The 1980 Listening Post - Jackson Browne - Hold Out

 Jackson Browne - Hold Out

#385

By Rob Slater

June 24 1980

Jackson Browne

Hold Out

Genre: AOR before it became something.

Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5

Rob’s Rating: I'd give it a B+. 3.25. (Okay, A-).

 

Highlights: 

Disco Apocalypse 

That Girl Could Sing

Boulevard Of Missing Persons

Call it A Loan 

At 37:48 and 7 songs, it seems both too short and too long! ;-)  

1. Disco Apocalypse (or Apollo Clips as Voice Recognition called! ;-) is surprisingly good, though it took a while to grow on me.The worst part of the song is where he says disco three times before he says apocalypse. 

2. Hold Out is pretty mediocre for a title track, not bad, but not nearly as good as Load Out. 

3. That Girl Could Sing. Good song

4. Boulevard, one of the highlights.

5. Of Missing Persons, a lovely piano tune, really sweet, written for the daughter of a fellow musician who had passed away far too early. “Inara George, the daughter of Lowell George (formerly of the band Little Feat).” Wikipedia.

6. Call it A Loan one of my favorite Jackson Browne songs ever, number 2 compared to Late for the Sky.

7. Hold On, Hold Out. Ironically, the second song with Hold Out in the title, and it too is okay, better than Hold Out. Probably a B+.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1sPzplNErJ43rUcV9FQb35?si=oWfzmX-nT1GEzRIp5Yz0pA

The 1986 Listening Post - Jackson Browne - Lives in the Balance

Jackson Browne - Lives in the Balance

#51/1218

February 18 1986

Jackson Browne

Lives in the Balance

Genre: Rock

4.5 out of 5 (I know. Crazy, right?)

Highlights:

For America

In the Shape of a Heart

Lawless Avenue

Lives in the Balance

In the summer of 1986 I was living in an apartment on 10th and Hudson along with my college roommate and his girlfriend (also a college peer). 

Well, it was an apartment but I didn’t get to use most of it. There were 2 rooms, a living space, buffered by diffused french doors and a kitchen/dining space with a bathtub/shower in it. In other words, if you wanted to shower, you had to do it in the kitchen. The toilet was in a little closet with a sink. 

On the other side of the apartment, to the left of the front door was a closet. About 6 feet deep and 3 get wide. 

I put a mattress on the floor in there, along with a small tv I found on the street on the lower west side that could only be turned on by sticking a pen in and pulling out the mechanism that operated the set. 

It was a long summer. 

We lived above a temporary Statue of Liberty store as it was the 100th anniversary of the statue and it was being refurbished. If you went to the roof of the building (we lived on the 5th floor and it was a walk up) you could see the Statue in the distance. 

We spent more time up the street at the White Horse Tavern, though. 

I am reminded of this time, when a rat peeked its head out of the hole in the sole of my Beetle Boot as it rested next to my pillow, because the cover of this Jackson Browne record is Liberty’s head obfuscated by, what looks like, scaffolding. Which is ominous because it also doubles for a ramshackle cage built around freedom, which is how so many of us felt in 86.

I’ll say this for aging rock stars in 1986, they were unafraid of voicing their anger and enmity to the wrongs they perceived being done to the country by Reagan. 

Browne gets overtly political and I’m sort of here for it. “Lives in the Balance” is as relevant to today’s issues in Syria with Turkey as it was when it was written.

“In the Shape of a Heart” is devastating. And I wonder if Ani Difranco had heard it before she wrote “Out of Range”. Specifically this lyric: “There was a hole left in the wall

From some ancient fight

About the size of a fist

Or something thrown that had missed”

Brutal. 

I like this record as much as a middling Rick Springfield joint. Maybe a little more, in fact. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/lives-in-the-balance/298086990

The 1983 Listening Post - Jackson Brown - Lawyers in Love

Jackson Brown - Lawyers in Love

#134
August 2 1983
Jackson Brown
Lawyers in Love
2 out of 5

Highlights:
On the Day

What is Jackson Browne? Is he Power Pop? Is he California EasyListening Rock? He’s pleasant enough but often toothless. He has that perfectly crafted sound that comes from studio musicians. Is he the solo singer songwriter version of Toto?
This is perfectly fine yet bland, inoffensive entry level rock and roll for those who might be afraid of Bryan Adams or John Mellencamp. (This is not a compliment to Mr. Brown.