On The Pretender, Jackson Browne took a step back from the precipice so well defined on his first three albums, but doing so didn't seem to make him feel any better.
Employing a real producer, Jon Landau, for the first time, Browne made what sounded like a real contemporary rock record, but this made his songs less effective; the ersatz Mexican arrangement of "Linda Paloma" and the bouncy second half of "Daddy's Tune," with its horn charts and guitar solo, undercut the lyrics.
The man who had delved so deeply into life's abyss on his earlier albums was in search of escape this time around, whether by crying ("Here Come Those Tears Again"), sleeping ("Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate"), or making peace with estranged love ones ("The Only Child," "Daddy's Tune").
None of it worked, however, and when Browne came to the final track -- traditionally the place on his albums where he summed up his current philosophical stance -- he delivered "The Pretender," a cynical, sarcastic treatise on moneygrubbing and the shallow life of the suburbs.
Primarily inner-directed, the song's defeatist tone demands rejection, but it is also a quintessential statement of its time, the post-Watergate '70s; dire as that might be, you had to admire that kind of honesty, even as it made you wince.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The FuseJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Your Bright Baby BluesJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 06:11 | 14 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Linda PalomaJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Here Come Those Tears AgainJackson Browne, Nancy Farnsworth | Jackson Browne | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | The Only ChildJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Daddy's TuneJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Sleep's Dark and Silent GateJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | The PretenderJackson Browne | Jackson Browne | Play | 05:54 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 35 mins | 81 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Bittan | Piano |
| 2 | Paul Black | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 3 | Jackson Browne | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, Photography, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 4 | Gary Burden | Art Direction, Design |
| 5 | Howard Burke | Photography |
| 6 | Rosemary Butler | Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 7 | David Campbell | Arranger, String Arrangements, Viola |
| 8 | Gary Coleman | Percussion |
| 9 | David Crosby | Guest Artist, Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 10 | Luis Damian | Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Quitman Dennis | Horn |
| 12 | Craig Doerge | Keyboards, Piano |
| 13 | Nancy Farnsworth | Composer |
| 14 | Chuck Findley | Horn |
| 15 | Chuck Finley | Horn |
| 16 | Val Garay | Mixing |
| 17 | Lowell George | Guest Artist, Guitar, Harmony, Slide Guitar, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 18 | Arthur Gerst | Arranger, Harp, Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | Bob Glaub | Bass |
| 20 | Jim Gordon | Drums, Guest Artist, Organ |
| 21 | Bernie Grundman | Mastering |
| 22 | Roberto Gutierrez | Guitar, Guitarron, Violin, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | John Haeny | Engineer, Recorder |
| 24 | John Hall | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 25 | Mark Hammerman | Management |
| 26 | Don Henley | Guest Artist, Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 27 | Jim Horn | Arranger, Horn |
| 28 | Mark Howlett | Engineer |
| 29 | David Hyde | Horn |
| 30 | Dick Hyde | Horn |
| 31 | Tom Kelley | Cover Photo |
| 32 | Dennis Kirk | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 33 | Russ Kunkel | Drums |
| 34 | Greg Ladanyi | Engineer, Mixing |
| 35 | Jon Landau | Notes Editing, Producer, Vocals |
| 36 | Albert Lee | Guitar, Guitar (Electric) |
| 37 | David Lindley | Fiddle, Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Lap Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar, Violin |
| 38 | Graham Nash | Guest Artist, Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 39 | Bill Payne | Keyboards, Organ, Piano |
| 40 | Jeff Porcaro | Drums |
| 41 | Chuck Rainey | Bass |
| 42 | Bonnie Raitt | Guest Artist, Harmony, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 43 | Leland Sklar | Bass |
| 44 | J.D. Souther | Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 45 | Fred Tackett | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) |
| 46 | Mike Utley | Keyboards, Organ |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |