Pete Townshend’s episode of Behind The Music introduced me to The Who’s Lifehouse project, the ambitious post-Tommy rock opera that fell apart and was never released. Some of its best songs ended up on Who’s Next, including “Baba O’Riley,” “Getting In Tune,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
Off and on I’ve worked on a playlist of Lifehouse as it might have been, cobbling it together from Who’s Next, Odds & Sods, Who Are You, and various b-sides and bonus tracks. It’s pretty fun to listen to.
Having done things of this sort*, I was predisposed favorably toward the brilliant Albums That Never Were blog (discovered this morning via The AV Club). In soniclovenoize’s own words:
because i have too much time on my hands, i waste it by reconstructing famous unreleased albums. here are some of them. enjoy.
I’ve only been able to scan the blog so far, but I’m already looking forward to:
- Weezer’s Songs From The Black Hole
- Smashing Pumpkins’ Glass and The Machines of God
- The Clash’s Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg
- Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams
- and of course, soniclovenoize’s version of Lifehouse
Not only are these lost albums reconstructed with careful attention to audio quality and source material, there are extensive notes and background reading on each one. I’m amped about this find, and will thoroughly enjoy exploring the blog; thanks, soniclovenoize!
* See also re-arranging Springsteen’s Live 1975-85, Ken Burns’ Jazz box set, and Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label into chronological order, enjoying Radiohead’s 01 10, reversing The Roots’ Undun, etc.