Empty Glass [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Pete Townshend

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 1995)
• Original Release Date: April 21, 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000002J6J
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #133,482 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rough Boys

2. I Am an Animal

3. And I Moved

4. Let My Love Open the Door

5. Jools and Jim

6. Keep on Working

7. Cat's in the Cupboard

8. Little Is Enough

9. Empty Glass

10. Gonna Get Ya

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Who's avatar was galvanized by the punk movement when he penned the 10 songs for this 1980 outing, his most commercially successful solo release. The album's opening track, "Rough Boys" (dedicated to the Sex Pistols), puts his viewpoint on the safety-pinned insurrectionists on the line: "I want to bite and kiss you," Townshend barks. In "Jools and Jim" he scolds bilious upstarts who "don't give a shit Keith Moon is dead," while the title track finds the "aging" punk godfather (he was 35 when the record came out) dismally admitting that "life is useless." Elsewhere, Townshend returns to the spiritual concerns that dominated his 1972 Who Came First solo debut, notably on "And I Moved" and "Let My Love Open the Door," Empty Glass's hit single. Musically, Townshend resurrects the rhythmic synthesizer patterns he concocted for Who's Next while also drawing on the drive of those punks whose devotion and contempt he so openly pines for. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, May 30, 2001

By	David Bradley "David Bradley" (Sterling, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Post-rock Who-pop perfection, August 23, 2005

By	Cecilia C. Hull (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Album!, December 23, 2004

By	Obsessed With The Who - See all my reviews

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!!!