THE WHO It's Hard (Warner Bros.)

by Gregg Turner

How hard is it?

Very hard: listening to either side of this record in one sitting; sorting out a coupla good tunes from a particularly bad lot; excusing this album's rampant mediocrity and banal implant of deadweight music for past glory (historical perspective) and otherwise myopic rationale.

The lure of the front cover (slick band photo) prompts conjecture about the moves in the grooves. Clean-cut Pete glares demonic as if "Can't Explain"-type hard-rock might be in the cards... Forget it ("Holy Letdown, Batman!!"), the sounds here to be found're just this drab continuum of slow stuff with plodding, turgid vocals.