We've Been Up and Down This Highway....4 Out Of 5 Stars
After the Eagles' first break-up, Don Henley and Glenn Frey went right into solo-ville, and it was apparent who the Lennon and McCartney personalities in the band were. Frey exited straight to sappy love songs and high-energy/low-calorie rock, while Henley's first singles were the socially targeted "Johnny Can't Read" and "Dirty Laundry." While Frey had the first hits, it is Henley's solo albums that have stood the test of time.
When his second solo album, "Building the Perfect Beast," was issued, there was an instant classic with "The Boys Of Summer." Written about those for whom life in the fast lane had become a driveway full of SUV's, it contained a bitter melancholy and the striking lyric "I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac." This was the kind of thoughtful rock that The Eagles occasionally slipped onto their albums, but in a more wizened and weathered point of view. "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" continued that social malaise, but the self-depreciating "Not Enough Love In The World" backtracked when it came to relationships.
"I'm not easy to live with,
I know that it's true.
You're no picnic either, baby.
That's one of the things
I love about you."
Axl Rose, who was at his GnR finest even snarled along on "I Will Not Go Quietly." No saccharine here, folks. The followup album, "The End of the Innocence" is a masterpiece and much darker than "Beast." "New York Minute" follows urban violence while "Sunset Grill" chronicles urban decay from the first person. But the kicker was the title song, with the stately Bruce Hornsby piano line supporting a grown man's look back with longing. Not the usual longing, because the collapse comes from such issues as the lawyers who "dwell on small details since Daddy had to fly." It paints one of the most succinct picture of The Reagan Years in a small cluster of artists who tried. (Another favorite of that period: David + David's "Boomtown.") "Innocence" was such an amazing album that Henley took almost 15 years before he issued "Inside Job."
Which means between "Actual Miles" and this Very Best Of, Henley did exactly one more solo album. Three songs from "Inside Job" make the cut for this collection, including "Taking You Home," which barely missed the top 40. Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" is carried from "Actual Miles," and once again the album "I Can't Stand Still" gets shortchanged. (Why never "Johnny Can't Read"?) But for a starter set, this "Very Best Of Don Henley" does the job.
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