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Empty Glass is the third solo studio album by the English rock music 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, Substance 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.
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.Kalchuri (1986) p. 2324
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". Townshend countered by saying that "Rough Boys" was the one song Daltrey would have wanted clarified (in terms of the song's homoerotic subtext) and toned down were he to sing it, thus defeating its message, while "Empty Glass" had been recorded during sessions for Who Are You in 1978; a version featuring Keith Moon on drums and John Entwistle on bass appeared on the 1996 reissue of that album. This version is notable for suicidal undertones in the lyrics that were changed for Empty Glass: the line "Killing each other, then we jump off the ledge" became "Killing each other by driving a wedge".
The album was produced by Chris Thomas, whose credits included Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and the Pretenders' debut studio album. "For a long time," Townshend said, "I wanted to work with Todd Rundgren, and I asked him to produce my solo album which he agreed to do. And then I suddenly realised it probably wasn't a good idea because we're so alike in a lot of ways. I would like to work with him. I think he's a better guitar player than me and a better singer but I think what really worried me about the prospect of him producing my solo album was that I'm influenced by him enough as it is. Do you understand? And I like the way I'm influenced by him at the moment." Sound International, April 1980
The sleeve of the vinyl album (SD 32–100) includes this dedication:
In a review of a remastered release for PopMatters, John Bergstrom said that it had "dated poorly" in terms of arrangement and production but "ultimately, Townshend's songwriting makes the best of Empty Glass more than worthwhile."
| "Greyhound Girl" | "Let My Love Open the Door" | song originally written for Lifehouse |
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| +Weekly chart performance for Empty Glass ! scope="col" | Chart (1980) ! scope="col" | Peak position |
| +1980 year-end chart performance for Empty Glass ! scope="col" | Chart (1980) ! scope="col" | Position |
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