It can be hard to put distance between an artist and their behaviour. Woody Allen films present a problem for some, while I, for one, will never see Tommy Robinson’s impressionist landscapes in the same light again.
One rock musician who recently came under scrutiny is The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, after calling the #metoo phenomenon “obnoxious” and “salacious crap”, before adding, of his extra marital activity, “Come on, men are men,” and “there have been times when I’ve hurt her [his wife] and that’s upset me.” Sending hugs, Rog, sending hugs.
His rejection of the zeitgeist also extends to his latest album, As Long As I Have You, of which he says, “This is a return to the very beginning… to a time when we were playing soul music to small crowds in church halls… now, I can sing soul with all the experience you need to sing it.” So, does his recent outburst cloud our judgment of this new offering?
Not really, is the answer – the songs take care of that. The album is a collection of covers and Daltrey originals, which despite an ensemble of capable musicians, including Pete Townshend, seems to be almost completely devoid of the soul he's so keen to recreate. The opening Motown-esque shuffle of the title track offers some promise, but Daltrey’s voice sounds like it’s straining at the leash and desperate for a fight. That might sound like soul to some, but to these ears it’s Paul Shane with strep throat.
Daltrey imbues Stephen Stills’ “How Far” with distinct echoes of The Who and familiar territory suits him better, but “Where Is a Man to Go?” is bloated by the sort of banal cliché and shopworn sentiment that clothes this collection. Take “Certified Rose”, in which Daltrey channels his inner pub singer to deliver unfathomably awful word choices: “I never want you to close/’Cos you’re the one I have chose/To be my certified rose.”
Meanwhile, an ill-advised cover of Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothing” is just a bloated corpse of the original, all the life – and soul – sucked out of it by a spectacular lack of judgment and poor pacing. It’s utterly unessential stuff, unremarkable in every way.
There are those who will wonder why he’s bothered. Those who think that if you haven’t got anything useful to say, you probably shouldn’t. Yeah, #metoo.