Pete Townshend Fills ‘Empty Glass’ with Winners

On Empty Glass, his first bona-fide solo album since 1972, Who prime mover Pete Townshend delivers everything fans could have hoped for. His prominently mixed vocals, which evidence as much conviction as he has ever mustered, garner superb backup from his own guitars and keyboards as well as from new Who drummer Kenny Jones and others. The well-produced music is bright, varied, and as indelible as anything the Who have offered in years. And the lyrics—which embrace a nod to punk and a bitter condemnation of the press’s treatment of Keith Moon’s death—radiate sincerity and compositional maturity.