Too Late the Hero (album)
Too Late the Hero is the fifth solo studio album by English musician John Entwistle, released on 23 November 1981 by ATCO Records in the US, and by WEA in the UK. This was his only solo album of the 1980s and his last album to chart. The album peaked at No. 71 on the US "Billboard" 200, making it his best-selling album and his only album to reach the Top 100. "Talk Dirty" was the first single released from the album and it received some airplay in the US on album-oriented rock  radio, peaking at No. 41 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Too Late the Hero" was the second single to be released from the album and it would be his only single to chart on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 76. It also peaked at No. 101 on the US "Billboard" Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, making it his best-selling single all round. "Too Late the Hero" was the only single from the album that had a music video filmed for it. The album was recorded as a core trio of musicians that were Entwistle on  bass guitar with Joe Walsh of the Eagles providing all guitar work and Walsh's former Barnstorm bandmate Joe Vitale on drums. Billy Nicholls also sang backing vocals on most of the tracks. Cover. The album cover is an assemblage of photographs taken by Gered Mankowitz. It depicts Entwistle with an Alembic Explorer bass over grainy photos of him dressed as various heroes. The red suit and ankle boots worn by Entwistle were later sold at auction. Composition. The album was Entwistle's first solo album in six years. "I had stopped writing because I thought I was going in  the wrong direction with the 'shoo-bop, shoo-bop,' old rock & roll stuff on "Rigor Mortis Sets In" and "Mad Dog". When I started writing again, I went back to the kind of material I was writing before those albums. "Until about two years ago, I tried to stay away from certain subjects. I was getting a feeling from everyone – from the fans right through my wife and family – that if you write about hookers, you must go to hookers, and if you write about drugs, you must take drugs. I got this reputation for sinister black humour after things  like "Whistle Rymes", when I was getting up at six in the morning to feed my son, Christopher, and then sitting down at the piano at seven to write songs about peeping Toms and suicide cases." Recording. The album was recorded over a couple of years, during those infrequent months when both Entwistle and long-time friend Joe Walsh were free (Walsh's James Gang toured extensively with the Who in the early seventies, and the two had planned to collaborate for years). Critical reception. In the AllMusic review by Ben Davies, he praises the contributions of Joe Walsh on  lead guitar and Joe Vitale on drums, but says that they were unable to save the album from being boring. The reviewer concedes that the combination of these musicians would have seemed, "Like something of a dream proposition back in the 1970s," making the album an even bigger disappointment. "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide" awarded the album zero stars, calling it "a misguided, overblown collaboration with the severely unwitty Joe Walsh." "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" conceded that it "rocks capably." Track listing. All songs written by John Entwistle. Personnel. Credits are adapted from the "Too Late the Hero  liner notes. Production and artwork