Customer Reviews

Empty Glass

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pete Townshend is the best thing that ever happened to Rock, and EMPTY GLASS is his solo masterpiece, an insightful, invigorating confessional from a man on the edge.

Townshend addresses punks, aging, drinking, music critics, work ethic, and his lifelong quest to find some meaning in life. Townshend is Rock's great philosopher and, like all great philosophers, he frequently dips into deep dark spells when he concludes life is pointless.

The centerpiece of the album is the title song, in which the dueling elements at Townshends core--the rough boy, tough guy (the adolescent Mod, perhaps?), and the softer, more fragile adult--battle for supremacy.

That's some pretty heavy stuff, but Townshend bounces back from those depressions--"Don't worry, smile and dance, you just can't work life out."

Townshend's backing band, including members of Big Country, isn't the as hard as the Who, but does rock, and can float through the softer sections of EMPTY GLASS in a way the Who had some trouble attaining.

I am completely stunned by the ho-hum reviews others have given this masterpiece. EMPTY GLASS represents the very essence of Townshend, and the remnants of 1960s Rock, as the 80's began and those icons hit their mid-30s. There have always been those who have critisized Townshend for his self-discovery and his search for a greater meaning. For me, it is the questions Townshend asks, and the search he has made, that make him the most important thinker in Rock, and a worthwhile role model.

Brilliant! I bought the cassette of this record when I was 12 and I have to say that not many albums have moved me the way this album has. It is a masterpiece of songwriting..

It is a great rock album. My favourite track is "A Litte is Enough". Amazing. I can still smell/feel/see myself walking to school through the forest every morning as a little kid with my headphones on while listening to it today.

Thanks for all the great music Pete!

This was the second Pete solo album I acquired, and because I bought it on vinyl, I had to wait a short while (18 days) before I got myself my first record player on the day after my birthday to break it in. (I'd played side one in the store already before buying it, but accidentally had it on the wrong speed until I was midway through "LMLOTD"; I knew his voice wasn't that feminine-sounding!) This is my favourite of all of his solo albums, a perfect mix of hard rockers like "Jools and Jim" and soft introspective numbers like "I Am an Animal." A lot of people feel that this should have been a Who album and 'Face Dances' should have been the solo album, but some of the songs on this record I just can't see Roger singing, such as "Rough Boys" and "And I Moved." He wrote these songs for himself and interpreted them for himself; I can't imagine what they'd all sound like had they been part of a Who album. And these songs, like "And I Moved," "A Little Is Enough," "I Am an Animal," and "LMLOTD" are proof enough of why he got so many female fans when he went solo. He found a whole new audience because of how different this material was from the type of material he wrote for The Who.

Some people don't like "Rough Boys" and "And I Moved" because they think Pete is bisexual; even if he were and people weren't just trying to cross the Ts and dot the Is based on some things he's said that suggest identifying with women and not always feeling exclusively stereotypically masculine, it wouldn't change the fact that those are not songs about being in love with other men. "Rough Boys" is a song making fun of the punk culture in England at the time, since many of them were dressing up like gay men in America and not even knowing it. "And I Moved" was written for Bette Midler, but her handlers rejected it as too smutty instead of the type of dirty song they said she liked to sing. It takes a whole lot of guts for a man to not only write but then to sing a song about a sexual encounter from a female pov.

This is such an incredible album, I can't believe I'd been nervous about getting it since I'd feared that the rockers on here I'd heard about would be out of character. It's a lovely album; the only song on here I'm not keen on is "Cat's in the Cupboard." I also wasn't keen on "Keep on Working" at first, but it grew on me eventually. Practically all of the rest of the songs are my favourite on this album; the title track is even one of my two favourite of his solo songs.

A beautiful and Lovely solo effort, Pete manages to still sound like himself, and yet different enough to still be exciting. He also demonstrates once again his absolutely wonderful vocal capabilities. Defenitely a great album, if you don't have any solo Pete stuff, this is what you MUST get!

Who can argue with an album that contains two of the most perfect rock songs ever recorded? And that's not even counting the hits ("Let My Love Open the Door" and "Rough Boys")! "Jools and Jim" is Pete's strange, stirring challenge to punk rock and rock criticism of the late 70's and also, along the way, a sad meditation on the death of Who drummer Keith Moon: "Typewriter tappers/You're all just crappers/You listen to love with your intellect" is sung over the most propulsive, explosive music Pete ever created outside the Who. "I Am an Animal" is even more powerful, with Pete lacerating himself, in a voice that veers into falsetto (echoed by adventursome bass runs), over drums like rolling thunder: "I was always here in the silence/But I was never under your eye/Gather up your love in some wiseness/For every memory shall always survive/And you will see me!" The rhythm section on this album (Tony Butler on bass, Mark Brzezicki on drums) went on to become the rhythm section of band Big Country, but the best moments of "Empty Glass" are worlds more sophisticated and powerful than anything Big Country or the later-day Who could hope to achieve. Transcendant, pounding, powerful, beautiful stuff.

I bought this album, expecting it to be very much like the work of The Who. Boy, was I wrong. This is something totally different, something that wouldn't sound right if Roger sang it. This is a purely Townshend album.

It starts out with Rough Boys, a great song making fun of British punks. The beat catches your attention and gets you interested. Next is I Am An Animal. The song is spectacular! I love it! There's just somethign about it that is intriguing.

And I Moved has a bit of a creepy ring to it, and it always reminds me of people dancing in a club. Don't know why. Next is Let My Love Open The Door. I don't think anyone in the world hasn't heard this song. I enjoy it thoroughly every time I hear it.

The weakest song is probably Cat's In The Cupboard, but I still like it. Jools and Jim is great and fast, A Little Is Enough has tender lyrics which I love, and then there's Empty Glass. There's something about the first lines of it that draws me in, and reminds me of myself.

The album ends with Gonna Get Ya, a great song that has an awesome beat!

Most solo albums disappoint, leaving you wondering where the talent they had with their group went. That's most solo albums, but not this one. Empt Glass leaves doesn't leave you feeling cheated. You know that it's a great album, very different from The Who, but great nonetheless.

I suggest that everyone go out and buy this album now!!!

This is a very thoughtfully written album written and performed by one of the greatest composers of our time. Townshend really shines in this solo effort. The songs will make you rock out and cry both- what more could you ask for?

This is a beautiful and powerful work by Pete Townshend. This recording, as well as Rough Mix and Who Came First are three of the finest offerings by any rock artist. Empty Glass contains some of Townshend's most evocative lyrics and goose bump inducing rock and roll. The recording quality is superb. This is a true rock classic with great songs such as Rough Boys, Let My Love Open the Door, And I Moved, Empty Glass, Gonna Get Ya, A Little is Enough and others. Each piece is a love song to belief in a higher power and at the same time is a celebration of human fraility. Rock and spiritualism mix and as a result, may have found their apogee together.

Pete's debut album "Who Came First" was a spirtually based mediocre collection. "Rough Mix" focused more on basic rock roots but still lacked the Townshend uniqueness we all know and love. "Empty Glass" is a combined effort of both albums.

IT'S SIMPLY AMAZING.

"Rough Boys" opens the album with a punch. Townshend proves his punk roots no matter how old he is. "I am an Animal", one of the stronger songs, continued the greatness with transformation based lyrics. "And I Moved" contains some of the best piano work ever heard (courtesy of Rabbit Bundrick). "Let My Love Open the Door" was Empty Glass's hit single and was rightfully so. "Jools and Jim" brings in more hard rock and is incredibly cathcy. "Keep on Working" is a fun tune with a very good bass line. "Cats in the Cubbard" is the weakest song on the whole album but it's not that bad. It's a bit to heavy on the guitar part in my opinion. "A Little is Enough" is a simply amazing, with synth work similar to "Let My Love Open the Door". The title track "Empty Glass" is a tune with heavy rock chords and the type of Townshend spirituallity we are all used to. "Gonna Get You" rounds out the album with a hard rock, multi vocal finisher.

If anyone thought that Townshend could not survive outside The Who then they've obviously never heard this album. This is the Townshend that should be remebered. His best album with his best work.

With this album Pete Townshend shows us what he's capable of on his own, which is every bit as good as anything he's done with The Who. The hits are good but so are the songs you'll never hear on the radio.