Retro Spins: Pete Townshend - Empty Glass

  

Do I really need to go into detail of who Pete Townshend is? His prolific genius on multiple instruments? Is legacy career with The Who? I Mean...Do I really need to deep dive? No? Good, because I don't honestly know much about The Who, or the man himself, and I'm kind of feeling lazy, having just come off of four back-to-back Van Halen albums on a Saturday afternoon.

Empty Glass was the vacuum for a struggling artist to direct himself towards. It focuses on issues Townshend was personally dealing with, including alcoholism, drug abuse, marital problems and deceased friends, particularly Keith Moon, the Who's former drummer, who died in 1978. Yet buried within it would be the devotional love song, Let My Love Open The Door, a tune which would produce for the artist a top ten hit.

Townshend would explain of the album 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."

The writing for it would take place between 1978 and 1980, a time when the guitarist was called upon to also fulfill obligations to The Who, working on what would become their 1981 album, Face Dances. Despite this split attention, it would be his solo studio album which critics would label the superior of the two, calling it The Who's album that never was.

That's a fair assessment in retrospect, as Empty Glass does indeed come off as an album that one can easily hear the vocals replaced by Roger Daltrey. It just has that Who sound and style, which fans of their music would immediately pick up on.

Overall, I felt it was a really solid album, and an unexpected gem hidden in my collection. I had picked it up for the aforementioned single and wasn't really expecting much more from it. Call me both shocked and pleasantly surprised to have found additional shuffle worthy tunes, I Am Animal, Cats In The Cupboard, A Little Is Enough, Empty Glass (the song), and Gonna Get Ya.

Though I never listened to them, I actually would continue to pick up Townshend's solo albums as I came across them, not realizing that there was only two more from the 80's, and ultimately adding both of them to my collection. After hearing this one, I'm really glad I did because I'm super excited to continue on through his 80's discography. Though I know nothing about 1982's All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982), and White City (A Novel) (1985), I'm hoping to find some more gems among them.

I'm really running a marathon today of Retro Spins, and though you have to wait until tomorrow, without further ado, I'm headed into that 1982 album. I'll see you there.

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Comics Corner: Secret Wars II 4

   

Title: Secret Wars II
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: October 1985

Highlights

• Death and resurrection of Dazzler
• First appearance of Kurse, AKA Algrim, Sharon Ing, and Eddie
  
• Sharon Ing is in love with Beyonder, but he doesn't reciprocate, and in fact, after one particular night together, he just says goodbye, and leaves
• Beyonder takes to the skies in his red Lamborghini
• Reference is made to Thor 247, 248, Rom, The Thing, Alpha Flight 27, and 22
• Beyonder revives Algrim, and watches as he sets on his path to kill Thor
• The military catches up to Beyonder's flying car, and blast him with a missile
• Not happy with it, Beyonder gets out of his car, and walks towards through the air towards the plane he's frozen, takes the plane, and sends the pilot to an auto shop with his damaged vehicle to get it fixed
• Beyonder goes to visit Molecule Man, and asks him to explain love to him
• Beyonder returns to Sharon to find she's overdosed on drugs
• Beyonder revives her and asks why she loves him, only to be told because of how he makes her feel
• Her response isn't good enough, and Beyonder chooses to find someone else - settling on Dazzler
• Beyonder brings Dazzler to a dome floating through space, and introduces himself, he then proceeds to whisk her around the world in an attempt to get her to open up to him
• Dazzler and Beyonder kiss atop a mountain
• Dazzler awakens in France with Beyonder, and he tells her he is going to get her a gift
• Beyonder materializes in the West Edmonton Mall in front of Alpha Flight, who immediately attack him - He makes short order of them
• Beyonder tells Shaman he needs to borrow his pouch, but intends to pay him for it, he then produces Shaman's daughter from the depths of the pouch, returning her to him
• Dazzler decides she wants to leave Beyonder, and he teleports her to New York
• When Dazzler tells him she wants to live her life and follow her dreams, Beyonder teleports her to a stage with a full audience, but she says she wants to earn her dream on her own
• The Avengers arrive, deeming Beyonder too powerful to be on Earth unchecked
• The Avengers attack, intent on stopping Beyonder, but to no avail, as Dazzler saves his life, allowing the two to teleport back to the mountaintop
• Beyonder admits that those weren't the real Avengers, but rather he materialized them to get Dazzler to prove she loved him
• Beyonder gives Dazzler half his power, making them equals, but she declines it, telling him she doesn't love him
• Drained of the energy, Dazzler falls from the sky, hitting the ground, and dying
• Angered that Dazzler doesn't love him, and has died, Beyonder's rage shoots upward in a blast of energy that destroys a galaxy far beyond Earth
• Beyonder revives Dazzler, and manipulates her mind to love him, but realizing it would be empty, he releases her, and returns her to where she was originally before they first met

Low Points

• For as many highlights as each issue has, Secret Wars II really isn't all that interesting to read
• No Spider-Man

Oddities

• None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

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Retro Spins: Van Halen - 5150

Did Sammy Hagar ever stand a chance of successfully stepping into the Van Halen arena, and filling David Lee Roth's shoes? No. The answer is no. No.

Regardless of who you spoke to, it all came down to clashes between Roth and Eddie Van Halen over artistic direction, control over the band's sound, the singles being released, and the pace of it all. Roth had recently found success with the EP Crazy From The Heat and was even in talks with CBS for a movie deal. As such, it was the perfect time for him to say farewell and bow out of the band.

Eddie approached both Patty Smyth of Scandal, and Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame to fill the shoes of lead singer. However, both would ultimately decline. The guitarist would be introduced to Sammy Hagar through his mechanic. At that point in time, Hagar was already a successful solo artist with his album VOA, and single, I Can't Drive 55, as well as for his work with the band, Montrose. Ironically, both he and the band had been produced by Ted Templeton, producer of all Van Halen albums thus far. Everything just seemed to line up.

Warner Bros. president Mo Ostin would literally say, "I smell money," when the band demoed Why Can't This Be Love for him. No doubt, the money came. 5150 would be the band's first number one album on the Billboard charts. The single would race up the charts to peak at number three, and was followed by Dreams, and Love Walks In, which both reached the top thirty.

The subsequent tour which followed was supported by the VHS and laserdisc, Live Without A Net, which featured live performances from the show recorded live at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut. It appeared that despite the popularity of David Lee Roth, the world was ready, and willing to embrace Sammy Hagar as the new frontman, and welcomed him with open arms.

Van Halen takes everything that made MCMLXXXIV so popular, builds on it, and layers it with Hagar's voice. Songs like Get Up are so familiar in sound, that it could easily be mistaken for a faster version of Hot For Teacher - If you can imagine the drums and guitar in that song getting any faster. In fact, it's so familiar that it barely stands out as its own album at times.

Yes, there are definitely hits here, the aforementioned ones noted above, and these ultimately are the reason I picked up the album. However, I also have to admit to myself that Hagar does indeed hold his own. Though Earth shattering at the time, in retrospect, it's a transition that works. Van Halen could indeed continue forward with a new frontman, and perhaps even be better for it.

I do have to ask though. Why is it when I'm listening to Dreams that I feel like I'm on a snowy mountain slope in the 80's, skiing my heart out to save the lodge in some super unrealistic wager between myself and the local rich bully?

Hmm...weird.

Overall, 5150 is a solid album. Is it better than MCMLXXXIV, no, I don't think so. However, it's definitely a solid launching point for Van Hagar. From there, I suppose I would go into the band's final 80's album from the era, OU812. However, as they say, been there, done that. In review of that write up from back in 2022, I wasn't too invested in it. My review was short, and to the point. Perhaps a little too summed up. I may have to give it another shot. Until then, this ends my trip through Van Halen.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.