Writer: Pete Townshend
Producer: Glyn Johns
Recorded: June 1982 at Turn Up-Down Studios in Surrey, England
Released: September 1982
| Players: | Pete Townshend — vocals, guitar, synthesizer Roger Daltrey — vocals John Entwistle — bass Kenney Jones — drums Tim Gorman — electric piano |
| Album: | It's Hard (Warner Bros) |
With its prominent synthesizers and lack of a commanding bass line, “Eminence Front” sounds more like a Pete Townshend solo piece than a classic Who track. It's generally considered to be the best song on the album It's Hard.
The single hit Number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Who played the tune extensively on their 1982, 1989, and 2002 tours, with Roger Daltrey playing rhythm guitar.
It's Hard was the second studio album the Who recorded with drummer Kenney Jones, who joined the band after Keith Moon's death in 1978.
The poorly reviewed album peaked at Number Eight on the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. and at Number 11 on the U.K. chart.
The 1997 reissue of It's Hard features a live rendition of “Eminence Front” taken from the Who's Last live album, recorded in the group's first “farewell” concert on December 17th, 1982, in Toronto.
