Track Listing

1. Athena
2. It's Your Turn - Andy Fairweather-Low, Glyn Johns, The Who
3. Cooks County
4. It's Hard
5. Dangerous
6. Eminence Front
7. I've Known No War
8. One Life's Enough
9. One At A Time
10. Why Did I Fall For That
11. A Man Is A Man
12. Cry If You Want
13. It's Hard
14. Eminence Front - The Who
15. Dangerous
16. Cry If You Want

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50052 in Music
• Released on: 1997-05-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Running time: 70 minutes

CD Description
Who fans tend to dismiss the two studio albums that the group made with former Small Faces drummer Kenny Jones after original drummer Keith Moon's death in 1978, but both FACE DANCES and IT'S HARD are solid rock albums that deserve to be judged on their respective merits. Recorded in 1982, IT'S HARD was the Who's final studio album and it is arguably the least rock-oriented album that The Who made. At the time this album was recorded, Pete Townshend was experimenting with writing in a variety of pop styles and both of the singles from IT'S HARD, "Athena" and "It's Hard" showcase an adventurous, near-theatrical approach that is actually well-suited to Roger Daltrey's somewhat dramatic singing.
On other songs, like the ominous "Eminence Front" Townshend sticks to familiar Who territory. However, it is bassist John Entwistle who provides such Who-like rockers as "It's Your Turn". Now remastered and featuring four live bonus cuts, IT'S HARD is ready to rediscovered by Who fans who didn't give this album afair chance back in 1982.

Customer Reviews

The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band Signs Off
This album has been rubbished and castigated nearly as many times as Kenney Jones, the drummer who succeeded the late, great Keith Moon in The Who. However, it's not really fair. Like Jones, much of the album is not worse, just different, in comparison with what came before.

Sure, there are some below-par tracks, "Cook's County" being one I was not too enamoured with. Concentrate on the album's high points, though, and there are some crackers. "A Man is a Man" and "One Life's Enough for Me" are tear-jerkers with messages, and Roger Daltrey proves he is as adept at putting feeling into softer, slower songs, as he is on the all-out rockers.

John Entwistle's three contributions would all slot into the latter category. They all have their merits. "It's Your Turn" unsentimentally hands the baton to younger rock stars, "Dangerous" sounds like it was written about the group, and particularly the insecure but brilliant Pete Townshend. "One At a Time" sees Entwistle on vocals, on a song which sound a lot like a faster version of "My Wife", his song on "Who's Next", no bad thing. Like the 1971 song, this one focuses on marital infidelity.

Finally, there is the anthemic "Cry if you Want To", which, in spite of its melancholy title, sees Roger Daltrey belting out a bittersweet review of The Who's career. The song proves you can bow out in style.

The extra live tracks added to my enjoyment, in particular the recording of the jazz-funk-inspired "Eminence Front", which sounds punchier than the studio version, and is sung with gusto by Pete Townshend. Watch out for Roger Daltrey's monologues, too.

All in all, I have heard the Who on better form, but this should not distract from the fact that "It's Hard" is a very good rock album, with changes of pace and musical intelligence aplenty.

It's Hard Alright - But It Does Get Better...
Back in 1982, when this album was first issued as a vinyl LP, it seemed that The Who had gained a fresh lease of life. Following the death of Keith Moon in 1978, Pete Townshend had indicated that he intended to lead the band in a new direction. Certainly, in live performances, there were changes, led by Kenney Jones' style of drumming - more regular and metric than Keith Moon's, but without the manic attack which had been the hallmark of the band since their early days.

"Face Dances", the previous album, had shown Townshend's writing in a state of flux - the songs were poppier, and reflected the influence of the electro / New Romantic era.

However, on first hearing, "It's Hard" just seemed an uninspired, sludgy mainstream rock album. It sounded dated - then.

Personally, I loathed it with a vengeance.

The remixed Cd re-issue (with bonus live tracks) has gradually changed my opinion - that, and the passage of time.

Many of the songs sound far, far better in this format - the Townshend guitar swings in and out, and the keyboards have a more subtle effect. To these ears anyway, John Entwistle's bass has a more rumbling, growling presence than is always necessary - this became more of a feature in live shows, not (I suspect) always to the delight of Townshend and Daltrey.

Jones does his job here - he keeps the beat, and makes his presence felt - it's just that, in (the inevitable) comparison with Keith Moon, his style seems too restrained - the difference between a good craftsman and an erractic but inspired freak of nature.

Daltrey gives his all - as ever, but somehow seems to lack conviction handling Townshend's more aspirational (but sadly unpolished) lyrics.

This is one of those albums that could have been so very much better - but which was perceived at the time as being far worse than it really is.

"I've Known No War" hasn't been mentioned by the other reviewers - and to me, anyway, it sums up the best and the worst of this album. It's an interesting topic - the way that the generation who grew up in the immediate aftermath of the second World War were both beautiful and damned: lucky to escape primal, pre-nuclear carnage, damned by failing to meet the challenge of an era of peace (on the global scale, anyway.)

Townshend's analysis of the situation seems fogged now - all-out nuclear war seems less likely in the post-Cold War era; we have our own nightmares to face now.

The song though - the song soars in a way that mid-period Who ("Who's Next", "Quadrophenia") managed to do - but it's let down by clumsy and ill-thought-out lyrics. It's a little over-produced too - the sound of thin(ner) material being stretched out to appear epic.

Yet despite the flaws - the album has a crooked charm - it does grow in its appeal, even if (for me) the Entwistle material tends to dominate the overall sound.

Perhaps there's a key there - several of Townshend's songs sound melodically not dissimilar to Entwistle's - and that's not usual. A couple of gentler, slower-paced Townshend efforts ("One Life's Enough For Me" being the prime example) reflect his growing interest in theatrical show-tunes - they don't work for me, but they have a stilted charm.

The live selection, though taken from the final gig of the band's 1982 North American tour (by which time they were flat, tired and fed-up with the whole thing) sound perversely strong: even below-par Who is pretty damn good.

Their last studio album? Townshend and Daltrey claim they're working on a new one. Just 24 years later then... Maybe I'll learn to appreciate that one in my nineties!

IT'S HARD to comprehend the poor reviews
Perhaps the snooty british music press at the time decided The Who had been around for too long and were due a slating. I never agreed with one word written about this album. It's great. Maybe not a 5 star classic, but much better than the stodgy, hamfistedly produced 'Face Dances'; and if tracks like A Man is a Man and I've Known No War had been released 10 years earlier they would have been acclaimed. In a perfect world the title track would have been a no 1 hit. The only downside is Eminence Front, which I always hated - nearly as bad as Don't Let Go The Coat. In favour of the album is the number of tracks (greater than average), the 5 or 6 potential hit singles, some interesting brass arrangements, the usual excellent musicianship, a higher Entwistle input (particularly One At A Time. Few can surpass a vengeful Ox!)and the overall sound - it's hard! Most of the tracks were reportedly the best of Pete's then current demos, written on subjects suggested by the rest of the band. Pity there won't be an It's Harder.