John Entwhistle - Whistle Rhymes (1972) [VINYL] - Track LP - 24-bit/96kHz plus CD-compatible format

JE's best solo disk, and for The Who fan, there is much to enjoy.

An appalling sounding recording. On some tracks you can barely hear the drums. No lie. But regardless, it still stands as JE's best solo disk, and for The Who fan, there is much to enjoy. For others? Not so much. Still, there are lots of Frampton solos! Before he was famous, PF was the axe-man on this disk. I dare say it's worth a listen for that fact alone.

I processed this minimally, so there are lots of ticks and annoyances. Some of you folks seem to like that for some reason. Truth be told, I couldn't be bothered to clear them out for this disk. The sound is so bad to start, what's a few ticks? Cynicism wins the day, yet again.

This was also just about the first 8-track tape I had back in the day. I thought it sounded bad THEN, so I held out hope for the LP….. Hopes, dashed.



Review

by Donald A. Guarisco
"After making a surprisingly effective debut with Smash Your Head Against the Wall, Who bassist John Entwistle consolidated his solo success with Whistle Rymes. Like its predecessor, this album combines catchy, straightforward, pop-tinged rock with dark, often bitingly sarcastic lyrics; good examples include "Thinking It Over," a witty, waltz-styled tune about a potential suicide having second thoughts while preparing to jump off a building, and "Who Cares," a punchy, piano-driven rocker about a man who deals with the problems of life by refusing to take it seriously. However, Entwistle's finest achievement in this respect is "I Feel Better," a devastatingly sarcastic tune that features the singer putting down an ex-lover by listing all the things all the things he does to get back at her. Viciously witty yet full of emotion, this poison-pen gem ranks up there with Harry Nilsson's "You're Breaking My Heart" as one of rock's ultimate post-breakup songs. Whistle Rymes further benefits from a stylish production job by Entwistle that judiciously adds extra instrumental layers to the album's basic rock style to subtly broaden its sonic palette; for instance, "Thinking It Over" is anchored by a thick synthesizer bassline and "I Wonder" allows Entwistle to indulge his skill with brass instruments by overdubbing himself into a virtual big band brass section. It's also interesting to note that this album features a pre-solo fame Peter Frampton turning in some searing guitar riffs throughout the disc. All in all, Whistle Rymes is an entertaining and consistent rock album that balances energy with ambition. It may be a little too dark and eccentric for the general listener, but is well worth the time for any hardcore Who fan."




01 - Ten Little Friends.flac
02 - Apron Strings.flac
03 - I Feel Better.flac
04 - Thinkin' It Over.flac
05 - Who Cares.flac
06 - Wonder.flac
07 - I Was Just Being Friendly.flac
08 - The Window Shopper.flac
09 - I Found Out.flac
10 - Nightmare (Please Wake Me Up).flac


LP > Rega P1 with Ortofon Super 30 > TC-750LC > E-Mu 0202 > Adobe Audition 3 (AA) @ 96kHz 32bit float > Manual click removal in AA > Click Repair set @ 20 > Equalizer (from the ClickRepair guy) used to combine into mono) > AA used to split tracks, fade in/out, and for manual click removal > RX Advanced to resample > RX Advanced to dither MBIT+ > TLH to FLAC and sector align (16bit, pad) > MP3 Tagger to edit tags.

"16bit" = 16bit at 44.1kHz
"24bit" = 24bit at 96kHz


No music was harmed in the making of this vinyl rip.