Rocks in the Head

Here's a shocker--a good, maybe even great, album from a man whose solo efforts 'til now have been formulaic. With the unheralded Gerald McMahon subbing for Townshend as music director, Daltry invests "Before My Time Is Up" with genuine passion, wails soulfully on "You Can't Call It Love" and crafts a CSNY-style hum-along classic in "Days of Light." Comeback of the decade, anyone? --Jeff Bateman