When the Music's Over

By Bill McAllister

Townshend's 'Empty Glass' runneth over

"Empty Glass" is the culmination of everything Pete Townshend worked for through the mid and late '70s. The themes of self-doubt, lost opportunities and existential angst, studied in detail on the Who records "By Numbers" and "Who Are You," are presented here with a force to humble the staunchest ignorers of lyrics. The music is alternately graceful and savage, the vocals simply the most splendid this premier rock star has ever recorded.

This isn't Townshend's only significant excursion from the Who — "Who Came First" and "Rough Mix," his collaboration with Ronnie Lane, were both well-received. But the stakes were considerably higher this time because these are the first songs Townshend has composed since Keith Moon's death in 1978. His creativity was on the decline then and the question was whether the traumatic event would provide motivation or the last nail for the Who's coffin.

Townshend has always been among the most personal of popular composers and he meets Moon's death head-on in "Jools and Jim." With fury, he attacks those who dared slander his drummer and friend: "Typewriter tappers — You're all just crappers — You listen to love with your intellect — A4 pushers — You're all just cushions — Morality ain't measured in a room