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The Pretender

LP

Jackson Browne Format: Audio CD

4.6 476 ratings

$17.97

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Track Listings

1	The Fuse
2	Your Bright Baby Blues
3	Linda Paloma
4	Here Come Those Tears Again
5	The Only Child
6	Daddy's Tune
7	Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate
8	The Pretender

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Certified Double Platinum by the RIAA (12/97).

Amazon.com

A songwriting prodigy since his teens, Jackson Browne had already reached a zenith in confessional writing with 1974's Late for the Sky, a song cycle of his guitar and piano based anthems, reveries, and rockers, distilling themes of disillusionment, apocalypse, friendship, and fragile romances. Teaming with Bruce Springsteen's producer, Jon Landau, Browne himself clearly sought to up the ante with more epic settings, while Landau worked on pumping up the star's vocal attack. But personal tragedy, in the suicide of his partner and mother of his young son, cast an unplanned shadow across these songs, giving The Pretender a darker, heartbroken edge and an authentic, scarred toughness. Fatherhood, mortality, and resignation inform brilliant songs like "Your Bright Baby Blues" (featuring Lowell George's plangent slide guitar and vocal counterpoint), "Here Come Those Tears Again" (with Bonnie Raitt), and the prayerful, desolate "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate," but it's the title tune that remains the haunting highlight. --Sam Sutherland

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.84 x 5.59 x 0.47 inches; 3.03 Ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Elektra Off Roster
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 2013377
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 1990
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ December 14, 2006
Label ‏ : ‎ Elektra Off Roster
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000002GVW
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #42,031 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #262 in Rock Singer-Songwriters
- #801 in Country Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
- #939 in Soft Rock (CDs & Vinyl)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 476 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

476 global ratings

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Robert Leck

Awesome sounding album !

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

Awesome service and follow up delivery. Looks great, Sounds great! The album was exactly as advertised. Will be purchasing more items from these guys!

Helpful

Jay W. Ensley

"When the morning light comes shining in, we'll do it again. Amen"

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

For most of the past 50 years Jackson Browne is, has been and likely will always be my favorite singer/songwriter. I won't demand that you, your friends or anyone agree with me, but I will demand that you allow me to appreciate Browne, believe that at his peak, he was the most eloquent, literate, insightful song-poet of his age. An age that included Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Springsteen...do you understand? From the bounty of poets who created melodies that matched their exquisitely expressed thoughts, again and again, Jackson Browne hit the sweet spot for me.

"In the end there is one dance you'll do alone."

Put that on my tombstone.

"The Pretender" is the second album of the sequence I regard as Jackson Browne's Hall of Fame trilogy. Linking "Late For the Sky"'s horrifically frank honesty to "Running On Empty"'s rendition of "Stay," "The Pretender" is, for me, the most beautiful, poignant, expressive collection of songs I believe I will ever listen to.

And thanks to this CD, I will be able to hear "The Pretender" perfectly whenever I want.

Shipped promptly and packaged securely, I am, as always, 100% satisfied with Amazon.com's service.

"Through every dead and living thing, time runs like a fuse...
and the fuse is burning."--Jackson Browne "The Fuse"

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

Judy K. Hoyle

No pretending here, pure greatness

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2011

Verified Purchase

With The Pretender, Jackson Browne is right in the middle of his best years. In my humble opinion, he had already dispatched three masterpieces and still had three to go. So we find ourselves at the halfway marker with this album and it continues to progress and expound on his previous works. I always think that this is sort of JB's coming around vocally. While his songwriting had always been superb and he greatly upped his instrumental input on Late For The Sky, this album is sort of the coming of ground for his voice. And boy does he ever show it, songs like The Fuse, Your Bright Baby Blues, Here Come Those Tears Again, and The Pretender, rock in a way that Browne had never attained before and his voice is more than up to the task. He also adds a lot more subleties into his more laid back songs as well, with varied instrumentation on Linda Paloma, The Only Child, Daddy's Tune, and Sleep's Daek and Silent Gate. To me this is probably JB's most complete social commentary and one of his greatest 'rock' albums, a must have.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

HDD

Starting to Experiment But Still Great Poetry and Music

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

Only 8 tracks on this one, not sure if his wife's suicide that year impacted the release. Some undertones of jazz on Your Bright Baby Blues and he does it well with his style. Linda Paloma is different than anything I remember him producing. Some of the songs seem to fit more with his first album on this one; introspective and melancholy. I think his masterpiece was the album before this one, "Late for the Sky" making anything next hard to follow but I like this one all the same.

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Masterpiece Written under the worst of times for Browne

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2003

Verified Purchase

His wife kills herself leaving him a son. Not exactly material for an uplifting album in an era (1976) that is right of the beginning of the disco generation.
Instead, Brown pores his sorrow into a masterpiece. Those of who listened to Browne in high school and are now middle age Grandparents (like myself) hark back to the song the Pretender everyday as a description of our lives. Here Come Those Tears again was his point in life and a great song. The Fuse, which often gets overlooked these days, is a great combination of haunting music and Browne wanting to make a statement on the state of the world at that time. I happened to see the first night of the Pretender Tour in Cincinnati and the audience was confused by the Fuse at first listen. A few months later in Lexington, it was one of the favorites. It is a sound that grows on you.
If you have an IQ above triple digits and the ability to be intropective, buy this album. ...

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

I had forgotten how good it was.

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

This album was favorite of mine back in the day. Through all the tech changes I had not caught up on replacing all of the great music from my teen years though. Recently a song from this album was stuck in my mind and I wanted to listen to the album in its entirety. It was then I discovered I didn't have it so made the purchase just to satisfy an urge. So glad I did.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ronnie

Timeless classic, but still very relevant.

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

The concept of the singer/songwriter in its purist form emerged during the 1970's, influenced by the great writers
of the previous decade (Bob Dylan,Arlo Guthrie, Beatles, and many more).
But the idea had evolved into a new level of introspection and became more personal compared to some of the
protest songs and activist outlook of the1960's.
I think this album represents Browne at his best, it offers a lot of insight and touches on deeply felt emotions
on a lot of different levels. Probably the best produced/arranged of his records to date, and overall great sound.
One of the finest singer/songwriters to this day, love this album.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

BKW

Still great after all these years and also available for streaming.

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

We recently started buying CDs of our favorite albums from the 1970s and 1980s. We import them into iTunes, then export them as high quality audio onto a thumb drive we carry in the car for road trips. A real bonus when you buy certain CDs from Amazon is that you can them stream them from your Amazon music account. Jackson Browne is still great after all these years, and it was great to bring this music back into our collection.

10 people found this helpful

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Stefano Biggi

un album da avere nella propria discografia

Reviewed in Italy on December 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

grande album, ideale da ascoltare viaggiando, Jackson Browne e da annoverare tra i cantautori americani piu importanti. Tutto ok per quanto riguarda la consegna

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鵜飼浩一

彼の最高傑作と私は思う

Reviewed in Japan on November 17, 2023

Verified Purchase

音楽好きなら一回は全曲通して聴いてほしい。良さが伝わると良いな

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MusicalMan

"Let dissapointment pass, let laughter fill your glass, let your illusions last - until they shatter..."

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

Much is written about the success of a song, album or artist. Jackson Browne is certainly an artist who has had a lot written about him and enjoyed a lot of success over decades, with a strong body of work that has reached people at a world-wide level, that has sold in the millions. However, forgetting that (however impressive) the true assessment of his material, most certainly on this album, lies in the quality of the songs and their lyrical content.

The front cover really sums up the essence of the album. Indeed, it is an album full of songs where doubt, fear, stress and depression meet positivity and hope for a better world. The front cover shows Browne crossing a road, surrounded by many other people in the same boat, seemingly unaware of each other. Yet the "walk" sign is flashing, meaning they are free to carry on their journey having had to wait for the traffic to clear. Whether this was the full intention when chosen for the cover I do not know, but it is very suitable for the songs contents.

Also work noting is the back sleeve features a photo of a small child on a beach, without a care in the world. Deliberate or not, this too is suitable for the message of the albums songs.

The first song "The Fuse" also has a very suitable opening with the first lyrics being "It's coming from so far away, it's hard to say for sure, if what I hear is music, or the wind through an open door..." and with that opening line, the albums lyrics begin to tell a story of life, that many of us (if not all) can relate to & an album many of us will feel a strong personal connection too in our own way based on experiences we have had in life.

"The fuse" covers a lot of ground. Using an example of a actual fuse to describe time and the events throughout time, at both the level of an individuals personal life & society in general ("the fuse is burning, the earth is turning"). Personal struggles, disappointments, taking chances, poverty and world hunger, are just a few of the issues addressed in the song, and as a result comments on a high level to people in general.

The next track "Your Bright Baby Blues" has a more personal feel to the listener, but is certainly no less meaningful than it's predecessor. The song opens with the singer sitting by the highway watching everyone travel as fast as they can, saying "I guess they got a lot to do" before hoping God can "let him slide" as he has travelled the highway fast himself many times but can never get away from himself, proclaiming he is constantly hoping he is "just a day a way, from where I wanna be". The singer feels unable to escape his hurt, pain, problems and for "that feeling of peace" turns to comfort, though ultimately what is comforting him is doing him no good in the long run (pills of drugs in this song, though this could be any form really, be it drinking, smoking, comfort eating, or anything else). The lyrics continue "I felt like I was flying like a bird, so far above my sorrows, but when I looked down I was standing on my knees... now I need someone to help me, please." His pleas for help to someone continue until the songs end.

The third track "Linda Paloma" turns out to be my least favourite track on the album. I know I am not alone in this. I also know many love it. Personally, I think it is a good song, but just not up there with the rest of this album. Put it elsewhere, and it would probably work better. Indeed its tale of lost love is one that many can connect with, but nothing that hasn't been done before by a hundred other artists. You can not say that about the other tracks on this album.

The fourth cut "Here Come Those Tears Again", while along a similar line, takes the ante back up to the first two cuts (and is continued for the remainder of this album). However, what makes this song different is that while this could be about a love affair, it could also be applied to relationships with a spouse or close friend. The singer feels he is just getting over his hurt and pain, but then when he thinks he is over the worst, he suddenly finds himself back to square one, hurt, disappointed and depressed about the failure of the relationship in question. The lyrics confirm "some other time... when I'm strong and feeling fine... when I can look at you without crying, you might look like a friend of mine" but for now he can not feel able to re-open his heart to the person who broke it into pieces.

The 5th track on the CD (or for those vinyl and cassette listeners, track 1 on side 2) is another great song called "The Only Child" which tackles greed, selfishness, mistakes, compassion and forgiveness (for yourself, as well as others). The song pleads its listener to take care of their mother, brother and each other. However, it does not make light of anyone's let downs, proclaiming "There are those who feel themselves exiled, on who the fortune has never smiled, and upon whose lives the heartaches have been piled." Ultimately, the song tells us to take care of each other the very best we can, and to hold on to those who love us.

Next is "Daddy's Tune" and what a tune! The singer starts talking to his father, recalling his know-it-all youth and refusal to take his fathers advice seriously, instead listening to the words of his just as immature peers back in the day. The singer goes on to admit to his Dad "the things you said are so much clearer now". Wishing he could turn back time, though it is obvious such a desire can never be granted. I love the line "Make room for my 45s, along beside your 78s..." this would sound a little dated to todays audiences, but not for the next line "nothing survives, but the way we live our lives" which means the reference before it actually hits the nail on the head even more decades after the songs composition (jokingly, I will often sing "make room for my MP3's, along beside your CD's" if I am singing along to this).

Sleeps Dark & Silent Gate" is a true gem. It opens with the singer laying awake at night, wondering where all the years he has ahead will take him. We then go though on a journey of love gone wrong, friends lost and countless disappointments. The singer states he tried so hard to make his love work out and questions what does love have to do with being happy, reflecting the times he and his loved one were happiest were the times they never tried to be. The song ends full circle, years later, laying awake in bed, with the singer wondering where all the years have gone.

The final cut is the title track "The Pretender" one of the albums longest cuts, clocking in at about six minutes. The song opens with the singer getting up, getting ready, packing his lunch and going to work, before returning home ready to do it again tomorrow. Again lost love comes into the picture, as does the now longing for a true lasting love and "the struggle for the legal tender". When I was a small child, I used to think he was literally referring to former soldiers when he sang about "the veterans dreaming of the fight, fast asleep at the traffic light..." Now, of course, I know it is symbolic, and it could be referring to any one of us, traveling home from our job, about our own struggles with love, life, money, careers, and other personal issues. The song concludes the pretender (anyone of us) accepts his dreams have likely begun and ended, and the ship bearing many of these dreams "sails out of sight".

However, the pretender has not given up and will be "a happy idiot" and continue to live life the best he (or she) can. The song ends asking us to say a prayer for the pretender (ourselves).

Yes, this album has a lot of dark moments. It can be a very emotional album to listen to, and will certainly remind many (as it does me) of our misfortunes, mistakes, disappointments and times we wished or should have known better. Yet, in spite of all this, there is still a strong undercurrent of positivity on this album that comes to the fore by its conclusion. It is an album I for one (and I am sure many others) will continue to love and return too forevermore.

5 people found this helpful

Epaud Vincent

Folk-Rock américain

Reviewed in France on October 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

Excellent album ( songs ... lyrics .... and musicians - special guests aussi : Lowell George, Bill Payne, Luis F.Damian, Fred Tackett, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley ... ... ) . Edition CD sobre mais l'essentiel y est ( musiciens, producteur .... ). Manque les paroles ! . . . .

One person found this helpful

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