Label: Geffen
Year: 1995
Home: n/a
Members: Don Henley ~ vocals/drums/keyboards/guitar
Danny Kortchmar ~ keyboards/bass/guitar/b. vocals
John Corey ~ guitar/keyboards
Pino Palladino, Larry Klein, Neil Stubenhaus ~ bass
Vinnie Colaiuta ~ drums
Jai Winding ~ keyboards
Additional: Steve Madaio ~ trumpet
Mike Boddicker, Scott Plunkett ~ keyboards
Waddy Wachtel, Frank Simes ~ guitar/b.vocals
Jimmy Rip ~ guitar
Tim Drummond, Bob Glaub ~ bass
Scott Crago, Ian Wallace ~ drums
Martha Davis, Maxine Waters, Julia Waters, Mindy Stein, Carmen Twillie, George Gruel ~ b. vocals
Guests: Joe Walsh ~ lead guitar
Steve Lukather, Roger Linn ~ guitar
Mike Campbell ~ guitar/keyboards
Timothy B. Schmidt ~ bass/guitar/b. vocals
Bruce Hornsby, Benmont Tench, David Paich ~ keyboards
Stan Lynch, Jeff Porcaro ~ drums
Axl Rose, Sheryl Crow, Patty Smyth, Take 6 ~ b. vocals
Wayne Shorter ~ saxophone
Michael Fisher ~ percussion
Listening to this CD after so long makes me ask the question: whatever happened to DH? The Eagles reunited & then I remember his solo hits vanished. A read through wikipedia says he kept low due to a lawsuit against his record label & then went into the direction of an advocate for artist rights. Good for him & his causes, but sad for us fans as he made great music, both with the Eagles & on his own & he's only released one album since. There's not too many singing drummers who are in successful bands then have equally successful solo careers with both catalogs holding up against the test of time. Though, maybe his songs haven't really withstood the test of time & its my nostalgia remembering hearing them on the radio that keeps me interested. "Dirty Laundry", "The Boys Of Summer", "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" are of the adult contemporary soft rock genre that might not exist anymore, while the heavy keyboards dates the songs when metal was still more underground than mainstream. This is the world of Dire Straits, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Hornsby, who also co-wrote "The End Of The Innocence", & a template for feel good radio hits for a nice drive in the car. This is the world when a ballad didn't mean a power ballad nor shallow (for example, "Not Enough Love In The World", "The End Of The Innocence" & "The Last Worthless Evening"). DH made songs everyone could like that weren't too hard rock, yet not too light weight pop. Maybe a bit forgettable at times, but what keeps them afloat is you either have a basic soft rock song or you have a deeper message. Just like "Hotel California", DH's songs can be taken for fun or serious, depending on how much you want to look. The strong rhythmic hook versus the standard guitar riff also keeps these from falling into total obscurity or a nostalgic treasure of the past. I've always found interesting the odd duck track "I Will Not Go Quietly" with Axl Rose on backing vocals & a funky guitar part straight out of the Red Hot Chili Peppers & far more raw than we expect DH to be. The album includes three new songs of mixed results, as is often the case with greatest hits extras. "The Garden Of Allah" was the big single but the riff repeats too much, the song goes on too long, too many voice-overs & it's just far too heavy with its message to be fun. Creative but not fun. In it's attempt to give a message it verges on losing the listener. It's nice to hear a Leonard Cohen song, but "Everybody Knows" not only suffers from bad singing but gets long, though a nice little muffled guitar. Then there's "You Don't Know Me At All" that fits nicely with the past songs. This is a collection & artist well worth remembering.
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