Jackson Browne
Reviewed on this page:
Saturate Before Using - Late For
The Sky - The Pretender - Running On Empty - Hold Out - Lives In The Balance - World
In Motion - I'm Alive - Looking East
Easily the most important musician to come out of the West Coast
scene, Jackson Browne is more than that. A cultural icon, a
political visionary, a seer. His greatest strengths are his focused and accessible melodies; his unique, varied, and exciting vocal
delivery; his startling instrumental virtuosity on his chosen
instruments, guitar and keyboard; and his relentless avant-garde attitude. The star ratings on this page are only
a relative guide: really, you can't go wrong with any record he's
ever been involved with. If you're ready for a brush with
greatness, check out the very thorough Jackson Browne
FAQ. (DBW)
Wilson has once again proven his critical brilliance with an awesomely
insightful analysis... Incidentally, if you find this page outrageous
and insulting you'd better read our flame
writer's FAQ before you waste any time writing to us. And remember
that it's our official web site policy not to respond to flames. (JA)
 Saturate Before Using (1972)
I've never enjoyed Jackson Browne's dull, meandering melodies and
toothless, self-important tenor - but I figured I'd give him
at least one shot. After all, his debut record, originally titled
Jackson Browne, came out well before the soft-rock scene had
completely ossified. What a mistake; it's just as boring as
anything else the man has ever done. It's particularly
disappointing because the L.A. studio musician firepower here is so
awesome: David Crosby (harmonies), Craig
Doerge (some piano parts), Leland Sklar (bass), Russ Kunkel
(drums), and guests like Jim
Gordon (on organ!), Sneaky Pete
Kleinow, Albert Lee, and Clarence
White. But Browne's low-key, hyper-tasteful soft-rock
production drains away any potential excitement, and wherever
Crosby is audible, as on "Doctor My Eyes," it just makes you wish
Browne would shut up and let a legitimately talented singer take
the reins. The album did decently on the charts and eventually went
gold - all of his follow-up discs did so as well. That's amazing to
my ears, but understandable because "Doctor My Eyes" was Browne's
only early-period Top 40 hit, and "Jamaica Say You Will" got
covered by everyone from the Byrds to Joe Cocker. (JA)
For Everyman (1973)
 Late For The Sky (1974)
Musically, this is utterly generic LA soft-rock: one part James Taylor, one part Eagles, one part Graham
Nash. Maybe that's what Joni Mitchell
saw in him: like Nash and Taylor, Browne was romantically involved
with the vastly more talented Mitchell as a step on his road to
stardom. Enough catty comments: on to the music. There's nothing
new here harmonically or rhythmically, the melodies sound instantly
familiar, and the record's so laid-back that when he does crank up
the volume on the rockers "The Road And The Sky" and "Walking Slow"
it's jolting. Lyrically the record is more interesting than
Browne's sensitive romantic, Alan-Alda-with-a-guitar image would
lead you to expect: many of the tunes are apocalyptic ("Late For
The Sky," "Before The Deluge") and he attempts to steer clear of
clichés ("Fountain Of Sorrow") though he doesn't always
succeed ("The Late Show"). This time Browne wasn't relying on the
usual studio cats, using the servicable combo of David Lindley
(guitar), Doug Haywood (bass), Larry Zack (drums) and Jai Winding
(keyboards). (DBW)
The Pretender (1976)
The studio cats are back - Kunkel, Sklar, Gordon, Jeff Porcaro, even Chuck Rainey. Meanwhile, Jon Landau's
production is anonymous and lethargic: longwinded numbers like "The
Fuse" and the title track are pure musical Valium. The only
variation from soft-rock monotony is the corny but sincere flamenco
tribute "Linda Paloma." Browne's lyrics are at their most prosaic
("Here Come Those Tears Again"), and don't really have anything new
to say ("Your Bright Baby Blues"). But if you like his laid-back
style, it's here in its most unvarnished form, so fans should snap
this up. (DBW)
 Running On Empty (1978)
Mostly recorded live, this is probably his best-remembered work, with
radio classics including the singalong title track and the memorable
"The Load-Out"/"Stay" medley. The audience seems to bring out more
enthusiasm than his studio work, and for once the tunes are mostly short
and focused. He mostly avoids bland love lyrics in favor of discussing
the seamier side of the rock and roll lifestyle (adding his own words to
a cover of Rev. Davis' "Cocaine") - it's sort of Browne's Tonight's The Night. The band is Kunkel,
Sklar, Craig Doerge, Kortchmar and Lindley (who adds the Four Seasons-like falsetto on "Stay"), and they add to the clean, precise, rocking
tone of the album, which Browne produced. If you're curious about
Browne, this is the place to start. (DBW)
Hold Out (1980)
His one and only #1 album, but far from his best: he's back to endless,
tuneless mood pieces ("Hold On Hold Out"), but with a newly-acquired
taste for annoyingly in-your-face 4/4 drums and electronic keyboards
("Disco Apocalypse"). The uptempo Bob Seger-like "Boulevard," with its
repetitive "Nobody, nobody" refrain, was a major AOR hit. Lyrically he's
transitioning to his 80s preoccupations with nostalgic musing ("That
Girl Could Sing") and vague exhortation (title track). A big change from
the previous record, and not for the better. Produced by Browne with
Greg Ladanyi; the players include Kunkel, Glaub, Joe Lala, Doerge, etc.
(DBW)
Lawyers In Love (1983)
The title track was all over MTV. (DBW)
 Lives In The Balance (1986)
After several platinum albums with increasingly political lyrics,
Browne turned his attention to Central America: half the songs here
are about that part of the world and/or US involvement there
("Soldier Of Plenty"), and he even brings in a Nueva Canción
band, Sangre Machehual, on the album's most effective tune (title
track). No one could be more sympathetic to his cause than I am,
but the lyrics don't go beyond simplistic platitudes: even when
he's dead right, it ain't art. He's completely abandoned his LA
country-rock roots, opting instead for an ultracontemporary 80s
pop rock sound, imitating Springsteen ("For America"), Bryan Adams
("Candy") and the Dire Straits ("Lawless Avenues" starts out as a
blatant copy of "Walk Of Life") in series. He also slips in a
decent but unexceptional reggae tune ("Till I Go
Down"). As usual, big-name musicians abound, including Kunkel, Bob
Glaub, Steve Lukather, Jim Keltner, Waddy Wachtel and Phil Chen.
(DBW)
 World In Motion (1989)
Browne gets really preachy here, laying his politics on thick when
he has a clear message ("When The Stone Begins To Turn," "The Word
Justice"), and also when he just wants to let you know how fucked
up things are (title track). He sings Nicaraguan revolutionary
Tomás Borge's "My Personal Revenge," and even covers fellow
activist Little Steven's rambling "I Am A Patriot." The irony is,
he's completely selling out on a musical level, standard corporate rock
with painful synthetic drums. It seems he couldn't be bothered to write
any real melodies ("Enough Of The Night" is particularly dreary and
sluggish), and as for the lyrics, suffice it to say that he rhymes
"hatred" with "eradicated." Sly and Robbie appear on the formulaic
reggae "When The Stone Begins To Turn"; other guests include Bonnie
Raitt on backing vocals, plus Crosby, Kunkel and Glaub. (DBW)
I'm Alive (1992)
A welcome about-face, dispensing with all the modern trappings and
politicizing in favor of country-flavored rock and roll (title track)
and some ballads ("My Problem Is You"). It's carefully produced (by
Browne and guitarist Scott Thurston) and mostly tuneful ("Too Many
Angels"), with relatively short punchy numbers ("Everywhere I Go")
instead of the tuneless ramblefests Browne often indulges in - every
song here is his composition. Unless you actually liked all the left-lib
pontificating of the 80s, you'll find this his best record in many
years. Professional as it is, though, it rarely grabs your attention:
with so many generic rockers like "Miles Away" and weepy love songs like
"All Good Things," it's nothing more than decent background music.
Though the sound's consistent throughout, there are a zillion different
players: David Lindley, Waddy Wachtel, John Leventhal, Mark
Goldenberg and Mike Campbell (guitars); Kevin McCormick and James
Hutchinson (bass); Benmont Tench
and Jai Winding (keyboards); Mauricio Lewak and Jim Keltner (drums); Luis Conte
(percussion); and backup singers including David
Crosby, Don Henley, and Jennifer Warnes. (DBW)
Looking East (1996)
Jackson Browne is no dope; by the mid-90s everyone was sick to death of
overproduction and entirely willing to embrace old-fashioned rock and
roll (or punk, or disco, or whatever). So he recruited a production team
ready to beam him back to the early 70s: Kevin McCormick (bass) and
Scott Thurston (guitar). Ironically, it's solidly entertaining and
always authentic-sounding - only about 50% is gloppy, tuneless soft
rock. The chugging, up-tempo "I'm The Cat" is a big-deal comeback
effort, sounding like it must have been one of his early hits.
But there's also hard-hitting rock with quasi-grungy guitars (title
track), cleaned-up Chicago blues ("Culver Moon"), Latin pop
("Niño"), and mellow reggae ("It Is One"). Lyrically, there's the
usual mix of heavy-handed politics (the harmonics-and-harmony laden
"Information Wars"), vague platitudes ("The Barricades Of Heaven"), and
even a love song (the slithery "Baby How Long"), but he's not really at
his worst. All but two tunes are credited as band compositions. The rest
of the band is Luis Conte (percussion), Mark Goldenberg (guitar),
Mauricio Lewak (drums), and Jeffrey Young (Hammond organ); the usual
parade of guests includes Ry
Cooder, David Crosby, Jim Gilstrap, David Lindley, Bonnie Raitt, Benmont Tench, and Waddy Wachtel. (JA)
The Naked Ride Home (2002)
Time The Conqueror (2008)
Let me out of here.
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