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Concept
Empty Glass
Summary
Empty Glass is the second solo studio album by English rock musician Pete Townshend, and his first composed of original material, released on 21 April 1980 by Atco Records.
The album deals with issues that Townshend was struggling with at the time, including alcoholism, drug abuse, marital problems and deceased friends, particularly Keith Moon, the Who's former drummer, who died in 1978. Empty Glass also contained the devotional love song, "Let My Love Open the Door", which became a Top 10 hit (#9) in the US, and the modestly successful singles "Rough Boys" (#89) and "A Little Is Enough" (#72).
The album was rated No. 57 on Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest of the 1980s. A Gibson poll rated it at No. 5 among "the greatest albums released by an artist who was previously in a successful band".
In an interview with Murray Lerner on the film The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight, Townshend explained the album's title:
I called it Empty Glass, 'cause of this idea that when you go to the tavern – which is to God, you know – and you ask for His love – He's the bartender, you know – and He gives you a drink, and what you have to give Him is an empty glass. You know there's no point giving Him your heart if it's full already; there's no point going to God if your heart's full of Doris.
This concept was derived from the work of the Persian lyric poet Hafez, which Townshend became interested in from his involvement with Meher Baba, an Indian spiritual master who claimed he was an Avatar — God in human form.
The album was written and recorded between 1978 and 1980, when activity with the Who had started to pick up again, and Townshend found himself having to write for both his solo project and his band. As a result, Empty Glass was considered superior to the Who's subsequent studio album Face Dances (1981), with critics calling it a Who album that never was.
The Who's lead vocalist Roger Daltrey later commented that he felt let down by Townshend, and that many of the songs from the album would have worked well for the Who, among them "Rough Boys" and "Empty Glass".
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