#153
by Carl Hays
Pete Townshend
Empty Glass
Pete Townshend
Empty Glass
Genre: Rock
3.25 out of 5
Highlights:
Let My Love Open The Door
I Am An Animal
A Little Is Enough
Gonna Get Ya
My process in approaching this album was using Notepad++, the same format I use to code API because
I want to get more structured about the review process. I tapped each of the songs out under
highlights with the intention of making notes as I listened to each song and it was at this point
I digested Pete's cabaret look on his album cover with a jesus halo and two likely classy ladys he sucffed up as harlots flanking him on
right and the left. At his right hand is a bottle of what appears to be wine and a high ball glass
with a shot full at the bottom of a dark liquor and where the album's irony begins because the album is called Empty Glass.
As foretold, in the hot pink letters his name is in the top left and the right is Empty Glass.
Hot pink in the 80's was essential to posturing machismo and he is blatantly
irreverent for a purpose probably got the cover artist for Risky Business to do his too.
To top it off, Mr. Townshend capitalizes every passive verb and article in each song title.
Let me repeat that. He capitalizes words like In and The and Is. Who does that? This album needs to be miraculously
good, it better be devil inspired and the blood from his soul should be on a burning document in hell somewhere
the way this is starting out. Now the music.
Rough Boys- this leads in like a classic Who song and it took me until the end to realize this is the guitarist for the Who, what can I say, I am slow. The song has a similar tempo and it beats through the song with a fast pace but a somewhat flat refrain from his background barbershop chorus floating over his raspy vocals. This clearly isnt his best song on the album, he knows it, but it wasn’t just about the music. He is trying to set the tone. The album is going to be rough, airy, and fuckall. 3/5
I Am An Animal- this song has a lyrical cadence to it and it is more poetic than the first one with some quaint falsetto mixed throughout. It has an existential exercise to it wandering through highs and lows - animal to angel and back again with a pattering of pounding drums as his vocals trumpet through parts of the song, straining his vocal range to assist the listener with resolving the burning question is the Who guitarist good enough to lead his own album? He is no vocal Jesus I can say that for certain. 3.5/5
And I Moved- a piano intro bringing in another fast drum cadence, as the last two songs were blazing with guitars, his vocals are almost drowned by the instruments. He clearly has assembled a group of world class musicians playing with him and this is the second filler song, with Rough Boys, showcasing his "band" saying I am Pete Townshend and look how great my Fucking Mystery Band Is. The song is dagshit otherwise. 2/5
Let My Love Open The Door - And we are at probably his only hit song peaking at #9 in the US and #5 in Canada where even the synthesizer feels different. He brings a similar pace as the first few songs with that angelic choir backing him. This tune is catchy, uplifting, and ejects the notion he is just barely good enough to be a boosy lounge singer. At this point I am also hoping he has something left to offer in this album...and there is still The Fucking Mystery Band and Backup Singers To Look Forward To (Distracting Isn't It) of what otherwise could be a glorious one night stand. 4/5
Jools And Jim - he pushed, packed, and stuffed this song in after his hit. Once again he becomes philosophical musing around until about halfway through the song when he says your "hypocrisy will be the death of me" and this line could have been written today. The song isn’t catchy but I enjoyed the poetry. 3/5
Keep On Working- This song is dogshit but not unexpected because he has some Things to say in this album over a melody and this doesn’t disappoint in terms of letting you know how he feels about grinding your lift away, you guessed it, working.
Cat's In The Cupboard- this song looks to be a play off of Cat's in the Cradle, "you got to set it free" and lines like "Rat's on the high street you got to let it be." This has a blues feel with harmonica roaring through the middle of it, pounding drums and the Fucking Mystery Band is in high gear now kicking ass with a silly title but they actually drive this train through the station. This song feels like the real hit but the record company probably played it safe with Let My Love Open The Door.
4.5/5
A Little Is Enough- This song begins with mesmerizing horns and symbols, he has switched up his intro on nearly every song flexing the Fucking Mystery Band again. I like his energy and enthusiasm which is comfortably consistent through this album and he runs his arrangements around because he is consciously choosing not to behave like a lead guitarist that you expect will run a solo through the middle of every fragile song and like a dull blade, finally piercing a meaningful organ and killing its groupie listener. 3.5/5
Empty Glass- He is winding the album down and he still has more to say. "I never had a chance but opportunity is within my grasp...I am so sick of duck TV," not sure if he says Duck here but it looks like a shot at MTV and he finally lets go with his guitar which he is clearly known for and has really been resisting the whole album. It was nice to hear him flex a little with his axe. At the end of this song he sings his lines like a choir boy "standing at the end of the bar holding his empty glass." He clearly wants to crucify the world with his keen sense of irony.
Gonna Get Ya- The Last Song on the album he leads in with his guitar and keeps it safe, not blowing the doors off, or doing anything marvelous just finishes this mostly pile of shit with a few roses and a great cast of musical characters. What I love about this last song is there is free play starting in the middle where the base player, his pianist, and Pete just jam. This is how the album should have started but Pete is sending everyone off with the proper exit. Nicely done, now go back to the Who. 3.5/5
https://open.spotify.com/album/0X8rEKkL2TupftQRrOzX4h?si=4fjNDFpgQtuASXCSDvX0OQ
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