After the loss of Keith Moon and the hiring of former Small Faces/Faces drummer Kenny Jones as his replacement, the Who regrouped and toured throughout 1979, continuing on as a band, although Pete had decided to let the group take a temporary rest from touring.  Early in the next year, Townshend set about recording a new batch of material for his 2nd solo effort, the follow-up to 1972's debut Who Came First. The majority of the material cracks and brims with a modern sound, aided by co-producer Chris Thomas(Roxy Music, Badfinger and the Pretenders) and chief engineer Bill Price(The Clash, Mott the Hoople). "Let My Love Open the Door" became a number 9 hit on the singles charts in the US and promptly helped the album to achieve successful sales, culminating to platinum status. Empty Glass features John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards and Tony Butler on bass, while the percussion duties were fulfilled by 4 different drummers in Kenny Jones, Simon Phillips, James Asher and Mark Brzezicki, leaving Townshend to fulfill guitar, vocal and synthesizer duties.

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"Rough Boys" opens the record on a high note with lyrical references to possible middle age frustration as evidenced on The Who's previous title track from the Who Are You release. The tempo is energetic, sharp and rocking, leading into the next tune, the ponderously beautiful "I Am An Animal" with Townshend's pleading lead vocal that cuts right through the listener, matching its musical counterpart most convincingly. Other tracks that continue on an upbeat trend are discovered with "And I Moved", "Jools and Jim" and "Cat's in the Cupboard", featuring a great harmonica accompaniment courtesy of Peter Hope-Evans whom had guested previously on "Rough Mix", Townshend's collaboration with Ronnie Lane. The title cut was written around the time of Who Are You's recording sessions, but retains its inclusion for this record and the subject matter equates the breaking of a relationship. Most of the record's themes are centered around Pete's personal life and touch upon alcohol and drug dependency, relationships and mid-life crises that began surfacing on 1975's Who By Numbers album. The subject matter is especially apparent within songs like "A Little Is Enough", "I Am an Animal", the title cut and the album's closer "Gonna Get Ya". Another track of importance is "Keep on Working" which features the backing of a drum machine and Townshend's multi-tracked vocals, giving the song a demo-like feel. The 2006 remaster offers alternate takes of the aforementioned songs "I Am An Animal", "And I Moved", "Keep on Working", and an 11 minute version of "Gonna Get Ya" which is quite interesting to compare to the edited released version from 1980.

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Although many critics would say that this is the best Who record that never was, comparing it to the proceeding Face Dances album in '81, the fact remains that this is a great Pete Townshend solo record and perhaps the Who could have tackled numbers like "Cat's in the Cupboard", "Gonna Get Ya" and "A Little is Enough" with a little more vigor and pronouncement, but as it stands for me, I highly doubt that they could have achieved much better as this record proved to be a great effort from the Who's undisputed creative leader. 

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Rating Grade- A