It's Hard
It's Hard is the tenth studio album by the English rock band The Who. Released in September 1982, it was their last album until 2006's Endless Wire, and therefore the last to feature bassist John Entwistle, who died in 2002. It was also the final Who album with drummer Kenney Jones, as well as the last to be released on Warner Bros. Records in the US. It was released on Polydor Records in the UK, peaking at #11, and on Warner Bros. in the US where it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. 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 in November 1982.
Cover artwork
The album cover, designed by Graham Hughes (Roger Daltrey's cousin), depicts a young boy playing an Atari Space Duel arcade game. This is a reference to their rock opera Tommy, with the pinball machine that the main character played updated to the then-modern times.
It's Hard (song)
"It's Hard" is a song written by Pete Townshend that featured on British rock band The Who's tenth album, It's Hard, of which it was the title track. It was released as the third and final vinyl single from the album in 1983, backed with the John Entwistle written song "Dangerous", but failed to chart, although it reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. This would become the last Who single of new material until "Real Good Looking Boy" in 2004, and the last album single by them until "Black Widow's Eyes", two years later.
Background
The lyrics to "It's Hard" were written long before the actual song. It was originally presented to the Who in 1981 for the Who's previous album, Face Dances, in the form of a demo called "Popular", but the band's reaction was cool towards it, as the album was nearly finished at the time. The music of "Popular" was later re-written and the lyrics slightly altered and the song, as "It's Hard", was shown to the Who again and this time featured on the album. Pete Townshend said of the song:
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