Empty Glass Pete Townshend Atco Records
'Empty Glass' uneven, but Townshend still admirable
Chronicle Staff Writer
Pete Townshend's work has always been, at best, uneven. Brilliantly innovative, he wrote the first rock opera, was the first to incorporate synthesizers in a rock album, predated the punk movement by 15 years and has always been on the forefront of rock'n'roll, all in his role as the leader of the Who. On his own, however, without Roger Daltrey to sing his lyrics and John Entwistle to pump out the hard bass lines that have been Who trademarks, Townshend falls a bit flat.
Empty Glass, like Townshend's first solo album, Who Came First, is more a personal statement about Townshend's relationship with his spiritual leader Meher Baba, his fascination with rock stardom and its pitfalls and his yearnings for meaning and love than any Who album could be. But, like all his work, solo or with the Who, Empty Glass is somewhat inconsistent. It has its moments, though. "Rough Boys," dedicated to the Sex Pistols, like the title song on Who Are You, contains all the anger and frustration of a man at odds with himself and his music that Townshend's early songs do. "Let My Love Open The Door" is a pleasantly pop-oriented love song, and "Gonna Get Ya" is an amusing bit of fluff. But others, especially "Keep On Working" and "Cat's In The Cupboard" are so substandard that one wonders what Townshend was thinking of when he recorded them, let alone put them on an album.
Something I've always admired about Townshend and the Who still holds true on Empty Glass. Townshend's songs simply can't be done by anyone else but him and his band. No other band covers Who songs. While this could seem like a weakness, I believe that it shows a mark of genius, of sorts. Empty Glass isn't perfect, but is a good effort. A bit flat, but for a nearly-deaf 37-year-old kid, what can you expect?
Review record provided by Randy's Records
