Lifehouse Chronicles 6-CD Boxset

I loved the inclusion of the radio broadcast of Lifehouse. I'm so glad that this was put out along with the music. The only thing is that you have to be careful not to cause a split among the book seams.

the lifehouse chronicles is the missing link of who material. Who' s next except this is the complete package! !!

News of the Lifehouse Chronicles began appearing on the Eel Pie website in late 1999. The official story was that Pete was putting together a box set and collecting all the Lifehouse music into one place and the size and scope of this project was gonna be huge (6-8 CD's.) Well, after 28 years of Lifehouse talk this was another: "I'll believe it when I see it" situation that I didn't want to get sucked into and then see the entire project being another false promise that wouldn't make it to the finish line like the many others that came before. In the summer of 2000 I got real lucky and scored a ticket to see The Who play way out in the fields at the Sacramento Valley Amph. near Marysville in row 10 seat 7 that was up against the stage on Pete's side of the action. I had never gotten a ticket right up next to the stage for The Who so a roadtrip was in order for August 22 to travel the 175 miles to see the band out in the farmland of the upper Sacramento Valley. I did arrive a full two hours before the 7:30 start time and I parked in the nice dusty dirt lot and walked right in and checked out this newest Bill Graham venue built for concerts. This place was brand-spankin' new and very nicely layed-out with big bar areas, food vendors, and Who product being sold here. I was enjoying the hot afternoon sun when I spotted it....."Lifehouse Chronicles" was available for sale in a small stall pretty close to the entrance to my front section. I wish I could remember what the asking price was but, I do know it was well over a hundred dollars for this grey box of 6 CD's that was to be only available for a short time with a very small limited release. I was not happy with the price of this thing and was trying to justify this major purchase as an event that was gonna happen as I knew I HAD TO HAVE THIS! So, I bit the bullet and pulled out the Visa card and gave Pete Townshend his blood money and got my mitts on my copy of Lifehouse Chronicles. Well, I kept that boxset glued to my body for the entire show as I didn't see another sucker carrying this bulky grey thing around that looked like plastic fence material (the slipcase really does look like that) and I thought I'd get attacked and left for dead from some chowderheads that wanted to separate me from "Lifehouse" for a real low price (free!) Well, I took my seat and had to sit through some "New Romantics" type band that Pete had brought over for the tour that sucked greatly for close to an hour on that high stage right infront of me. My mind was 50% on the show and the other 50% was watching this boxset but, when The Who took the stage it got a whole lot easier to concentrate on the show. The Who did almost three hours on stage and you couldn't have thought up a better set list for the band to play as it was almost like 1971 all over again with all of the Lifehouse material being staged and performed in all of it's might and glory, right in front of me for the entire show. Somewhere midshow Pete was lookin' right at me and I held the Lifehouse box over my head and whooped like a monkey that needs to take a leak. Pete, gave me a big grin, jumped real high and went right into "Goin' Mobile" a song I never thought I would ever hear the band play in my lifetime and if I would have dropped dead at that exact moment and checked-out of this life, I still would have been a happy guy! Needless to say this show was the best I had seen the band play since 1976 at Anaheim Stadium when Keith was still on that stage being rock music's finest showman, so I had a pretty good feeling about this weird grey 12" X 12" boxset of music that was driving home with me to my high-mountain home. "Lifehouse Chronicles" contains two discs of Pete's demos of 24 songs and over 130 minutes of music on disc one and two of this six disc package. It's a bit strange to hear: "Slip Kid" performed right after: "Let's See Action" but, Pete has always stated he was writing Lifehouse songs long after the release of: "Who's Next" in 1971. The demos lack the fire of the Who's renditions of the same material but with the rare tracks: "Teenage Wasteland" & "Greyhound Girl" being a part of this and it all grouped together (at last) all in one place to tell the story Pete stuck with his demos as the most uniformed way of presenting this music and it works in that manner very well. Disc three and four are my favorite CD's of this package. Disc three is entitled: "Lifehouse Themes and Experiments" and contains many "Baba" variations such as "Baba M1" "Baba M2" & "Vivaldi ~ Baba M5" that are great synthesiser experimental pieces that show that Pete was looking towards the future and electronic music as it's core center. The: "Who Are You" remix with rapper Hame is really great and reinvents that song as something brand spankin' new and fresh, a wonderful find! This third disc really showcases Pete's huge imagination and adds scope to an already large project, there is great new music being presented here. Side four: "Lifehouse Arrangements & Orchestrations" features the music of Scaratti, Corette and Townshend, and almost half of the disc is set aside for Purcell's: "The Gordion Knot Untied" that was a huge inspiration for Pete to compose Lifehouse music. Disc four is far removed from: "My Generation" but Pete wanted the world to know where his ideas were coming from and that explains it's inclusion here. Disc's five and six are the: "Lifehouse Radio Play" that was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the 5th of December 1999. I have never listened to the play so I cannot comment on it. "Lifehouse" was the Pete Townshend opera that slipped away from him in 1971 as it was so very far ahead of it's time. This music was impossible to produce four decades ago and even harder to explain! Pete, was never happy with: "Who's Next" as the music found there was taken outta context from something that was so very much bigger than the record that came forth in it's place. Maybe, just maybe this nice package of six CD's, a 44 page book all enclosed in a nice box will (at last!) make it all right. "Lifehouse Chronicles" is an expensive package but, it's high-quality product that is well produced and worthy of the music it contains. Four Stars!

This 6 CD box set is the end result of Pete Townshend's grandiose plan for a concept album during the time period between the completion of Tommy (1969) and the release of Who's Next (1971), which at the urging of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, the lion's share of the material was shelved. The best tracks were selected for a single LP which ended up as Who's Next, arguably the Who's best studio single effort in the LP world. I purchased this box set at the time of release (2000) on Pete Townshend's Website for approximately 120 dollars (US) including shipping. Although the set may be now out of print, I believe it's value to be the same as original - about $120 dollars. If you chose to pay more, I believe it to be a misguided waste of hard earned money. I currently own a very extensive Who and Pete Townshend collection - 68 LP's (The Who), 14 LP's (Pete Townshend), 121 CD's (The Who), 27 CD's (Pete Townshend). I am an older guy and have been collecting since 1964, and believe I have a good read of the pulse of current music dollar values. Although I have no plans to sell my Townshend Lifehouse Chronicles Box, I am fully aware that being in pristine condition, it is not worth more than the 120 us dollar price. The collection in itself is sequenced in the same manner as the Scoop series but individually categorized as individual discs. The packaging, accompanying LP size grey colored box, book, and unique use of art, different colored discs, and packaging make this a high quality and nice set to have. Unfortunately, for the price of the current seller (450 dollars), I would only pay this amount if I was getting 5 complete sets, all brand new, and uncirculated. I have written many reviews of music going back to 1973, at which time I began submitting for publication. This is my area of expertise, among others. Whenever I see sellers whom I believe take advantage of naive buyers, I take this as a personal attack on my world of current music knowledge, upon blatant disregard for fellow collectors, I feel compelled to tender my opinion, which as a consumer, collector, and reader of reviews, you should view this as such, an opinion of one of the most knowledgeable collectors in the free world. Have a nice day :)