Pete Townshend — Empty Glass (21 April, 1980)

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Pete Townshend

Empty Glass

                   ^{Pete Townshend — Empty Glass}
Birth name: Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend
Also known as: Bijou Drains
Born: 19 May 1945, Chiswick, Greater London, England
Notable instruments: Rickenbacker 330, Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Gibson SG Special, Gibson Les Paul, Gretsch 6120, Gibson J–200, ARP 2600, Synclavier
Location: UK
Album release: 21 April 1980
Recorded: 1978–1980
Studio: Eel Pie Studios and A.I.R. Studios, London, UK
Record Label: ATCO
N°.: 32100–2/250 699
Duration:     40:01
Tracks:
01. Rough Boys      4:04
02. I Am An Animal     3:48
03. And I Moved      3:24
04. Let My Love Open The Door      2:45
05. Jools And Jim      2:36
06. Keep On Working      3:23
07. Cat's In The Cupboard      3:34
08. A Little Is Enough      4:41
09. Empty Glass      5:24
10. Gonna Get Ya      6:22
♠ All songs written and composed by Pete Townshend
Musicians:
♠ Pete Townshend — vocals, guitars, synths
♠ John "Rabbit" Bundrick — "straight" keyboards
♠ Simon Phillips — drums (tracks: 2–4,7,9,10)
♠ James Asher — drums (tracks: 5,6)
♠ Kenney Jones — drums (track: 1)
♠ Mark Brzezicki — drums (track: 8)
♠ Tony Butler — bass guitar (tracks: 1,2,4,5,7-10)
♠ Raphael Rudd — brass arrangements on "Rough Boys"
♠ Peter Hope–Evans — harmonica on "Cat's in the Cupboard"
CREDITS:
♠ James Asher Drums
♠ Mark Brzezicki Drums
♠ Raphael Budd Horn
♠ John "Rabbit" Bundrick Keyboards, Main Personnel
♠ Tony Butler Bass
♠ Bob Carlos Clarke Cover Design
♠ Peter Hope–Evans Harmonica
♠ Kenney Jones Drums, Main Personnel
♠ Simon Phillips Drums, Main Personnel
♠ Bill Price Audio Engineer, Engineer
♠ Raphael Rudd Arranger, Horn
♠ Chris Thomas Audio Production
♠ Chris Thomas Producer
♠ Pete Townshend Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Main Personnel, Synthesizer, Vocals
AWARD:
Billboard Albums
♠ 1980   Empty Glass     The Billboard 200     #5
Cover art:
♠ The sleeve was designed by photographer Bob Carlos Clarke. The album's title is an allusion to a poem by the Sufi poet Hafez.
♠ The sleeve cover of the vinyl album (SD 33–100) includes this dedication:
This album is dedicated to my wife Karen.
♠ "Rough Boys" is dedicated to my children Emma and Minta and to the Sex Pistols.
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine; Score: ****½
♠ Pete Townshend was heading toward collapse as the '70s turned into the '80s. He had battled a number of personal demons throughout the '70s, but he started spiraling downward after Keith Moon's death, questioning more than ever why he did what he did (and this is a songwriter who always asked questions). Signs of that crept out on Face Dances, but he saved a full–blown exploration of his psyche for Empty Glass, his first solo album since Who Came First, a vanity project released to little notice around Who's Next (so limited in its distribution that Empty Glass seemed like his solo debut). ♠ Some of the songs on Empty Glass would have worked as Who songs, yet this is clearly a singer/songwriter album, the work of a writer determined to lay his emotions bare, whether on the plaintive "I Am an Animal" or the blistering punk love letter "Rough Boys." Since this is Townshend, it can be a little artier than it needs to be, as on the pseudo-Gilbert & Sullivan chorus of "Keep on Working," but the joy of Empty Glass is that his writing is sharp, his performances lively, his gift for pop hooks as apparent as his wit. Though it runs out of steam toward the end, Empty Glass remains one of the highlights of Townshend's catalog and is one of the most revealing records he cut, next to his other breakdown album, The Who by Numbers.
Solo albums:
♠ Who Came First   (1972)
♠ Rough Mix   (1977) (with Ronnie Lane)
♠ Empty Glass   (1980)
♠ All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes   (1982)
♠ White City: A Novel   (1985)
♠ The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend   (1989)
♠ Psychoderelict   (1993)