The Who preview new single online

The Who have premiered their upcoming single "It's Not Enough" online. The song, which is from their upcoming album, titled Endless Wire, is available in streaming audio via the website artistdirect.com, and will be released to coincide with the album prior to its October 31st release date. The band has also uploaded two live videos on the site, "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Sea And Sand," both from last year's DVD release The Who - Tommy And Quadrophenia Live With Friends.

"It's Not Enough" and the Who's new show closer, the acoustic-based "Tea And Theatre," are also available online by logging on to testing.universalmotown.com/thewho/eblast/eblast.html.

Roger Daltrey told London's The Observer that it was a struggle getting Pete Townshend to complete the songs for the upcoming album, explaining that, "It's been a tortuous process. I thought the idea was finished this time last year. I thought, 'Pete's got to let go of the Who'... He always needs a bigger vision, but some of his narratives are just so difficult to understand. He's talking about the ethereal and the spiritual, and it's very difficult to write that stuff down."

Earlier this summer, during the Who's press conference in Berlin to announce their upcoming U.S. tour, Townshend explained that he understood Daltrey's frustrations in having to wait 24 years to sing new Who songs: "This was very frustrating for Roger, who is a fantastic singer of my material. The greatest interpreter that a writer could ever, ever want. Y'know he's a fantastic performer, singer, and brings stuff to my work that I can't bring to it myself. Certainly I've never heard any other singer bring it to it."

The Who are currently on tour and have been devoting a substantial amount of their concerts to the new album, of which they're playing four new songs, plus their latest 12-minute "mini opera," titled Wire And Glass. What sets this apart from the band's previous tours in support of a new album is that they are spreading the new material out throughout the show, even going so far as closing with a new song, something they haven't done since 1980.

Although the band hasn't yet made good on the promise of playing rarities from deep in their catalogue for their die-hard fans, they have been performing lesser known tunes such as 1970's "Naked Eye," and incorporating a jam of 1982's "Cry If You Want" during the ending of "My Generation" on select nights.

It's interesting to note that the Who have dropped their longtime standard "Substitute" from their setlist and have yet to perform a single track from their 1973 Quadrophenia album during their current U.S. tour.

The Who perform tonight (Monday, September 25th) in Chicago at the United Center. They'll be on tour through December.
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