#Roger daltrey under a raging moon rare movie#
#Roger daltrey under a raging moon rare professional#

“Rebel” would have actually been a decent movie credit closer. 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. Even Roger Daltrey can’t carry a songless song. Eventually he gets to belt as the song picks up, but it’s too late.

It’s simply not what his voice was meant to do. “Fallen Angel” finds Daltrey crooning and nursing a melody that never takes hold.

Twice, though, on side B, it feels like we are back in the film soundtrack. It’s all a bit like Roger Daltrey plagiarizing Bryan Adams but fudging the chorus so he doesn’t get caught. Unlike his best songs, the chorus stumbles. Like the best Bryan Adams’ songs, the riff is incredible. “Let Me Down Easy” is the better one of the two, sounding exactly like “Need Somebody” with a different chorus. There are two Bryan Adams-penned songs on the back half. Like much of the album, the drums are thud way too forward, but otherwise this has the makings of an Adult Contemporary semi-hit. The album’s second half, surprisingly, begins with “Love Me Like You Do,” an actual song. 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. Impossibly, it seems that the movie ends after side A. And then it repeats itself for three more minutes. It does what it needs to do - adds a tempo to hold onto, some harmonica flair and strips away the atmospheric longing. 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. On “Move Better in the Night,” the Dangerous Lover is back with swagger. Like so much 80s Pop Rock, it always has one more drum (machine) and much more atmosphere than the song requires.

#Roger daltrey under a raging moon rare professional#

And the song is professional and yearning in a way that Daltrey can service in his sleep. Then he’s lying in bed, looking up at the fan and thinking in black and white. Daltrey is looking in the mirror and not liking what he sees. “The Pride You Hide” slows everything down. The bass drum sounds like water is splashing off of it. He’s toiled with a burning love and got burned. This is the song that plays while Daltrey gets into his vintage sports car and drives off, frustrated and broken-hearted. “Breaking Down Paradise” pushes the movie along. But it seems impossible that this song was intended for anything other than a movie soundtrack. There’s a searing guitar solo and Daltrey’s voice is in fine form. “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. Once the flame of love has been established, this 80s soundtrack tells us everything we need to know about the movie. Sadly, this is also one of the highlights of the record. 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. There’s the opening track, “After the Fire” written by Pete Townshend, that sets the film’s mood. There’s the black and white cover photo, with the handsome leading man holding a lit, smoking match. 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. Turns out there was always an idea for a film that he could write, act in and soundtrack. Beyond “Tommy” and “The Highlander,” both of which I was very familiar with, he has at least fifty other acting credits. Turns out, there was always a serious thespian trapped inside Roger Daltrey. 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. Roger Daltrey was, perhaps with Robert Plant, the best pure lead singer we’ve ever known.

No, he knew that Pete was the artist and he was the front man. He wasn’t going to make the mistake that Rod Stewart made, thinking he was an artist just because he could sing. He didn’t need to also play a lead instrument. He seemed completely at home in his role as front man. And he packed an impossible amount of voice into five feet six inches. Roger Daltrey really was the consummate lead singer.