Pete Townshend – Scoop 3 (2001/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

On this third collection of Pete Townshend rarities and demos, the Who guitarist/mastermind offers up another compelling set of curiosities that draws from both his solo career and his tenure with his legendary band. In addition to pensive, minimal takes on Who tunes such as “Sea & Sand” and “Eminence Front” (the latter sounding almost nothing like its popular synth-laden counterpart), Townshend presents previously unreleased tracks such as the majestic rock tune “Commonwealth Boys” and the delicate piano-only instrumental “Poem Disturbed.” While the compilation is mainly geared toward Townshend’s diehard fans, Who aficionados will have much to admire as well, making the anthology a welcome addition to his well-compiled SCOOP series.

As Townshend points out in his liner notes, Scoop 3 isn’t quite the same as its two predecessors, since it has a healthy dose of recent material instead of being devoted to songs entirely from his large archive of demos and home recordings. As he notes, this new material is almost entirely instrumental because, “(W)ithout a ‘commission’ from the Who (or for my own solo career), I simply write less songs.” This does give Scoop 3 a different feel – as the songs and song sketches intertwine and twist with the instrumentals, the collection gets a meditative, reflective feel, creating a bit of an aural self-portrait, which ironically enough means that it flows better as an album than any of his projects since White City. However, it may mean that those legions of die-hard fans looking for a collection overflowing with unheard songs, starkly revelatory early demos, and covers – like on the first two Scoop releases – may be a little disappointed, because there simply aren’t as many. But they are here, in the form of previously unheard songs like “Commonwealth Boys” and “I Like It the Way It Is” as well as early versions of “Rough Boys” (called “Tough Boys”), “However Much I Booze” (called “No Way Out”), and – most remarkably – “Eminence Front” and “Athena” (called “Teresa”), in slower renditions that reveal the heart of the songs. Actually, that’s true for most of the material here, as the selections from Who by Numbers, Quadrophenia, Face Dances, All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, and The Iron Man – even songs that worked brilliantly on the albums – sound more of a piece when delivered in these delicate, passionate, synth-heavy but warm homemade versions, especially when they’re bridged by Townshend’s evocative instrumentals. It does wind up sounding like a musical diary, and if that isn’t enough to satisfy listeners who have eagerly awaited a third Scoop for over a decade, they’re simply ungrateful, since few musicians would have the guts or the inclination (or the material, for that matter) to release something as raggedly lovely and personal as this.

Tracklist:
1-01. Pete Townshend – Can You See The Real Me (04:18)
1-02. Pete Townshend – Dirty Water (01:04)
1-03. Pete Townshend – Commonwealth Boys (03:40)
1-04. Pete Townshend – Theme 015 (00:42)
1-05. Pete Townshend – Marty Robbins (01:42)
1-06. Pete Townshend – I Like It The Way It Is (04:38)
1-07. Pete Townshend – Theme 016 (00:41)
1-08. Pete Townshend – No Way Out (However Much I Booze) (06:06)
1-09. Pete Townshend – Collings (02:35)
1-10. Pete Townshend – Parvardigar (06:46)
1-11. Pete Townshend – Sea And Sand (05:01)
1-12. Pete Townshend – 971104 Arpeggio Piano (01:37)
1-13. Pete Townshend – Theme 017 (02:08)
1-14. Pete Townshend – I Am Afraid (02:30)
1-15. Pete Townshend – Maxims For Lunch (02:55)
1-16. Pete Townshend – Wistful (02:59)
1-17. Pete Townshend – Eminence Front (06:34)
1-18. Pete Townshend – Lonely Words (03:55)
2-01. Pete Townshend – Prelude 970519 (00:39)
2-02. Pete Townshend – Iron Man Recitative (03:39)
2-03. Pete Townshend – Tough Boys (03:10)
2-04. Pete Townshend – Did You Steal My Money? (03:52)
2-05. Pete Townshend – Can You Really Dance? (03:46)
2-06. Pete Townshend – Variations On Dirty Jobs (04:41)
2-07. Pete Townshend – All Lovers Are Deranged (03:22)
2-08. Pete Townshend – Elephants (02:52)
2-09. Pete Townshend – Wired To The Moon (01:30)
2-10. Pete Townshend – How Can You Do It Alone (06:28)
2-11. Pete Townshend – Poem Disturbed (03:11)
2-12. Pete Townshend – Squirm Squirm (04:09)
2-13. Pete Townshend – Outlive The Dinosaur (03:39)
2-14. Pete Townshend – Teresa (04:37)
2-15. Pete Townshend – Man And Machines (03:49)
2-16. Pete Townshend – It’s In Ya (05:22)