779 Don Henley - The End of the Innocence (1989)

 779 Don Henley - The End of the Innocence (1989)

Studio Album - Rock


About the Act:

Don Henley was a founding member, drummer and co-lead vocalist for the Eagles. He has also had a pretty successful solo career, particularly in the 80s when he created several hits.

About the Album:

This was Don's third studio album. It sold a gazillion copies and was his most commercially successful solo album.

My History with this Album:

None, although I know a couple of tracks.

Review:

I knew Don Henley, I know the hit "The Boys of Summer". I have heard the opening track "The End of the Innocence before but don't know it well. I hadn't clocked that "New York Minute" was on this album, and to be honest, didn't know that it was a Don Henley song, just that I really like it. I must have heard it before it was featured in an episode of The West Wing, but remember it from that.

As the album opened, with The End of the Innocence, and I was listening to the piano sound, and a thought struck me, that it reminded me of "That's Just The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. I mention this because, when I looked it up - yes, keyboards by Bruce Hornsby. 

If you wanted an album that was a manifesto for 1980s Rock music, then this would satisfy admirably. It sounds so 80s, with the big drums, and the archetypal synths and... well just everything, it sounds like John Parr and Robert Palmer and Tina Turner and all of those huge stadium rock American acts of the time. This is not a bad thing, just a thing. It hits all of those bases, different sounds, different tempos, driving, rocky, soft-rock, radio friendly, songs about relationships and heartbreak, commercialism, and I'm not sure what "Little Tin God" is about.

It's actually a really good album, I really enjoyed it. It hit all of those middle-weight rock tones that I was so addicted to at the time. I'm less addicted now, but musically and production, and song-writing-wise this is one of my home stomping grounds, and it is done well. If I had bought this in my early 20s I would know it backwards by now, and it is certainly on a par with some albums from that era that I do know backwards. 

Is it good enough to be an 8 out of 10? Well, most of it is about a 7.8 - 7.9 (I don't know how I can be so precise) but New York Minute in itself pulls it up to a solid 8, it's a superb rock song. Oh and favourite lyric, from "Give Me What You've Got" - "You don't see no hearses with luggage racks". He turns a good phrase.

8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Y1isZbaqleNpbGDtP45ux

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_Innocence_(album)



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