IT'S HARD

The last album from The Who for a quarter of a century, it was clear by this point that the band was on their hind legs. After the tragic (yet foreseeable) demise of their drummer, a poor album and sure signs that the music industry was leaving them behind, The Who were wearing very thin, and 'It's Hard' does reflect this. Although it is not technically their swan song anymore, 'It's Hard' does end the saga of The Who on a fairly dull note. Although it is a step up from 'Face Dances', 'It's Hard' is nothing compared to their earlier, more lively days, although it does stand as a fairly good rock album for those who are looking for another dose of The Who.

To describe 'It's Hard' in the simplest terms, it may not rock, but at least it rocks harder than the album before it. 'Face Dances' was something of a pop album; absolving their grit for the sake of soft sounding tracks that might give them some more appeal to the ever more commercial realm of the '80s. 'It's Hard' still features some fairly lacking songwriting. Although the songs here are decent and sometimes even great, it is clear that the band members no longer had their hearts set on making great music with the band, instead saving their best material for solo material, as was the case for guitarist Pete Townshend. However, there are a couple of tracks here that stand out. The first of these is 'Athena', which is an upbeat rocker with a chorus that almost sounds like a precursor to Michael Jackson, or am I just dreaming? In any case, the real highlight here is 'Eminence Front', which is the album's claim to fame. A song that builds with a psychedelic electronic texture and some nice guitar grooves, the song is a really great Townshend-driven track.

The rest of the tracks here lack a memorable hook or solo for the most part, even after several listens to the album. The drums of Kenney Jones try to emulate Moon's work, and for the most part, it is a nice tribute, although there is still not the same ferocity that Moon commanded. 'It's Hard' is a decent album for fans of The Who that want a little more, and there are even a couple of songs here that are really great. As a whole though, this album is something of a disappointment coming from a band that was once creating some of the best music that rock had to offer.

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