753 Jackson Browne - Late for the Sky (1974)

Studio Album - Singer/Songwriter

About the Act:

Jackson Browne is an American Singer/Songwriter. He wrote some songs, and did some singing, and played guitar and piano, and seemingly still does all of those things, but maybe not right now.

He started in the late 60s in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, then writing songs for other people, and finally recording them himself. He has won awards, sold lots of records, been an activist and done charity stuff. In 2015 Rolling Stone ranked him as 37th in the list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. 

About the Album:

This was his third solo studio album.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

I have decided to like Jackson Browne. You might think that I should have said "I have REALISED I like Jackson Browne". I'm not sure.

One of the themes that is emerging as kind of a meta-aspect of these reviews, is some gentle thinking about how we form opinions. Most of the time I feel like I must have an opinion, and the struggle is to articulate it, and work out why. There must be some kind of cause and effect. My new thought is that I, and therefore presumably we, have some agency in this process. Sometimes there are reasons why we have a particular opinion of an album, or artist, or band, that are outside of the confines of the album itself. Sometimes we decide to like something because somebody we know likes it. Sometimes we take against an artist because of their politics, or views, or behaviour. Sometimes not. Sometimes we go off a band because there are painful memories associated with them. It's all so complicated.

In this case, this is the third album from Mr Browne that I have reviewed. Out of curiosity I have just looked back at the previous reviews, the first got 8.5 (big praise from me), the second got a lukewarm 7.2. Listening to this album, I feel like I have opened a little door in my heart to the idea of liking Jackson Browne. I think maybe to be more precise, I have decided to have a little flag in my mind against the name Jackson Browne, because I am enjoying this album. I am. I cannot reveal whether any more of his albums are going to feature in this list, sorry.

Another thing I have been thinking about while listening to this album, is that I seem to have developed the idea that there was (maybe still is) a genre called Singer/Songwriter. I used to see it as a category in record shops and feel that it was not style-specific enough, but now, I think there is a kind of style that is kind of similar to this kind of thing. I feel like the early 70s were a fertile time for this, people started to leave bands and have solo careers, and were not just singers of other people's songs, but writers as well. I think some of the finest players in this were people like Carole King, and James Taylor, and Paul Simon, and Elton John, and Billy Joel, and, well you get the picture. Alan Price. And there was a kind of musical style to it, light-  to mid-paced rock, a kind of intimate sense of them sitting in a living room sharing their thoughts. A guitar or a piano. Into this category, Jackson Browne fits perfectly. I think he was much more successful in the US than in the UK.

I seem to be quite philosophical today, because there is a third thought, which is about lyrics. This is because the previous album was Long John Silver by Jefferson Airplane, and the lyrics in the songs on that album are quite disconnected, like a stream of consciousness, snatches and phrases that build to form an overall picture, a bit like the muttered ramblings of a demented priest. Why priest? Don't know. This kind of style of chucking phrases in has become the norm these days I think, in pop and rock. Jackson Browne, here, is more of the sort of lyrical style where you can write out the words and they make sense. Full sentences. Unlike this. Oh, and also full sentences with proper grammar, and not words left out, and you can understand what he is singing about. Don't get me wrong, I love American Pie (the song) but although it makes grammatical sense, it's still actually a stream of pictures, not a coherent development of thought. The songs on this album are packages in themselves, which stand alone, and develop ideas and say something. He is a wordsmith. I like that word.

Musically, well like I said, mid-paced rock really, nicely done, nothing bizarre, but I found it enjoyable. There's a musical economy, the production is effective but not over-done, giving space for Jackson to sing, and he has a pretty good voice.

I could have just said "it's good singer-songwriter stuff, I enjoyed it" and you could have been spared the philosophy, but hey.

7.9/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0aiTqo8YZI0dKDgcCnkkzP

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX66jEixZe1wQXXifyvnU0oPd3oVLXHul

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_for_the_Sky