"Saturate Before Using", "Late For The Sky" and this album (and I suppose "Runnin' On Empty" too although I've yet to hear it - I can't imagine it would be bad, though) are ESSENTIAL albums to ANY music fan. EVERYTHING about these albums is perfect - the production, lyrics, musicianship, singing...etc. This makes perfect sense as Jackson was notoriously worried about getting everything perfect in the studio (and his producers rightfully got annoyed at him for that). This paid off in spades, however, as everything is crystal clear and perfect even though this was recorded in the late 60's! A cool little addition is that the first and second as well as the 9th and 10th songs flow into one another (very cool). The lyrics, as always, are extremely quotable, deep and meaningful - pretty much second only to Bob Dylan. Unlike Dylan, though, the lyrics are, like title of the album, "For Everyman". As opposed to "Saturate Before Using" and "Late For The Sky", "For Everyman" is the more consistent album - there aren't any "bad" songs (not that the other two had bad songs, a bunch just weren't as good as the highlights). Another cool addition is the first track, "Take It Easy", which is the original song which The Eagles then made into a monster hit with their cover version. If you were unsure whether you liked Jackson before, buy this album and you'll become a fan! For $9.00 this is a STEAL! Absolutely recommended!

Highlights include:
the entire album!

My only quibble with this CD is that the songs have been mixed up from the original vinyl. The B side started w/ Our Lady of the Well and progressed as a suite to For Everyman. It was extremely powerful and moving. I've been hoping for nearly 20 years that someone with the power and control would re-release it with the songs in their original order. I have one of the first CDs manufactured for this and Late for the Sky and get a lot of speaker buzz at moderate sound levels; hope that has been fixed.

If you're a fan of Ryan Adams and hear critics calling him a copy of 70's singer-songwriters, Jackson Browne is one of them. This album is overall a nice mellow listen - good for road trips or Saturday morning breakfast music.

I like Browne's version of "Take It Easy", which he co-wrote with the Eagle's Glen Frey, but the song doesn't end, only segues into the next song, "Our Lady of the Well," which can be a bit confusing if you're familiar with the Eagle's version.

I also like the mellow but moving "Ready or Not" and the raucous (for Jackson Browne, that is) "Redneck Friend."

I own several of JB's works, and usually the JB "experts" will point to this as one of his best, if not his best, but I prefer the work on "Running on Empty" much more. Most of the songs on this album sound similar so that "Redneck Friend" and "Take It Easy" sound like they don't belong.

If you're looking to get into JB, get this one to start off with, but make sure you pick up the road classic, "Running on Empty" and his early eighties masterpiece, "Hold Out" to round out your sampling.