When I listen to a CD, I want a pleasant musical experience, not
\na lecture on human nature. I really wish that Don henley would
\nrealize this and get off his soapbox.<\/p>\n
It’s been a long time since I listened to his solo debut
\nI Can’t Stand Still<\/i>, but he was up there back in 1982,
\nmocking the media with “Dirty Laundry”. (Too bad he didn’t wait
\nuntil the Jerry Springer-era of ooze we dare to call programming.)
\nBuilding The Perfect Beast<\/i> wasn’t as preachy, but was just
\nas pretentious.<\/p>\n
In 1989, Henley was now pretentious, preachy, pompous and, worst
\nof all,
\nboring<\/i>.
\nThe End Of The Innocence<\/i> would have ended up packed away
\ndeep in the Pierce Archives were it not for two songs that make the
\ntrip somewhat worth it.<\/p>\n
The title track, featuring Bruce Hornsby on keyboards, has lost
\nlittle of its fire after almost a decade. It’s not as rocky as I
\nmight have liked it, but it still provides lots of enjoyment every
\ntime I listen to it. And, although it is a bit preachy (and I’ve
\nnever been able to follow the advice Henley gives about letting go
\nof anger against someone who’s wronged you), “The Heart Of The
\nMatter” remains undoubtedly his prettiest and most poignant moment
\nas a solo artist. I have yet to grow tired of this particular
\nsong.<\/p>\n
Too bad that’s all on the album that’s worth wasting time on.
\nFor the remainder of
\nThe End Of The Innocence<\/i>, Henley is nothing more than a
\nwindbag with a stage to get his message across. “New York Minute”
\nis about as interesting as watching C-SPAN; the tempo drags on and
\non, kind of like the Carpenters on Valium. Another single off the
\nalbum, “The Last Worthless Evening,” shows no originality at all,
\nfalling into the boredom trap.<\/p>\n
And preachy? Geez, if I wanted to be taught a lesson, I’d go
\nback to living with my parents! From “How Bad Do You Want It?” to
\n“Little Tin God” to “If Dirt Were Dollars,” Henley spurts his spiel
\nineffectively, serving only to anger the listener. (Song title
\nbegging for me to slam-dunk it: “I Will Not Go Quietly.” You
\nprovide your own insult here.)<\/p>\n
In a sense, I think Henley got confused; he must have thought he
\nwas a folk musician. If I wanted a lesson, I’d listen to Phil Ochs
\nor The Kingston Trio – they might have preached, but at least they
\nwere interesting to listen to.<\/p>\n
Is it really worth sludging through
\nThe End Of The Innocence<\/i> for only two songs? Well, the songs
\nare at the start and the end of the album, so you really don’t have
\nto wade through muck too much. But these two songs do partially
\nredeem the whole listening experience, even if they don’t support
\nthe rest of the album (as well they shouldn’t have to).<\/p>\n
\nThe End Of The Innocence<\/i> might be considered Henley’s
\nmasterpiece, but if it weren’t for two very special songs, this
\nalbum would be worth next to nothing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5759],"rating":[5616],"class_list":["post-38924","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-don-henley","rating-rating-d"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38924"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}