It's Hard

It's Hard
Studio album by The Who
Released	4 September 1982
Recorded	June 1982, Turn Up-Down Studio at Glyn Johns' home in Surrey, England
Genre	Rock
Length	46:29
Language	English
Label	Polydor (UK) Warner Bros. (Original US release) MCA Records (1997 reissue)
Producer	Glyn Johns
The Who chronology
Face Dances (1981) It's Hard (1982) Endless Wire (2006)
Singles from It's Hard
"Athena" Released: 1982 "Eminence Front" Released: 1982 "It's Hard" Released: 1983

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(C)
Rolling Stone
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

It's Hard is the tenth studio album by English rock band The Who. It is the last Who album to feature bassist John Entwistle and drummer Kenney Jones, as well as the last to be released on Warner Bros. Records in the US. It was their last album until 2006's Endless Wire. It was released in 1982 on Polydor in the UK, peaking at #11, and on Warner Bros. in the US where it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts. The US rights to both this album and Face Dances subsequently reverted to the band, who then licensed them to MCA Records (later Geffen Records, itself once distributed by WB) for reissue. The album achieved gold status by the RIAA in the US on November 1982.

History

The first track, "Athena", peaked at #28 on the Billboard Pop Singles charts.

The album cover, designed by Graham Hughes, depicts a young boy playing Atari's Space Duel arcade game. It is a reference to Tommy, with the pinball machine that the main character played updated to the times.

In 1997, MCA re-released the album with new mixes for the album correcting problems evident in the original mixes for "Athena" and "Eminence Front".

Pete Townshend has been sometimes noted to give a brief history of "Eminence Front" before playing it in concert. He would explain what the song was about, and finish by saying the album's name ("It's Hard").

Live performances

Just over half of this album has been played live over the course of the band's career, most of the performances coming from the then farewell tour in 1982 supporting the album.

"Dangerous" was the first song from this album to be played live, as the third song on the band's first 1982 concert. Its live performances did not deviate too far from the studio cut.

"Athena" was played sporadically on the 1982 tour, sometimes as an encore and other times in the regular set. The band hated playing the song and thought that their performance on it was not up to their standards, so they dropped it in the middle of the tour.

"A Man Is a Man" was also played sporadically on the same tour, and was its last performance also came during the same concert with the last performance of "Athena".

"It's Hard" was played the entire 1982 tour and regularly featured a short full-band jam at its conclusion.

"Cooks County" was only played once, on 6 October 1982 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, in place of "It's Hard". This was because the song was written by Townshend after seeing a television documentary on Chicago's Cook County Hospital.

"Eminence Front" was one of two songs (the other being "Cry If You Want") from this album to last until after the 1982 tour, and the only to become a staple of the band's concerts. It was played in the tours of 1982, 1989, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. A highlight of these live performances was the guitar solo before the lyrics came in, where Townshend would play the solo differently every night.

"Cry If You Want" was played in every 1982 concert except one. These performances featured Townshend playing an extended guitar solo as an outro. In 2006, Daltrey requested that it be brought back, and it was for the first leg of the tour. However, it did not stay in the set list for long, only lasting three concerts. Later, the band would start incorporating it into their jams of "My Generation", albeit in a shorter and jazzier form, where it has lasted until 2009.

2011 reissue

On December 24, 2011 the original mix of the album was reissued in Japan in a miniature replica of the original album art work. The album was remastered by Jon Astley for this reissue using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) to transfer the digital files and included the bonus tracks added to the CD release of the album. The release was a limited edition in the SHM-CD format. The reissue included a picture of the original vinyl label.

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

Side one

1. "Athena" – 3:46
2. "It's Your Turn" (John Entwistle) – 3:39
3. "Cooks County" – 3:51
4. "It's Hard" – 3:47
5. "Dangerous" (Entwistle) – 3:36
6. "Eminence Front" – 5:39

Side two

7. "I've Known No War" – 5:56
8. "One Life's Enough" – 2:22
9. "One at a Time" (Entwistle) – 3:20
10. "Why Did I Fall for That" – 3:56
11. "A Man Is a Man" – 3:56
12. "Cry If You Want" – 5:18

1997 reissue bonus tracks

The 1997 digitally remastered reissue of It's Hard added four live tracks recorded on the last show of The Who's 1982 tour, on 17 December in Toronto.

13. "It's Hard" – 4:56
14. "Eminence Front" – 5:37
15. "Dangerous" (Entwistle) – 3:48
16. "Cry If You Want" – 7:12

Personnel

The Who

• Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Pete Townshend – guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Eminence Front", co-lead vocals on "Athena" and "Cooks County", piano and synthesiser on "One Life's Enough"
• John Entwistle – bass guitar, brass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "One at a Time", synthesiser on "Dangerous" and "One at a Time"
• Kenney Jones – drums

Additional musicians

• Andy Fairweather-Low – rhythm guitar on "It's Your Turn"
• Tim Gorman – synthesiser and organ on "Dangerous", electric piano on "Eminence Front", synthesiser on "One Life's Enough" and "One at a Time"

Production

• Jon Astley – executive producer
• Chris Charlesworth – executive producer
• Bill Curbishley – executive producer
• Richard Evans – album art design and direction
• Greg Fulginiti – mastering
• Graham Hughes – photography
• Glyn Johns – production, engineering
• Bob Ludwig – remastering
• Robert Rosenberg – executive producer

Sales chart performance

Album

Chart (1982)	Position
Billboard 200	8
UK Albums Chart	11

Singles

Single	Chart (1982)	Position
"Athena"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	3
	The Billboard Hot 100	28
	UK Singles Chart	40
"Cry If You Want"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	34
"Dangerous"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	38
"Eminence Front"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	5
"It's Hard"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	39

Single	Chart (1983)	Position
"Eminence Front"	The Billboard Hot 100	68

Sales certifications

Region	Certification
United States (RIAA)	Gold

External links

• It's Hard Liner Notes