Published on Apr 6, 1998
One after-effect when a famous band breaks up due to a death of
one its members, is determining if the remaining members continue
on, or just go on individually. In the case of The Who, they did
both. After Keith Moon’s death, the band recorded two albums with
new drummer Kenney Jones.
Knowing full well that the band was not like it used to be, The
Who departed, with the remaining members to record on their own. Of
the three (John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey & Pete Townshend), it
seemed that Townshend had the edge in being the most popular. But
Roger Daltrey’s 1985 release,
Under A Raging Moon, is considered an album that is truly
fantastic.
The album was dedicated to Keith Moon, and the eleven songs on
this album are exciting and some could be passed on as songs that
The Who could of recorded themselves.
The first track is “After The Fire,” a song penned by Pete
Townshend. I first discovered this tune from an episode of “Miami
Vice”. The lyrics:
“After The Fire, the fire still burns,
The heart grows older, but never ever learns
The memories smoulder, and soul always yearns
After The Fire, the fire still burns”
has a very deep meaning, depending on how you look at it, in
terms of good and/or bad.
“Don’t Talk To Strangers” is a good rock song, in the 80s rock
tradition. “Breaking Down Paradise”, like “Strangers,” is another
good song, that was penned by Argent’s Russ Ballard. Ballard may
not be a household name as a performer, but he has penned many
successful songs for other talents, like Redbone’s “Come And Get
Your Love,” Rainbow’s “Since You’ve Been Gone,” and Three Dog
Night’s “Liar,” to name a few.
The pace is slowed down a bit with “The Pride You Hide,”
co-written by Daltrey. This is a nice ballad with a pop-beat tempo.
The next co-written Daltrey composition is “Move Better In The
Night,” a song that was one of many used in the beer commercials
back in the 80s. At first, I thought this song was sung by Animals
vocalist Eric Burdon. In the beer commercial, they only played the
chorus, which resembled Burdon’s voice. This song is a rough-edged
rocker that you’ll never get tired of.
“Love Me Like You Do” is another slow number, and is a good tune
to listen to.
“Let Me Down Easy” was written by the team of Bryan Adams &
Jim Vallance. These two writers developed many great tunes for many
Bryan Adams albums. This song was never recorded by Adams himself,
but Roger Daltrey takes a Bryan Adams song and records it just as
great as Bryan would have recorded himself. You can easily tell
this song was written by Adams. The verses sounds almost exactly
like “Somebody” from
Reckless, but it’s faster.
“Fallen Angel” is an eerie slow tune, as its lyrics state of
one’s losing control, becoming a fallen angel. Once in its glory,
now that person is broken, a stranger in a lost world.
“It Don’t Satisfy Me” is a great jam-rocker. It is probably the
hardest rocking song on this album, and it’s one you’d want to
crank up.
“Rebel” is another great tune that showcases Daltrey as
hard-sounding vocalist. He rips as he sings in the chorus:
“I’m a Rebellllllll!
Just a Rebel,
Got my back to the wall,
Gonna fight til I fall,
I’m a Rebel.”
This song takes you back to the Who days when Daltrey was
singing and screaming in the only way he could.
The last song is the title track “Under A Raging Moon,”
dedicated to Keith Moon, and it’s another good rocking song. The
synthesizers are great, and towards the end of this song there is a
drum solo performed by seven drummers, that included Cozy Powell,
Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr’s son), Stewart Copeland (The Police) and
Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). And again, this song is
one that The Who could easily have recorded, and Moon could easily
have performed the drum solo.
Even though this album has the 80s rock sound, these songs
captures Roger Daltrey’s voice as how he is best remembered:
Singing songs in a hard-edged style, best defined as he sang in the
many popular songs from his former band, The Who. I think this
album is now out of print, but it is a great album that will have
every die-hard Who fan playing this album again and again.
Some of the songs on this album, you may think it IS The Who.
Well, you’re close, it is Roger Daltrey, and no doubt about it,
this album is enjoyable. It’s an album you will play again and
again, and not be tired of it.