Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a very good reason why after more than 50 years at the top of the British Rock genre that Roger Daltrey can still command an audience, regardless of whether they are fans and devotees of The Who, or if they just find the sense of purpose that lives deeply in the heart of a man who has defined the longevity of the classic track, fascinating, intriguing.

Some might say it is his distinctive voice, some might suggest it’s the memory he frames in the fans of where there were when he belted out the Mod classics and the Rock Opera fashions, perhaps it is more of a belief, a magnificent refusal to bend over and accept what some would suggest that the generation to which Roger and so many of the class song writers, musicians and vocalists, give way, move over for the new coming through, let the retirement be fulfilling.

To give way at any age is way is unthinkable, to suggest that someone of the stature of Roger Daltrey should gracefully step aside almost preposterous, and as The Who frontman shows easily in his new album, As Long As I Have You, there is still so much that the man has to say, so much he aspires to witness and hold dear; this is his generation after all and the songs are just as valid as when I Can’t Explain, Magic Bus and You Better, You Bet weaved their thrilling spell over audiences from Leeds to East Filmore, The Isle of Wight and Woodstock.

It is perhaps the long shadow that Roger Daltrey, and the other members of The Who, have created in popular music that this new album works so well, a much-fulfilled partnership with Pete Townshend continuing, as the Rock giant plays guitars across several beautifully succinct tracks. The long shadow, the memories of the loose perm and the equipment surrounding the stage being demolished, of a fairylike tale of four young London lads taking the world by storm and perhaps arguably never releasing the mantle despite the passing of the most brilliant and madcap drummer and a man who could play bass like no other; these are the reasons in Roger Daltrey and the music remains important.

In songs such as Where Is A Man To Go? Get On Out of the Rain, You Haven’t Done Nothing, Out of Sight, Out of Mind and Always Heading Home, Roger Daltrey smoothly takes the stance of the Rock God again, this time though with decorum, maturing modesty and without an ounce of restraint of flinching heart, and delivers from start to finish a gratifying album.

As Long As I Have You, the verdict perhaps of many, that this album does not signal the end, just more of a man to whom so much is owed.

Ian D. Hall