#372 : Jackson Browne's Late For the Sky

Browne's third album, in my estimation his best, is an astonishingly dense work that finds its author exploring the vagaries of love, the difficulty of its loss, and, in its absence, the contemplation of mortality, all the while rejecting cynicism and self-indulgence (at times successfully, at times not). If you're thinking that's a tall order for a man all of 26 years old at the time of this record's release, you could be forgiven.... I would suggest that a close inspection of this record might change your mind. Consider this lyric on the opening title track: "Now for me, some words come easy, but I know that they don't mean that much." Who among us hasn't felt just the opposite of our own words, at any age, only to find them betraying, and ultimately, condemning us? Browne's despair takes hold on "Fountain of Sorrow," imagining a former lover's respite in the arms of another. "Farther On" predicts love's refusal, while "The Late Show" confirms it... All of this is, of course, tempered by Browne's razor-sharp songcraft, flawless vocals and sensuous guitar work. The pill is further sugared on the record's second half, Browne proclaiming on the bluesy rocker "The Road and the Sky," that we "could be just around the corner from Heaven or a mile from Hell," while the beautiful, piano-driven "For a Dancer" laments a lover's death (eerily presaging Browne's soon-to-be widower status), accompanied by David Lindley's etherial fiddle work. Closer "Before the Deluge," arguably one of Browne's best songs, laments a death of a different sort, that of idealism, and by association, innocence: "In the end they traded their tired wings; For the resignation that living brings... Let the music keep our spirits high; Let the buildings keep our children dry; Let creation reveal its secrets, by and by; When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky."

Some other thoughts:

#373, Björk's Post: The genius (and indeed, the marketability) of Björk is that she (and the producers she hires) makes noises that the rest of us simply aren't capable of making, a fact that doesn't so much define as frame her second solo effort. Post opens with an ominous, crawling bassline that yields a threat: "If you complain once more, you'll meet an army of me." Mission statement made, Björk relents, a bit at first, reminding us that we are more subjects than audience. "Modern Things" exposes us as products of our desires, while "Enjoy" paints us as slaves to them. From here she softens a bit more, with the otherworldly sensuousness of "Possibly Maybe" and the cagey defenselessness of "Headphones." But make no mistake: You are not to complain once more...

#371, Roxy Music's Siren: Another fine offering from Ferry and company. Opener "Love Is the Drug," with its sexy bassline and horn section, would give Roxy their first U.S. hit, while "Whirlwind" creates nothing less than its own weather patterns. The triad of "Both Ends Burning," "Nightingale" and "Just Another High" does a fine job of closing out a good, it not great, Roxy Music record.