Jackson Browne: World In Motion CD Track Listing

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Jackson Browne World In Motion (1989)
Originally Released June 1, 1989\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Jackson Browne continued amassing a repertoire best suited to an Amnesty International benefit on his second highly politicized album, World in Motion. War, homelessness, and Oliver North (though not by name) were condemned; freedom, truth, and Nelson Mandela were praised. Now and then, Browne drew parallels between the personal and the political, notably in the double-edged "Anything Can Happen," but for the most part he sermonized, frequently adopting the generalized terms and reasoning that sermons usually employ. Except for the gloomy viewpoint, it was hard to recognize the Jackson Browne of his first few albums amid all the commentary, and even if you agreed with his overall political stance, that was disappointing. -- William Ruhlmann\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nuneven, but still a number of excellent songs, October 21, 2004\nReviewer: Dave "missing person" (United States)\nJackson Browne's 1989 album "World In Motion" does have some excellent tracks on it, though it's highly flawed--based on the other reviews so far, this record appears to have a strong cult following, but it's clearly not an overall masterpiece, & that's coming from myself, a huge Jackson fan. One positive thing here is that he almost completely ditches any traces of the arena rock sound that was highly prominent on isolated tracks from his previous two albums (e.g. "For A Rocker", "For America"), and in that sense, the record somewhat points the way to his 1993 masterpiece "I'm Alive". Also, I don't find the record to be nearly as politically preachy/ lyrically excessive as a couple of the reviews I've read suggest. There is a string of excellent songs on the album. The reflective character examination "Enough of the Night" (infectiously melodic & reminiscent of "Somebody's Baby") & the wishful "Chasing You Into the Light" (lyrically reminiscent of "That Girl Could Sing") are both irresistibly catchy uptempo tracks. Also a gem is "How Long", an eloquent cry for peace & change from the government, with moody, contemplative acoustic lap steel guitar from David Lindley--it's one of the most hauntingly melodic songs Jackson's ever written. Also strong are the bluesy, exhorting title track & the splendidly melodic ballad "Anything Can Happen". Jackson, one of my favorite singers in all of music, is in his usual excellent, passionate form vocally on all of these aforementioned tracks. However, like I said, there are a considerable amount of problems, even on a couple of overall strong tracks. "Enough of the Night" is ever so slightly marred by the annoyingly blurry & partly incomprehensible background vocals (a very minor complaint). The title track features some excessive slamming "drum" sounds that clutter up the song (be sure to check out the worthwhile live version of the track from the Japanese version of his "Looking East" CD), & "Anything Can Happen" has too much of a generic adult contemporary sound. Musically, "When the Stone Begins to Turn" is a rather listless & sluggish attempt at reggae despite the presence of Sly & Robbie on the track. The Little Steven-penned "I Am A Patriot" is an incredibly slight, half-baked ode to freedom, loyalty to one's country, & family values, & "Lights and Virtues" is a dull, tossed off attempt at a positive, uplifting album closer. The somewhat Latin-flavored "My Personal Revenge", written by Tomas Borge & Louis Enrique Mejia Godoy (& translated to English by Jorge Calderon) is rather dull as well, & "The Word Justice", though pretty good, is a bit aimless & lacking in conviction. It seems that Jackson was perhaps having a bit of a case of writer's block with this album, which leads to what I think is the album's key problem--lack of strong song material. Production-wise I think the album is overall pretty good & tasteful, & I certainly don't question Jackson's sincerity, but, to put it simply, he had trouble here on numerous tracks getting messages across as effectively as we're used to from him. On the other hand, he still accomplishes some great songs on here. This is certainly not an album you should feel compelled to avoid--flawed though it is, any really big Jackson fan needs it.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nBest Browne CD!, July 3, 2001\nReviewer: Caley Anderson (San Diego, CA, USA)\nGiven that many critics have attacked this album for its strongly political message, it's melodies, with or without strong lyrics, are darkly beautiful, especially the guitar leads in the CD's best track, How Long. Other especially good tracks are Anything Can Happen, Enough of the Night, and the title track World in Motion. There is also the lyrically and musically uplifting When The Stone Begins to Turn. These are only the best, every track on this CD is excellent, and it is the Browne CD to get.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nHaunting and deep. Strikes balance between love/politics., September 28, 1999\nReviewer: A music fan\nWorld in Motion is not Jacksons best-that honor is reserved for Looking East, but this is one of the most haunting albums I have ever heard. Anything Can Happen is clearly the best song on the album and it takes the listener away every time it plays. How Long is the best politically tinged track and the insturmentation is outstanding. Enough of the Night excells on the backround harmony that repeats 4 times, as well as the abrupt but well executed shifts from fast/hard to slow/soft. Critics hit this album for being angry and too political. It's not. Not by a long shot. In fact, if every musical album was like this we might have some brains and awareness among our young people today. (I'm 20 years old, by the way). If you only buy one album by Jackson, dont buy this one-buy his Best of cd. But if you buy two, go for World in Motion-you cant go wrong.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nThe angry side of Jackson..., March 17, 1999\nReviewer: musicfan (usa)\nJackson takes a political stance on this disc. He seems to sermonize on each song about political and social issues. One listen to this disc and you can tell Jackson was not happy with the Reagan/Bush terms. Jackson did not care whether World In Motion was going sell millions, produce a hit single, or follow in the footsteps of his previous work. He had something that needed to be said and this disc was the intermedium.\n\nHalf.com Album Credits\nBonnie Raitt, Contributing Artist\nDavid Crosby, Contributing Artist\nDavid Lindley, Contributing Artist\nSly & Robbie/King Tubby, Contributing Artist\nJames Geddes, Engineer\nJackson Browne, Producer\nScott Thurston, Producer\n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Jackson Browne (vocals, acoustic, slide, baritone & resi-phonic guitars, piano); Kevin Dukes, Yves Ndjock (guitar); David Lindley (acoustic & lap steel guitars); Scott Thurston (keyboards, bass, background vocals); Ray Lema (keyboards, background vocals); Craig Doerge (keyboards); Bob Glaub, Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Michael Jochum, Walfredo Reyes, Sly Dunbar (drums); Alex Acuna, Brice Wouassy (percussion); Russ Kunkel (programming); Bonnie Raitt, Doug Haywood, Lori B. Williams, Djene Doumbouya, Brinsley Forde, Tony Gad, Drummie Zeb (background vocals).\n\nPrincipally recorded at Groovemasters, Santa Monica, California.\n\nThis is Jackson Browne's most political album. At times, it seems less like a collection of songs than an aural neon sign flashing "I am outraged!" In "The Word Justice," for example, Browne paints a devastating portrait of Oliver North's appearance before Congress, and later devotes a verse to the CIA's alleged drug smuggling activities. Elsewhere, the title tune warns of America's decline while "How Long" rails against defense spending at the expense of hungry children.\n\nAll is not doom and gloom, however. On a more optimistic note, "When the Stone Begins to Turn" (which boasts a reggae groove courtesy of guest stars Sly and Robbie) suggests that South Africa's Nelson Mandela would someday be freed, and some of the songs--in particular "My Personal Revenge" and "Lights and Virtues"--have an almost inspirational tone. Musically, the album is a slicked up version of the L.A. studio pop familiar from most of Browne's '80s albums; there is, however, some sort of irony in the fact that his main collaborator here, multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston, originally played with the RAW POWER-era Stooges (he can be heard, sort of, on METALLIC KO, the notorious bootleg of the last ever Stooges concert).
This rock cd contains 10 tracks and runs 47min 22sec.
Freedb: 710b180a
Buy: from Amazon.com

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