Eminence Front
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"Eminence Front" is a song written and sung by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the sixth track on the group's studio album, It's Hard (1982). Although the album on the whole was considered a failure, "Eminence Front" is one of two tracks on the album (the other being the first track, "Athena") that were generally well-received and later released as singles. The single reached #68 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the only song from the album that the band has opted to play live after its initial tours directly after releasing the album.
Lead singer Roger Daltrey, vocally critical of the album, described "Eminence Front" as the only song on it that he felt was worthy of being released, although he later requested Cry If You Want during their 2006 tour. Early in the song, there is a syncopation, some say a flaw in the singing, where Daltrey and Pete Townshend end the title term at slightly different times. That flaw was edited, and a corrected version appears on the the 1997 re-release of the CD (a live version, recorded on the band's final date of their 1982 tour in Toronto, appears as a bonus track on the re-release). The song had a video, shot at a rehearsal in Landover, Maryland, during their '82 US tour, which enjoyed consistent airplay on MTV upon its release. It is one of the few, if not only videos, where Roger is shown playing guitar.
The song itself focuses on the hedonistic lifestyle that was prevalent during the 1980s — seemingly prophetic considering the song was originally recorded in 1981. The lyrics tell about a party in which people ignore their problems and merely try to hide behind a facade — an eminence front. Townshend has introduced the song in live performances with the words, "this song is about what happens when you take too much white powder. It's called 'Eminence Front'."
The song appears in the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the Classic Rock radio station K-DST, and on the HBO pilot Entourage.
Many fans of the CSI television franchise lobbied for the song to be chosen as the theme song for CSI: NY, but ultimately "Baba O'Riley" was picked for the new show. (When a London version of the show was rumored to be in the planning stages, it was thought that 'Eminence Front' would become its theme, but no such show was ever actually planned.) "Eminence Front" is also the song used as the Dallas Mavericks are introduced before each game. Mixed Martial Arts fighter Stephan Bonnar used the song as entrance music for his bout with Forrest Griffin at UFC 64.
The final two episodes of the ABC TV series Line of Fire were titled "Eminence Front" parts 1 and 2, during which the song was featured.
