Roger Daltrey “Under a Raging Moon”
Roger Daltrey really was the consummate lead singer. The perfect frontman. He was handsome. He looked great without a shirt. He had big blue eyes and blonde hair. And he packed an impossible amount of voice into five feet six inches. He seemed completely at home in his role as front man. He didn’t write the songs. He didn’t need to also play a lead instrument. He wasn’t going to make the mistake that Rod Stewart made, thinking he was an artist just because he could sing. No, he knew that Pete was the artist and he was the front man. And it worked. Roger Daltrey was, perhaps with Robert Plant, the best pure lead singer we’ve ever known. Roger Daltrey painted the lane he wanted to drive in and then drove real fast in a real nice sports car and always stayed in that lane.
But, not entirely.
Turns out, there was always a serious thespian trapped inside Roger Daltrey. Beyond “Tommy” and “The Highlander,” both of which I was very familiar with, he has at least fifty other acting credits. And, apparently, acting was not enough. Turns out there was always an idea for a film that he could write, act in and soundtrack. I knew nothing of this film. It seems few do. There is no evidence of the film itself. Maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe it doesn’t exist. Nobody has seen it or heard of it. But I am totally, seriously convinced of it because Roger Daltrey’s 1985 solo album “Under a Raging Moon,” must be the soundtrack to a straight to video, sexy, action flick starring Roger Daltrey, called “Dangerous Love.” There’s no other logical explanation for at least half of this record.
There’s the black and white cover photo, with the handsome leading man holding a lit, smoking match. There’s the opening track, “After the Fire” written by Pete Townshend, that sets the film’s mood. It doesn’t sound like The Who. It’s not a great rock song. But, If you told me this track was actually a Frank Stallone song that his brother passed on for Rocky IV, I would not doubt you for a moment. Sadly, this is also one of the highlights of the record.
Once the flame of love has been established, this 80s soundtrack tells us everything we need to know about the movie. “Don’t Talk to Strangers” is a reverb drenched song that sounds dangerous in the exact same way “No Shelter” does in The Karate Kid. There’s a searing guitar solo and Daltrey’s voice is in fine form. But it seems impossible that this song was intended for anything other than a movie soundtrack. And, specifically, for “Dangerous Love.”
“Breaking Down Paradise” pushes the movie along. This is the song that plays while Daltrey gets into his vintage sports car and drives off, frustrated and broken-hearted. He’s toiled with a burning love and got burned. The song races. The bass drum sounds like water is splashing off of it. You can feel the passion. You can hear the danger. You just can’t find a melody.
“The Pride You Hide” slows everything down. Way down. Daltrey is looking in the mirror and not liking what he sees. Then he’s lying in bed, looking up at the fan and thinking in black and white. He knows he needs to change. He’s been here before. And the song is professional and yearning in a way that Daltrey can service in his sleep. Like so much 80s Pop Rock, it always has one more drum (machine) and much more atmosphere than the song requires.
On “Move Better in the Night,” the Dangerous Lover is back with swagger. He’s on the hunt, but, look out because somebody’s heart is gonna get broken (and it might be his)! It’s a relatively short song. It does what it needs to do -- adds a tempo to hold onto, some harmonica flair and strips away the atmospheric longing. And then it repeats itself for three more minutes.
Impossibly, it seems that the movie ends after side A. Maybe the rest got lost? Maybe Daltrey ran through financing? I’m unsure what happened precisely because whereas the first side really does actually sound stylistically consistent, side B sounds thrown together, even though the material is often stronger.
The album’s second half, surprisingly, begins with “Love Me Like You Do,” an actual song. There are verses and a chorus. It’s a romantic love song. It sounds nice. Like much of the album, the drums are thud way too forward, but otherwise this has the makings of an Adult Contemporary semi-hit.
There are two Bryan Adams-penned songs on the back half. “Let Me Down Easy” is the better one of the two, sounding exactly like “Need Somebody” with a different chorus. It’s a solid 80s rock song. Like the best Bryan Adams’ songs, the riff is incredible. Unlike his best songs, the chorus stumbles. It’s all a bit like Roger Daltrey plagiarizing Bryan Adams but fudging the chorus so he doesn’t get caught.
Twice, though, on side B, it feels like we are back in the film soundtrack. “Fallen Angel” finds Daltrey crooning and nursing a melody that never takes hold. It’s simply not what his voice was meant to do. Eventually he gets to belt as the song picks up, but it’s too late. Even Roger Daltrey can’t carry a songless song. “Rebel” is what Daltrey does best. It’s not a traditionally good song but the chorus is so simple and big and there’s plenty of room for the vocals to soar. “Rebel” would have actually been a decent movie credit closer. It would not even embarrass most later Who albums.
Appropriately, the album closes with the title track, “Under a Raging Moon.” It’s the moment we were all supposed to be waiting for -- the Keith Moon song. With insistent, repeated synth patterns at the opening, you can wonder if this might really sound like The Who. The power chords busts through and Daltrey really lets it rip. Could it? Could it possibly be great? Sadly, not, The chorus is cloying and on the nose. It builds then recedes and builds up again, considering if it can be great. But. it’s all a big set up for something that I should have guessed except it feels like parody to even write it; Yes — an extended drum solo featuring eight sequential drummers eight drummers, from Roger Taylor and Stewart Copeland to Ringo Starr’s son, Zak. It’s a bombastic and flat, if heartfelt, tribute to his friend and former bandmate.
In 1985, this album got surprisingly positive reviews. I will say, it does sound period appropriate, coming in an era when a lot of album oriented Rock music was experimenting with New Wave sounds. It was an awkward adolescence, before the confidence of Alternative Rock, in a moment the greatest front man of his time added his incredible voice to music that sounded nearly like every soundtrack to every movie from that era. It was the rare, forgettable and forgivable moment when Roger Daltrey started veering into the wrong lane. This may have only been a scrape up, but when you are driving Cameron’s Dad’s Ferrari, even those can be unnerving.