Jackson Browne-Late for the sky

Late for the Sky

Oh my oh my, what an achingly, devastatingly, stunningly beautiful piece of work this album is. While not wishing to offend my friends in the RUNNING ON EMPTY camp, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that LATE FOR THE SKY was, is and will always be Jackson Browne's masterpiece. Listening to it is such an sublime, tragic, raw, beautiful, purely EMOTIONAL experience. "For A Dancer", supposedly written in reaction to a friend's death (a la "Song For Adam") is the best song he's ever written--and one of the best songs ever written, period. Certainly one of the most poignant. Although "Dancer", "Fountain of Sorrow", the monumental title track, and the death-of-hippie epic "Before the Deluge" garnered the most attention, don't overlook the two songs at the end of side one--"Farther On" and "The Late Show" form a mini song cycle that entails some of the most deeply personal introspective songwriting imaginable. Even in the jaunty "throwaway" track, "Walking Slow", Jackson is thinking deep thoughts.
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