Review of Jackson Browne : Late for the Sky
His third album, and arguably his finest, Late for the Sky continues Browne's sincere self-analysis into positively grim territory. The title track concerns the lingering effects of a dead relationship and was featured in Martin Scorcese's film Taxi Driver. While "For a Dancer" confronts death head-on, "Farther On" explains the difficulties faced by us dorks who live life through books, films, or music; and "Before the Deluge" forecasts environmental gloom and doom. Guitarist David Lindley adds terrific counterpoint to Browne's musing, supporting the tracks with tasteful slide and fiddle work. --Rob O'Connor

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Your latest reviews - Jackson Browne : One man's best is another man's....
The story goes that the selections here are the "best" according to Jackson himself..snapshots over the years of what he was thinking between 1972-1997. However, artists are often their own worst critics..re-thinking songs that were classics into piffle ("Don't Stand so Close to Me '86" anyone?) or according status to tunes based on how they felt in their personal lives at the time (Paul McCartney has said that he loves the Beatles' "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" because of the great time he and John had in the studio making it. That's fine for him, but for the rest of us, it just sounds like screwing around.)

What that means to casual fans (i.e. ones who only own 1 or 2..or no...Browne albums) is that some of the songs you remember loving from radio will NOT be on here. "Rock me on the Water" is M.I.A. "Here Come those Tears Again" is absent. No pleas to "Stay" a little longer. If you were singing the phrase "mating cries of lawyers in love" in the Eighties, forget it...it ain't here. So if you're hoping for a single disc to gather his hits, you'll have to keep waiting.

Those who are bigger Browne fans will no doubt, question why more of his latter period work (arguably lesser material) is included at the expense of his early-mid 1970s songs. You can argue that "Stay" isn't here because it's a cover and Browne wanted to feature his self-written material but that doesn't explain why you can't find "Rock Me on the Water", "Here Come Those Tears Again", or "You Love the Thunder" here.

In the end, only completists will be pleased with this collection including as it does "Somebody's Baby" (the hit from the movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" that's only appeared until now on that abysmal soundtrack) and new songs "The Rebel Jesus" (a Christmas song taking America to task for materialism at Yuletide) and "The Next Voice You Hear".

BOTTOM LINE:
There are some great selections here, but many great ones missing. It's hard to argue that this makes the best case for Browne as a significant artist in a single disc. People arguing that the problem is that it HAS to be 2 CDs aren't being realistic...you CAN make an artistically and commercially satisfying single disc CD for casual fans. But this isn't it. Probably the best bet is to buy "Very Best of" used for about $10. (ASIN B0001GOH98). With that double disc set, you'll get most of the glaring omissions plus some fine album tracks.