Empty Glass. Peter Townshend. (Atco) "Finally, thanks to Remy Martin cognac for saving my life by making the bloody stuff so expensive."

So concludes the inner-sleeve dedication of Peter Townshend's latest "solo" opus, Empty Glass.

Despite that dedication, the singer-guitarist-songwriter swears the new album's title song has nothing to do with his famous bouts with alcohol.

"Empty Glass is a direct jump from Persian Sufi poetry," Townshend said in a recent interview. "Hafiz — he was a poet in the 14th century — used to talk about God's love being wine, and that we learn to be intoxicated, and the heart is like an empty glass.

"You hold up the heart, and hope that God's grace will fill your cup with its wine. You stand in a tavern, a useless soul waiting for a barman to give you a drink — the barman being God. It's also Meher Baba talking about the fact that the heart is like a glass, and that God can't fill it up with his love — if it's already filled with love for yourself. I used those images deliberately."

Laced with his unique blend of religion (Baba, a la Townshend: "Don't worry — you're not big enough to deal with it...Do your best and leave the results to God.") and rock 'n' roll, the album is an excellent explanation of what Townshend has been up to since his last solo effort nearly a decade ago.

During those 10 years, Townshend has obviously spent most of his time working with his "regular" band, The Who.

Notwithstanding the fact they've never placed a number one album or single on the Billboard charts, The Who survived the decade intact and thriving — though slightly reincarnated in the wake of the death of drummer Keith Moon. And then there were the deaths of those 11 people, trampled at a Who concert in Cincinnati last December.

Accompanied by John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards; Tony Butler (of On the Air, a band led by Pete's brother, Simon) on bass; and Kenney Jones (Moon's replacement in The Who), Simon Phillips, Mark Brzezicki and James Asher on drums, Townshend cranks out an interesting set of tunes on Empty Glass.

Townshend uses the LP as a "setup" for its last number, "Gonna Get Ya." Reminiscent of 1971's "Won't Get Fooled Again" — the crowning touch to what many consider The Who's finest effort ever, Who's Next — "Gonna Get Ya" is the latest example of Townshend's specialty — roaring, apocalyptic rock with a sociological, religious or political (or some combination thereof) message.

Listening to the number (and the louder, of course, the better), one can easily visualize Townshend and his famous onstage antics — leaping through the air while "windmilling" his guitar.

It's genuine rock and roll excitement, of the sort that confronts the listener with the miracle of modern recording. How all that energy could have been compressed in the wiggles of a microscopic groove smashed into a piece of hot vinyl is truly amazing — and guaranteed to "get ya."