Don Henley - Building the Perfect Beast
#308
November 19 1984
Don Henley
Building the Perfect Beast
4.5 out of 5
Highlights:
The Boys of Summer
You Can't Make Love
Not Enough Love in the World
All She Wants to Do is Dance
Remember how god awful Glenn Frey's album was? Like poke yourself in the eye, jingoist garbage-fest bad?
Ok. Hang on.
Also, remember Henley's first solo album? The mediocre I Can't Stand Still with "Dirty Laundry"?
Hang on.
Remember that video? Henley...on some flatbed, moving down a street, the film screen behind him...there was some intercutting...I don't wanna look it up....it was on all the freaking time.
That song, though, with it's processed drums that were en vogue in 84, still works, though. It's the heartbeat of Los Angeles, a city that has no real anthem or song of its own.
The song could work in any style, the Eagles could've made it a monster arena track. I don't think you can destroy that track.
This album is a different animal than his first and than Frey's mess. While I don't necessarily disagree with Mojo Nixon that "Don Henley Must Die", if just for his egregious cover of Guys and Dolls' "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat", there's a lot to offer here.
The entire first side is devoted to love and loss and loss of love while the second is more sociologically and politically aware. Makes sense. It's 1984. Frey was fist pumping his jingoism, Don is more cynical, just listen to "Sunset Grill" and see if you don't think America is doomed.
Side Two doesn't start out strong, mainly cuz the title track is sooooo earnest I wanna shoot him but it does recover, first with a song that Robert palmer would ape in a few years, "All She Wants to Do is Dance" a song inspired, in part by the characters in The Great Gatsby and then some solid pieces of solemnity.
I think by now everyone knows that this sort of MOR rock, when done well (Henley, Adams, Springsteen, etc), much like glam rock, hits a certain sweet spot for me. I might not have sought it out back then but it can be the right medicine on occasion.
Another one I eschewed by dint of pretentia. My loss...
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/building-the-perfect-beast/958725263
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