The Rock (John Entwistle album)

The Rock
Studio album by John Entwistle
Released 27 August 1996 (1996-08-27)
Recorded 1985–1986
Studio Hammerhead Studio, Gloucestershire, England
Genre
Length 41:58
Label Griffin Music
Producer
  • Martin Adam
  • The Rock
John Entwistle chronology
Too Late the Hero
(1981)
The Rock
(1996)
Thunderfingers: The Best of John Entwistle
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link

The Rock is the sixth solo studio album by the English musician John Entwistle, formerly of the Who. It was Entwistle's first album of entirely new music since Too Late the Hero in 1981, and his first solo album to be issued by Griffin Music. The album was recorded over a period of eighteen months between 1985 and 1986, in sessions that took place at Hammerhead Studios in Gloucestershire. Upon completion, it was originally released as a private pressing by his label, WEA Records, in 1986, but it was not officially released until 1996. Having remained in the vaults for ten years, the album has subsequently been released in four different editions between 1996 and 2005, with separate covers for each. "The Rock" was Entwistle's only album in which he did not sing the lead vocals, a role performed instead by American-born Canadian Henry Small, formerly of rock music Prism.

The album was re-released in Europe in 2005 on Castle Music, featuring rare bonus content. The reissue was a CD comprising sixteen tracks. It includes the original album, digitally remastered from the original 1/2" mix tapes, alongside three outtakes, and one demo and early versions of the songs featured on the album.

Tour

Eight years before the album was officially released there was a supporting tour for it, which lasted from June to August 1988, covering North America and Canada.

Critical reception

Mark Deming of AllMusic retrospectively gave the album two and a half out of five stars and wrote that "There's no questioning the technical skill of the performances -- this band sounds tight and expert throughout, and Entwistle and [Zak] Starkey are a mighty rhythm section -- but most of Small's songs are a mass of clichés and the guitar and keyboard figures firmly date this album as a product of the mid-'80s." adding that "The Rock trades [Entwistle's] more distinctive work for faceless cookie-cutter hard rock, and there's no denying [that] he could['ve] do[ne] better."[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Henry Small and Devin Powers, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Stranger in a Strange Land"  4:29
2."Love Doesn't Last"  John Entwistle3:38
3."Suzie"  
4:28
4."Bridges Under the Water"  Entwistle4:03
5."Heartache"   5:05
6."Billy"   3:45
7."Life After Love"  Entwistle4:19
8."Hurricane"   4:23
9."Too Much Too Soon"   3:30
10."Last Song"  Entwistle3:54
11."Country Hurricane"   0:43
Total length:41:58
Additional tracks

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[2]

Production team

See also

References

  1. "Allmusic".
  2. The Rock liner notes. Griffin Music. 1996.
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