the World" are decent folkie cuts.Bottom line is if you accept the fact that this album in no way shape or form resembles Daltrey's work with Pete and the boys, you might find that its kind of fun.
Roger Daltrey's first solo effort, "Daltrey", features eight songs written by Leo Sayer and David Courtney, and another two by Adam Faith and David Courtney, and one "bonus" track ("There Is Love"). This is an introspective album revolving around joint themes of loneliness and alienation. While the songs stretch their emotional sensibilities to the point where they could have lapsed into melodrama, they are saved by the sheer honesty and piercing emotional expressiveness of the lyrics. In the opening "One Man Band" we find Daltrey proclaiming "I'm a one man band, nobody cares or understands", which sets the emotional tone for the following nine tracks. Throughout, the album always returns to the main theme of the loner adrift in and overwhelmed by a frightening world. The songs run the gamut from initial expressions of loneliness ("The Way Of The World" and "You Are Yourself"), to tentative emotional contact ("Thinking" and "You And Me"), then back again strongly to the alienation theme with the song pair "It's A Hard Life" and "Giving It All Away", possibly the two strongest songs in the entire set, where we find the defeated Daltry pronouncing "It's a hard life/When you're alone/Cramped in your lonely little room", then despairing "Worked hard and failed now all I can say is I threw it all away". "The Story So Far" frames the dissolution of love found, while the sentimental but beautiful "When The Music Stops", enveloped entirely in quartet-like string arrangement, expresses a heart rending yearning to regain love lost. The succeeding "Reasons" is chillingly defensive and accusatory, with Daltrey's lament "Well I pick up my life and I turn and walk away". The album ends, fittingly, with a recap of its opening notes, "One Man Band". There is a cohesion and unity in these 11 tracks that suggest more than a mere collection of unrelated songs. Daltry proves here that he can function quite well outside the bounds of The Who and, with some help from Leo Sayer's songwriting, gives an emotional tour de force. This is most definitely NOT a Who album. The heavy Who sound is here replaced on several tracks with piano and strings arrangements and a much lighter sound, though electric guitar and drums are present on other tracks and Daltrey proves himself quite the rocker on a number of the cuts. The emotional depth of the songs on this album is quite impressive, making "Daltrey" a classic in its own right. The only negative to this album, in my opinion, is the addition of the bonus track "There Is Love". This is a gospel song which in almost every respect does not fit with the overall feel of the other songs, and seems to be simply an add-on, which I feel only detracts from the album as a whole. In every other respect, though, "Daltrey" comes out a winner.
I really enjoyed this album and will be playing it for years to come. Lots of great, catchy tunes and folk melodies. The orchestral arrangements and violin add depth to most of the songs. There are a few weak titles here and there, but still is quite an immpressive album.
I find Daltrey in his own to be a brilliant diversion from the WHO's work. I grew up listening to both and except for the purposes of this review, i don't really compare the two. The first couple of tracks were soundtracks to my growing up, so i have particular affinity for them. What can i say, it's comfort music!
On this disc, Daltrey gives us a better understanding of why the WHO has such staying power. The power of vocals like "You Are Yourself" and the creative genius of songs like "One Man Band" show us a great rock musician at work. This is a disc to listen to over and over.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Limited Appeal at Best, January 21, 2000
Reviewer: A music fan Other than "Hard Life" and "Giving it all Away", which are terrific, there's not much here to recommend.
High Schmaltz, December 13, 2000
Introspective and personal, a great album!, November 3, 2005
Quite Good, November 28, 2002
Limited Appeal at Best, January 21, 2000
