In the past,
Pete Townshend has let his lyrics tell the story from within the music, and that has allowed much of his work to stand timeless both as individual songs and entire concept pieces. On Psychoderelict, songs and music fight the spoken word "drama" throughout. Some individual songs are interesting; many are forgettable.
Townshend shoots for hip, self-deprecating irony with numbers like "Let's Get Pretentious" and "Outlive the Dinosaur," but the strategy is transparent. Throw in the added static of instrumental passages paying tribute to
Townshend's spiritual mentor, Meher Baba, and the overall effect is disjointed and most unsatisfying. ~ Roch Parisien