Late For The Sky - Jackson Browne (1974)

Songs: Late for the Sky, Fountain of Sorrow, Farther On, The Late Show, The Road and The Sky, For a Dancer, Walking Slow, Before the Deluge.

Comments:

Jackson Browne is a very serious guy. He does not write about The Lovely Linda or Valentine Day. On this, his third album his lyrics are about Death, Lost Identity, Relationships and Environmental Doom. His lyrics are very personal and are often compared to those of Bob Dylan in the sense that both stretched the limit of lyrics way beyond She Loves You (Yeah Yeah) and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

I´m not an expert on Jackson´s lyrics so I can´t confirm nor deny the above mentioned comparison. Musically however, the best work of Jackson and Bob are worlds apart. Bob´s music of the sixties and early seventies was mostly surprising, usually innovative and hardly ever boring.

Jackson´s Music is not. On Late for the Sky the music and vocals are professional. However, the album is never surprising , let alone innovative and often slightly boring.

Maybe American Teenagers with suicidal tendencies found relieve in Jackson´s Lyrics or mercifully dozed off with Late for the Sky as Background Music. But I tell you, when I want to hear good old mainstream country rock, I prefer The Eagles Greatest Hits. Not that serious and intellectual but far more catchy!

By the way, did you know that Jackson wrote Take it Easy? Just listen to The Road and the Sky and you will recognise the similarity. And if you ever wondered where Bob Seger got the inspiration for Against the Wind, have a close listen to Before the Deluge.

Don´t get me wrong, this is not really a bad album with the exception of Walking Slow. It just does not seem to make contact. It´s there in the background and I can hear it but that´s it. There´s one big exception to the rule and that´s Fountain of Sorrow, a nice flowing song not unlike Lying Eyes. By far the best song on the album, on a distance followed by the title track. But these two songs are easily found on any Greatest Hits Compilation. 

Type of Music: Country-Rock

Rating: ******* (Out of 10)