October 19, 1999 12:53

WHO'S NEXT?

But they won't release it if it's rubbish says [B]Roger Daltrey[/B]...

THE WHO have announced they are in the process of recording their first studio album since 1982, which they will tour early in 2000.

Speaking to Reuters, singer Roger Daltrey said: "We're attempting to make a new album. We can't say we're definitely going to make a new album because if it turns out to be rubbish we won't release it."

Daltery is working with an outside collaborator Gerard McMahon, while guitarist Pete Townshend is working on new songs for the album alone.

Daltery would not be drawn into any more speculation on the new LP, claiming it was too early predict how the album will sound. He said: "We just don't know what it's going to be like now. Until we get in a studio ... it's very difficult to talk about it because music's not like that. It's whatever happens in a studio on a day."

Industry sources are claiming that the record may be finished as early as April 2000 with a tour to follow in the summer.

The band have been pencilled in to play a series of charity shows throughout the United States at the end of October and the start of November. The first show will take place at the Las Vegas music festival on 29 October. Following this on 30 and 31 October they are set to play in Mountain View, California, followed by two more shows in Chicago on November 12 and 13.

The Who's surviving members have been reunited in the past, notably on the 1997 'Quadrophenia' tour, but this is the first time the band will have been reunited and recorded any new material.

In addition to the new LP, The Who's label MCA have announced they are to release an album of unheard BBC session recordings in time for Christmas.