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Trollheart · 12-17-2015, 12:05 PM

Title: Cass County
Artiste: Don Henley
Year 2015
Nationality: American
Familiarity: 100%. I own all his solo albums and am a big Eagles fan too.
Genre: Country/Contemporary Rock
5

Expectations: Laugh all you want about middle-aged oldsters still trying to rock, or about Nashville fading lights, but 2000's Inside Job was a powerful mix of songs about a man coming to terms with that middle-age, the responsibilities of parenthood and, within that, politics and ecology, as he tried to ensure there was something to pass on to his children, even if it was only his wisdom. This will have to go a long way to outdo that opus.

1. Bramble rose: Interestingly, given all his contacts over the years, this is the first time Henley has assembled a cast of guest stars to help him out on his album, and here he duets with Mick Jagger and Miranda Lambert. Steel guitar whines right out of the gates, so there's no doubt that this is a Country album, unlike Inside Job, which was more Adult Contemporary, and moved away from the Eagles Country/Rock based material. Some lovely mandolin contributes to a soft Country ballad, which is perhaps not quite how I would have wanted the album to open, but Lambert adds something to it, while Jagger sounds a little out of place to be honest.
2. The cost of living: Another slow very Country-flavoured track with again steel guitar in attendance. Nice piano, and this time he's joined by Merle Haggard, I suppose evidence if any were needed that Henley is respected in Country music circles. Song's a little maudlin if I'm honest. I'm hoping for better. I kind of hear elements of “Tequila Sunrise” here. Yeah, quite a lot of it actually.
3. Take a picture of this: This has somewhat more bite and a sense of bitterness about it. Its still kind of slow, and I'm hoping for a “Miss Ghost” or “Inside Job” here, but it's early days yet. Nice piano, and considering that the first two tracks featured guests, it's nice to see him taking this one on his own.
4. Waiting tables: Yeah, this is a nice little life song. Again there's a lot of ex-Eagles melody in there, but it's a good song.
5. No thank you: Rocking out a little now for once, though it sounds like a slowed-down version of “Get over it”. Sorry; I just say what I hear. At least it kicks up the mood a little. More rock than Country, finally. There's definitely a sense of preaching and worldly wisdom here when he sings “I've been there, done that!”
6.Praying for rain: Back to the slow Country ballads, and here comes the steel guitar with some really nice female backing vocals (can't find a credit for them). The song is similar to his “Goodbye to a river” from the previous album, where he rails against the damage done by Man to his planet.
7. Words can break your heart: There are certainly a lot of ballads on this, a lot more than on the previous album. This one features a duet with Trisha Yearwood. It's nice but a little kind of formulaic, like any Country star could have written this. It doesn't have Henley's own personal stamp on it the way songs like “Goodbye to a river”, “Damn it, Rose” and “Everything is different now” have. Is there even a “New York minute” in here? I begin to doubt it. I mean, I like all the songs, marking them Green, but so far this is a poor shadow of Inside Job.
8. That old flame: Trying to rock out again, nice build up but to be honest, this is the first time I've heard it and I could predict some of the lyric. Pretty standard stuff. Nice performance from Martina McBride, and at least it kicks things up. Oh Lord! He just used The Simpsons' Kirk Van Houten's “Can I borrow a feeling” in the lyric! Well, almost: “Can I borrow a cup of kindness?” Jesus wept.
9. When I stop dreaming: Hello Dolly, it's so nice to see you .... yeah. Well I'll never say anything bad against her, but how many more Country superstars are going to lend their weight to this album? I tell you, it's tipping precariously under all this extra talent, and if you removed Dolly, Merle and all the rest, I wonder what you'd be left with? She sings her heart out here for sure, but it may as well be one of her own songs, with Henley duetting with her, instead of the other way around. Oh, Nashville!
10. A younger man: Yet another maudlin ballad. Getting bored now, and quite tired of hearing that ****ing steel guitar! His hard-bitten, world-weary attitude is beginning to grate too.
11.Train in the distance: Now it's his attempt at an old folk style tune. Guitar picks it up nicely in the midsection as percussion cuts in with some female backing vocals a la Floyd, and it gets better, but it's still not the greatest.
12. Where I am now: Where I am is feeling very let down and underwhelmed. Inside Job will always be his Magnum opus for me, and he has a rather solid body of work behind him, but there's a lot of weak points there too. But this is the first album of his where I feel the weak songs outweigh the strong ones. A short rocker to end, where he declares “I like where I am now”. I'm sure you do, Don, I'm sure you do.

Final result: The funny thing is, the first three albums by Henley did not impress me as such: I liked some tracks but felt there were weak moments on I Can't Stand Still, Building the Perfect Beast and The End of the Innocence, and it was only when Inside Job came along that I reckoned a true Don Henley album had arrived, one with no bad tracks and a strong ethic. Now, fifteen years on, this is what we get as a followup? Weak at best, couldn't be bothered at worst. Big disappointment. I thought Feeling Mortal, Kris Kristofferson's “comeback” album after years was self-serving, maudlin and indulgent, but this is far worse. Time to hang up the steel guitar, Don my man.

Rating:

12-17-2015, 12:05 PM	#53 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,971	Title: Cass County Artiste: Don Henley Year 2015 Nationality: American Familiarity: 100%. I own all his solo albums and am a big Eagles fan too. Genre: Country/Contemporary Rock 5 Expectations: Laugh all you want about middle-aged oldsters still trying to rock, or about Nashville fading lights, but 2000's Inside Job was a powerful mix of songs about a man coming to terms with that middle-age, the responsibilities of parenthood and, within that, politics and ecology, as he tried to ensure there was something to pass on to his children, even if it was only his wisdom. This will have to go a long way to outdo that opus. 1. Bramble rose: Interestingly, given all his contacts over the years, this is the first time Henley has assembled a cast of guest stars to help him out on his album, and here he duets with Mick Jagger and Miranda Lambert. Steel guitar whines right out of the gates, so there's no doubt that this is a Country album, unlike Inside Job, which was more Adult Contemporary, and moved away from the Eagles Country/Rock based material. Some lovely mandolin contributes to a soft Country ballad, which is perhaps not quite how I would have wanted the album to open, but Lambert adds something to it, while Jagger sounds a little out of place to be honest. 2. The cost of living: Another slow very Country-flavoured track with again steel guitar in attendance. Nice piano, and this time he's joined by Merle Haggard, I suppose evidence if any were needed that Henley is respected in Country music circles. Song's a little maudlin if I'm honest. I'm hoping for better. I kind of hear elements of “Tequila Sunrise” here. Yeah, quite a lot of it actually. 3. Take a picture of this: This has somewhat more bite and a sense of bitterness about it. Its still kind of slow, and I'm hoping for a “Miss Ghost” or “Inside Job” here, but it's early days yet. Nice piano, and considering that the first two tracks featured guests, it's nice to see him taking this one on his own. 4. Waiting tables: Yeah, this is a nice little life song. Again there's a lot of ex-Eagles melody in there, but it's a good song. 5. No thank you: Rocking out a little now for once, though it sounds like a slowed-down version of “Get over it”. Sorry; I just say what I hear. At least it kicks up the mood a little. More rock than Country, finally. There's definitely a sense of preaching and worldly wisdom here when he sings “I've been there, done that!” 6.Praying for rain: Back to the slow Country ballads, and here comes the steel guitar with some really nice female backing vocals (can't find a credit for them). The song is similar to his “Goodbye to a river” from the previous album, where he rails against the damage done by Man to his planet. 7. Words can break your heart: There are certainly a lot of ballads on this, a lot more than on the previous album. This one features a duet with Trisha Yearwood. It's nice but a little kind of formulaic, like any Country star could have written this. It doesn't have Henley's own personal stamp on it the way songs like “Goodbye to a river”, “Damn it, Rose” and “Everything is different now” have. Is there even a “New York minute” in here? I begin to doubt it. I mean, I like all the songs, marking them Green, but so far this is a poor shadow of Inside Job. 8. That old flame: Trying to rock out again, nice build up but to be honest, this is the first time I've heard it and I could predict some of the lyric. Pretty standard stuff. Nice performance from Martina McBride, and at least it kicks things up. Oh Lord! He just used The Simpsons' Kirk Van Houten's “Can I borrow a feeling” in the lyric! Well, almost: “Can I borrow a cup of kindness?” Jesus wept. 9. When I stop dreaming: Hello Dolly, it's so nice to see you .... yeah. Well I'll never say anything bad against her, but how many more Country superstars are going to lend their weight to this album? I tell you, it's tipping precariously under all this extra talent, and if you removed Dolly, Merle and all the rest, I wonder what you'd be left with? She sings her heart out here for sure, but it may as well be one of her own songs, with Henley duetting with her, instead of the other way around. Oh, Nashville! 10. A younger man: Yet another maudlin ballad. Getting bored now, and quite tired of hearing that **ing steel guitar! His hard-bitten, world-weary attitude is beginning to grate too. 11.Train in the distance:** Now it's his attempt at an old folk style tune. Guitar picks it up nicely in the midsection as percussion cuts in with some female backing vocals a la Floyd, and it gets better, but it's still not the greatest. 12. Where I am now: Where I am is feeling very let down and underwhelmed. Inside Job will always be his Magnum opus for me, and he has a rather solid body of work behind him, but there's a lot of weak points there too. But this is the first album of his where I feel the weak songs outweigh the strong ones. A short rocker to end, where he declares “I like where I am now”. I'm sure you do, Don, I'm sure you do. Final result: The funny thing is, the first three albums by Henley did not impress me as such: I liked some tracks but felt there were weak moments on I Can't Stand Still, Building the Perfect Beast and The End of the Innocence, and it was only when Inside Job came along that I reckoned a true Don Henley album had arrived, one with no bad tracks and a strong ethic. Now, fifteen years on, this is what we get as a followup? Weak at best, couldn't be bothered at worst. Big disappointment. I thought Feeling Mortal, Kris Kristofferson's “comeback” album after years was self-serving, maudlin and indulgent, but this is far worse. Time to hang up the steel guitar, Don my man. Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 12-18-2015 at 11:19 AM.