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Trollheart · 02-17-2012, 01:06 PM

Inside job --- Don Henley --- 2000 (Warner Bros)

Until this album came out, I had always had something of an ambivalence towards solo albums from the ex-Eagle. His debut, while containing some excellent tracks, also had some duff ones, and as the years and the albums went on this pattern was repeated. His release prior to this, 1989's “The end of the innocence”, was perhaps the worst offender. The fact that it contained such gems as “The last worthless evening”, the title track itself and of course “New York minute” made me all the more dismayed that the rest of the album could really only be classed as filler. In fact, had you taken two or three tracks from each of his releases up to and including that, you could have made quite a decent album. But he always, for me, missed the mark, resulting in my taking songs for playlists from all three of his albums, but seldom if ever listening to one all the way through.

That changed with the release of this, his fourth and so far last solo album. No, it's not perfect, but to be honest, it's really not far from it. There are no real filler tracks, and some quite amazing ones. It's a collection of really great songs that finally, after eighteen years, I truly consider a great Don Henley album, one worthy of the name. Perhaps it's because he left it so long between albums ---eleven years before this was his last outing, while there were only five years between it and his second, “Building the perfect beast”, and a short two between that and his debut, “I can't stand still”. Sometimes, it's better to wait and get it right.

Or maybe it's nothing to do with the length of time. Perhaps on this album Henley has finally come of age as a writer, though you would have to say that given his long career with the Eagles, songwriting should have by now come second nature to him. Maybe it was that old chestnut, with age comes wisdom? At the time of this album's release Henley was fifty-three, and perhaps the older eyes saw more clearly. Whatever the reason, this album is a gem.

In fairness, it does not start off as well as I would like, with the dancy, funky “Nobody else in the world but you”. With a stripped-down bassline and sparse drums, it's the tale of selfishness and perhaps reflects a bad love affair, or maybe Henley is anthropomorphising the whole world, and saying that people are generally only ever thinking of themselves. It's something of a theme that runs through the album, as Henley spits out his dissatisfaction with the world, and his anger at the way things are, and a desire to change it while perhaps feeling quite impotent to do much about it.

The second track, also a single, changes the game totally. A lush, beautiful ballad, “Taking you home” is Henley reflecting on the change his newest love brought into his life, with heartbeat percussion and deep, emotional keyboards and piano. Great backing vocals from a host of guest stars, including his compatriot from the Eagles, Don Felder, Carmen Twillie and Valerie Carter, add an almost sepulchral feel to the song. It's just a pity this didn't open the album, as not only does it make a bigger impression but fits in much better with the overall mood of the album.

There are of course plenty of guest musicans, many of which are only credited as “musician”, so hard to say who plays what, or on what, but among them are as already mentioned Felder, plus Randy Jackson, David Paich, Randy Newman, Glenn Frey and Stevie Wonder. The acoustic, simple “For my wedding” is the only cover on the album, and again slightly out of step with the themes on the album, but nice to see the band put to one side while Henley concentrates on what must indeed be a very personal song for him.

Things soon go up a gear though with “Everything is different now”, where Henley pays tribute to the woman he married in 1995, Sharon Summerall. The song is written in the form of a letter sent to an ex-lover, where Henley tells her ”I found somebody with a heart/ As big as Texas/ I found an angel/ With golden wings.” Played in a kind of dark blues mode, there's a lot of bass and deep keyboard and organ on the song, the verses almost intoned, the chorus then expressing his joy at finding the woman he loves, with a big breakout of drums and guitar. A chorus of backing vocals adds to the sense of exuberance and joy as the song fades out.

He changes tack for the next song, indulging his political side on “Workin' it”, another funky shuffle deploring the capitalist system, a little on the same lines as “Gimme what you got” from the previous album. The eternal pursuit of money and power is treated to Henley's acid contempt, including a sort of tannoy announcement where he declares ”We got the hardware, software, CD-ROM/ We got the exploitation dot com!” More good backing vocals from the many backing singers employed on the album, with a great little guitar solo from either Henley, Felder or Frey --- hard to say which, though I suspect Frey. Maybe.

After this workout, he decides to go all eco-friendly, with a ballad based on John Graves' book of the same title, “Goodbye to a river”. It's a slow, lazy melody, almost emulating the graceful flow of a river to the sea, and Henley's impassioned vocal betrays his anger at the disappearance of our natural resources and man's need to control everything. Built on Benmont Tench's mournful synth melody backed by piano and muted drums, the song is one of the standouts on the album, in fact I would say one of Henley's best ever solo songs. Some very effective mandolin comes in and fades out, adding a nice little touch. It's followed by the title track, where Henley goes back to his political views, and sings of a government that does as it likes and is answerable to no-one, a theme that would be revisited on the Eagles' comeback album, “Long road out of Eden”, with in fact the title of one of the songs on that album taken from part of the lyric here, “Business as usual”.

There's a great sense of paranoia and fear as you would probably expect, with Henley's trademark anger and outrage as he snaps ”You think that you're so smart/ But you don't have a ****ing clue!” Nice almost-guitar-solo quickly cuts off to be replaced by a piano and keyboard melody then the whole thing ramps up as the passion and anger reaches fever pitch: ”They know the road by which you came/ They know your mother's maiden name/ And what you had for breakfast/ And what you have hidden in the mattress!” The song fades out on somewhat shaky guitar, as if Henley is challenging the listener: yeah, now you know: what you gonna do about it?

After the emotional rollercoaster of the last few tracks, there's pure fun in “They're not here, they're not coming”, though with a serious message, as Henley envisions aliens visiting us, but declares they won't be coming because of man's inhumanity to man. ”They're not here, they're not coming/ Not in a million years/ Till we lay aside our hatred/ Put away our fears.” A boppy, uptempo song driven by Henley's energetic, almost dustpan-lid drumming, with some nice guitar touches and a very sarcastic vocal from the man himself: ”Would they go screaming through the universe/ Just to buy McNuggets?/ I don't think so!” A real rocker with some quite clever and dark satire.

The acoustic ballad “Damn it Rose” seems to concern a girl committing suicide, Henley reflecting on how it affects those left behind: ”You could have given us the finger/ Much more constructively than that/ Now I sit here with the empty vase” --- lot of tension and unresolved anger in the song, as indeed there is in many of the tracks on this album, which almost --- almost --- sounds like it was written by a younger person, but then, often clearer and more directed anger also comes with age. As we see the world for what it is, we realise how pathetic it can be, and often, how pathetic we are. Hey, I'm not pathetic, but you know what I mean!

“Miss ghost” is another uptempo, almost funky number, with snapping guitar and spooky organ, the tale of a visitation from the beyond. Whether it's a dream, or something viewed through an alcoholic haze I'm not sure, but it's got a certain Dire Straits vibe, while “The genie” is more rocky, with some insightful drumming, thick guitar and exuberant organ, then “Annabel” is a beautiful little acoustic piano ballad, presumably written for Henley's youngest daughter, very touching, as he tells the sleeping child ”You've got my hard head/ And your mother's grace” and sings to her of the kind of life he hopes she will have, and the kind of person she will grow up to be. It's a tender little song, extremely personal, and would in fact have been a great closer, but there's one more track to go.

I guess the title says it all, as “My thanksgiving” expresses Henley's joy at what he has in his life, the good luck he has received, the chances that have come his way that might not have. He has a last pop at the entitlement culture before he goes, grinning ”The trouble with you and me my friend/ Is the trouble with this nation:/ Too many blessings/ Too little appreciation/ And I know that kind of notion/ Well it just ain't cool/ So send me back to Sunday school.” It's a nice mid-paced rocker to end the album, as he hits one last parting shot: ”Have you noticed that an angry man/ Can only get so far/ Until he reconciles the way he thinks/ Things ought to be/ With the way things are?” Sage words indeed.

Should we read anything into the fact that Don Henley has not had another solo album since this, eleven, well, twelve years now? Probably not. The reunion with his former bandmates and the Eagles' subsequent world tour would surely have taken up most if not all of his creative time, and I have no doubt that there will be more solo work coming from this most insightful of songwriters in the future. But for now, “Inside job” stands, finally, as the album I always hoped Don Henley would make.

TRACKLISTING

1. Nobody else in the world but you
2. Taking you home
3. For my wedding
4. Everything is different now
5. Workin' it
6. Goodbye to a river
7. Inside job
8. They're not here, they're not coming
9. Damn it Rose
10. Miss ghost
11. The genie
12. Annabel
13. My thanksgiving

Recommended further listening: “I can't stand still”, “Building the perfect beast” and “The end of the innocence”

02-17-2012, 01:06 PM	#904 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Inside job --- Don Henley --- 2000 (Warner Bros) Until this album came out, I had always had something of an ambivalence towards solo albums from the ex-Eagle. His debut, while containing some excellent tracks, also had some duff ones, and as the years and the albums went on this pattern was repeated. His release prior to this, 1989's “The end of the innocence”, was perhaps the worst offender. The fact that it contained such gems as “The last worthless evening”, the title track itself and of course “New York minute” made me all the more dismayed that the rest of the album could really only be classed as filler. In fact, had you taken two or three tracks from each of his releases up to and including that, you could have made quite a decent album. But he always, for me, missed the mark, resulting in my taking songs for playlists from all three of his albums, but seldom if ever listening to one all the way through. That changed with the release of this, his fourth and so far last solo album. No, it's not perfect, but to be honest, it's really not far from it. There are no real filler tracks, and some quite amazing ones. It's a collection of really great songs that finally, after eighteen years, I truly consider a great Don Henley album, one worthy of the name. Perhaps it's because he left it so long between albums ---eleven years before this was his last outing, while there were only five years between it and his second, “Building the perfect beast”, and a short two between that and his debut, “I can't stand still”. Sometimes, it's better to wait and get it right. Or maybe it's nothing to do with the length of time. Perhaps on this album Henley has finally come of age as a writer, though you would have to say that given his long career with the Eagles, songwriting should have by now come second nature to him. Maybe it was that old chestnut, with age comes wisdom? At the time of this album's release Henley was fifty-three, and perhaps the older eyes saw more clearly. Whatever the reason, this album is a gem. In fairness, it does not start off as well as I would like, with the dancy, funky “Nobody else in the world but you”. With a stripped-down bassline and sparse drums, it's the tale of selfishness and perhaps reflects a bad love affair, or maybe Henley is anthropomorphising the whole world, and saying that people are generally only ever thinking of themselves. It's something of a theme that runs through the album, as Henley spits out his dissatisfaction with the world, and his anger at the way things are, and a desire to change it while perhaps feeling quite impotent to do much about it. The second track, also a single, changes the game totally. A lush, beautiful ballad, “Taking you home” is Henley reflecting on the change his newest love brought into his life, with heartbeat percussion and deep, emotional keyboards and piano. Great backing vocals from a host of guest stars, including his compatriot from the Eagles, Don Felder, Carmen Twillie and Valerie Carter, add an almost sepulchral feel to the song. It's just a pity this didn't open the album, as not only does it make a bigger impression but fits in much better with the overall mood of the album. There are of course plenty of guest musicans, many of which are only credited as “musician”, so hard to say who plays what, or on what, but among them are as already mentioned Felder, plus Randy Jackson, David Paich, Randy Newman, Glenn Frey and Stevie Wonder. The acoustic, simple “For my wedding” is the only cover on the album, and again slightly out of step with the themes on the album, but nice to see the band put to one side while Henley concentrates on what must indeed be a very personal song for him. Things soon go up a gear though with “Everything is different now”, where Henley pays tribute to the woman he married in 1995, Sharon Summerall. The song is written in the form of a letter sent to an ex-lover, where Henley tells her ”I found somebody with a heart/ As big as Texas/ I found an angel/ With golden wings.” Played in a kind of dark blues mode, there's a lot of bass and deep keyboard and organ on the song, the verses almost intoned, the chorus then expressing his joy at finding the woman he loves, with a big breakout of drums and guitar. A chorus of backing vocals adds to the sense of exuberance and joy as the song fades out. He changes tack for the next song, indulging his political side on “Workin' it”, another funky shuffle deploring the capitalist system, a little on the same lines as “Gimme what you got” from the previous album. The eternal pursuit of money and power is treated to Henley's acid contempt, including a sort of tannoy announcement where he declares ”We got the hardware, software, CD-ROM/ We got the exploitation dot com!” More good backing vocals from the many backing singers employed on the album, with a great little guitar solo from either Henley, Felder or Frey --- hard to say which, though I suspect Frey. Maybe. After this workout, he decides to go all eco-friendly, with a ballad based on John Graves' book of the same title, “Goodbye to a river”. It's a slow, lazy melody, almost emulating the graceful flow of a river to the sea, and Henley's impassioned vocal betrays his anger at the disappearance of our natural resources and man's need to control everything. Built on Benmont Tench's mournful synth melody backed by piano and muted drums, the song is one of the standouts on the album, in fact I would say one of Henley's best ever solo songs. Some very effective mandolin comes in and fades out, adding a nice little touch. It's followed by the title track, where Henley goes back to his political views, and sings of a government that does as it likes and is answerable to no-one, a theme that would be revisited on the Eagles' comeback album, “Long road out of Eden”, with in fact the title of one of the songs on that album taken from part of the lyric here, “Business as usual”. There's a great sense of paranoia and fear as you would probably expect, with Henley's trademark anger and outrage as he snaps ”You think that you're so smart/ But you don't have a **ing clue!” Nice almost-guitar-solo quickly cuts off to be replaced by a piano and keyboard melody then the whole thing ramps up as the passion and anger reaches fever pitch: ”They know the road by which you came/ They know your mother's maiden name/ And what you had for breakfast/ And what you have hidden in the mattress!” The song fades out on somewhat shaky guitar, as if Henley is challenging the listener: yeah, now you know: what you gonna do about it? After the emotional rollercoaster of the last few tracks, there's pure fun in “They're not here, they're not coming”, though with a serious message, as Henley envisions aliens visiting us, but declares they won't be coming because of man's inhumanity to man. ”They're not here, they're not coming/ Not in a million years/ Till we lay aside our hatred/ Put away our fears.” A boppy, uptempo song driven by Henley's energetic, almost dustpan-lid drumming, with some nice guitar touches and a very sarcastic vocal from the man himself: ”Would they go screaming through the universe/ Just to buy McNuggets?/ I don't think so!” A real rocker with some quite clever and dark satire. The acoustic ballad “Damn it Rose” seems to concern a girl committing suicide, Henley reflecting on how it affects those left behind: ”You could have given us the finger/ Much more constructively than that/ Now I sit here with the empty vase” --- lot of tension and unresolved anger in the song, as indeed there is in many of the tracks on this album, which almost --- almost --- sounds like it was written by a younger person, but then, often clearer and more directed anger also comes with age. As we see the world for what it is, we realise how pathetic it can be, and often, how pathetic we are. Hey, I'm not pathetic, but you know what I mean! “Miss ghost” is another uptempo, almost funky number, with snapping guitar and spooky organ, the tale of a visitation from the beyond. Whether it's a dream, or something viewed through an alcoholic haze I'm not sure, but it's got a certain Dire Straits vibe, while “The genie” is more rocky, with some insightful drumming, thick guitar and exuberant organ, then “Annabel” is a beautiful little acoustic piano ballad, presumably written for Henley's youngest daughter, very touching, as he tells the sleeping child ”You've got my hard head/ And your mother's grace” and sings to her of the kind of life he hopes she will have, and the kind of person she will grow up to be. It's a tender little song, extremely personal, and would in fact have been a great closer, but there's one more track to go. I guess the title says it all, as “My thanksgiving” expresses Henley's joy at what he has in his life, the good luck he has received, the chances that have come his way that might not have. He has a last pop at the entitlement culture before he goes, grinning ”The trouble with you and me my friend/ Is the trouble with this nation:/ Too many blessings/ Too little appreciation/ And I know that kind of notion/ Well it just ain't cool/ So send me back to Sunday school.” It's a nice mid-paced rocker to end the album, as he hits one last parting shot: ”Have you noticed that an angry man/ Can only get so far/ Until he reconciles the way he thinks/ Things ought to be/ With the way things are?” Sage words indeed. Should we read anything into the fact that Don Henley has not had another solo album since this, eleven, well, twelve years now? Probably not. The reunion with his former bandmates and the Eagles' subsequent world tour would surely have taken up most if not all of his creative time, and I have no doubt that there will be more solo work coming from this most insightful of songwriters in the future. But for now, “Inside job” stands, finally, as the album I always hoped Don Henley would make. TRACKLISTING 1. Nobody else in the world but you 2. Taking you home 3. For my wedding 4. Everything is different now 5. Workin' it 6. Goodbye to a river 7. Inside job 8. They're not here, they're not coming 9. Damn it Rose 10. Miss ghost 11. The genie 12. Annabel 13. My thanksgiving Recommended further listening: “I can't stand still”, “Building the perfect beast” and “The end of the innocence” __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018