IT'S HARD

Actually, nothing is truly stands out from this "It's Hard" album by The Who. But, if you have get used to the music, you still like this album, I think. From the opening track "Athena" which was pseudo-named for Theresea Russell, I still can grab a great sense of the Who sound and style. Not so interesting in terms of composition but the more I enjoy it, I like the music. At least, I like the Daltrey singing. "It's Your Turn" also bring significant colors of the band even though Keith Moon (who died) had been replaced, the drumming still sound similar. "Cooks Country" uses keyboard in the music.

The title track "It's Hard" starts something bluesy with nice guitar work followed with a straight forward pop rock style. "Eminence Front" has an interesting opening in ambient mode followed by stunning guitar solo. It's unusual that The Who starts the music with long intro. "I've Known No War" flows in similar vein like the previous one even though this one has better melody and energetic singing. "One Life's Enough" is a nice acoustic setup using piano, string section and mellow Daltrey's singing. "One at A Time" has an excellent drumming work right after the brass section. Townsend's guitar work during the song is also excellent.

One thing I like about this album is the live version as bonus tracks where on "It's Hard" Daltrey plays guitar. The song actually reminds me to Dutch's Golden Earring. The rest three tracks (bonus) : "Eminence Front (live)" (5:37), "Dangerous (live)" (3:48) and "Cry If You Want (live)" (7:12) are also excellent. I like "Eminence Front" in this live version.

Overall, this is a good album by The Who, even though not the best album from the band.

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW