EMPTY GLASS, Pete Townshend; Atco, XSD 32-100

Alcohol is a depressant. So are people who dwell on their bouts with it.

Veteran rock 'n' roller Pete Townshend, who should know that depression defeats the whole purpose of his musical genre, indulges in frequent self-examination on his new solo release, Empty Glass. But a listener willing to overlook the introspective breast-beating will discover a tightly produced collection of top-quality rock.

Like his colleagues in the British supergroup The Who, Townshend has undertaken solo projects before and his output has always been far more imaginative than that of Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and the late Keith Moon.

On Empty Glass, he offers both high-energy and more subdued tunes, the resulting balance doing much to keep the listener interested.

There is anger in the lyrics. Townshend directs it toward writers who churn out copy with an indifference to tragedy (he cites the death of drummer Moon); he directs it at the social environment that breeds street toughs and, above all, he directs it at himself and his vices.

In the credits, Townshend gives ironic thanks to the makers of Remy Martin cognac "for saving my life by making the bloody stuff so expensive." That, and the title of the album are telling, as is the graphic -- a seedy-looking Townshend with a halo surrounding his head.

Representative of a reformed down-and-outer? He seems to say it all in the tune I Am an Animal, with the lines:

"I am an angel... I don't know how to lie any more, I'm boozing to pray."

Such admissions, like his repetition of "my life's a mess" in the title tune, may represent a coming to grips with a problem, which is to Townshend's credit. But it's always embarrassing to overhear a confession. Take his message too seriously and your enjoyment of the album diminishes.

Townshend doesn't give in totally to despair. The tune Let My Love Open the Door is clearly a song of hope, as is the cut A Little is Enough.

In the latter, the drug to which he is addicted is not booze or chemicals, but love. And an overdose of that isn't bad.