Pete Townsend: New Who album too epic to be a solo project

Pete Townshend took time out from his current U.S. tour with the Who to answer fans' questions in the Des Moines Register. Townshend was asked how his and singer Roger Daltrey's vision of the band differs from his, to which he answered that, "In a sense, he has always felt that the great musicians of pop and rock would never stop working until they died. He has been proved right. I believed we should stop before we became tired, blase or just plain embarrassing."

Townshend went on to say that, "I would not have released the new Who album as a solo album, I wouldn't have had the nerve. It is far too epic."

When asked whether it was harder to compose the new Who album than it was to compose during the band's '60s and '70s heyday, Townshend admitted that, "It gets harder I think. I have had to wait 24 years to write music I felt would work against the immense wall of classic tunes the Who had already made famous... I'm proud of what I did, but that word 'relevance' is the important one: It is measured only by the audience. What is relevant to me might not be so to you. I need to hear the work of... others in order to feel alive today."

During the Who's European summer tour Townshend and his girlfriend Rachel Fuller spotlighted many new artists on their In The Attic webcasts on Townshend's official website, petetownshend.co.uk.

The Who release their new album, Endless Wire, which features 19 new Townshend songs, on October 31st.

The Who will next perform on Friday (September 29th), in Auburn Hills, Michigan at the Palace Of Auburn Hills. They'll be on the road through December.
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