After the experimental
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes,
Pete Townshend returned to a more traditional form of concept album with
White City: A Novel. Built around a loose narrative concerning urban despair, the album doesn't work very well conceptually, yet a handful of the individual songs are among his finest solo work, including the punchy "Face the Face" and the anthemic "Give Blood."
–
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi