THE WHO star Pete Townshend has become the target for a new torrent of abuse - from his rock peers.

Aerosmith bandmates Joe Perry and TOM HAMILTON have openly criticised the British rocker for taking himself too seriously.

The duo were asked for their opinions on Townshend as part of a 1970s retrospective show on cable music channel VH1.

Hamilton insisted that Led Zeppelin were a far better band than The Who, claiming, "Zeppelin was more about sex and The Who were more about raw anger."

Then the bassist turned his attention to Townshend, adding, "Pete Townshend is just a very easily p**sed off person and is very frustrated by the bulls**t of life."

Perry then added, "He's p**sed off he can't play lead as well as some other guys, so he takes it out in other ways."

The criticisms come on top of a heavy year for Townshend, after he was accused of downloading child pornography. The rocker insisted the downloads were part of his research for a book, and he was not criminally charged.

26/08/2003 09:17