In many ways, John Entwistle was sort of the George Harrison of The Who, both being quiet by temperament, and generally content to let their instruments do the talking. Also, both were secondary songwriters in groups that boasted of a superlative main talent, leaving them to fill a quota of no more than one or two songs per album. They did, however, rise to the occasion, often producing gems that brought a truly unique flavour to their band’s repertoire.

In that sense, Entwistle’s solo debut was certainly something of a "break out" moment, analogous to George’s masterpiece,"All Things Must Pass".Unfortunately, though, he was never really able to create anything even remotely approaching the same quality again. That said, if he put all his eggs in one basket, those were mostly golden eggs. Smash Your Head is a solid, rocking album, as evidenced by the heavy, Black Sabbath-esque riffage of the opener , My Size.

While it’s understood that an Entwistle album would be big on bass, the surprise element here is his fabulous horn playing, which adds an intriguing atmosphere to the songs, and certainly makes this an LP with a singular sound all of its own.

The subject matter remains by and large whimsical and dripping with black humour. While some of the songs deal with death and the afterlife, rather than deep philosophy, we have the childishly innocent question “Why can’t we have eternal life, and never die?” on “Heaven And Hell", while “You’re Mine"  with its dramatic cries of “Get behind me Satan!” conjures up more of a cartoonish image of the flaming red devil with a pitchfork. “Ted End", though, seems like a genuine lament for a departed friend whose funeral went unattended.

Elsewhere, Entwistle pulls out his most ominous sounding horn intro for “What Kind Of People Are They?” , a rant against bumbling traffic cops and waiters overzealously implementing restaurant dress codes. “Pick Me Up (Big Chicken)” chronicles a compulsive alcoholic , “No. 29” is something of a sales pitch for a youth potion that’ll make you “34 at 60”, and “What Are We Doing Here?” is a gentle song of homesickness and longing, literally counting days, hours and minutes till his return.

“Smash Your Head..” is a terrific rock album by any standard, and a definite must-have for any fan of The Who.

Rating: *****

Release Date: 1971

Label: Decca Records

Reviewed By: Sughosh Varadarajan

Sughosh is a bonafide music nut, having spent over 25 years collecting audio tapes, vinyl and audio CDs. A superfan of The Beatles, The Who, Jethro Tull and XTC, among many others, his collection includes over 700 LPs, plus a similar count of audio CDs. Given half a chance (or even if not), he is most likely to be found attempting to sell fellow music lovers on his personal passion – British and Celtic folk-rock. He can be reached at sughosh@gmail.com