Don Henley - End of Innocence
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Free Music Notes for End of Innocence
Free Music Review: Don Henley's Other Best Solo Album
Hit: 5 Stars
THE END OF THE INNOCENCE is Don Henley's other best solo album, along with BUILDING THE PERFECT BEAST. The title song, like "The Boys Of Summer" from the previous album, made me realize that looking good for my favorite actresses was more important than attending food-related reunions at my old school, especially since most of the staff I knew are gone and many of the changes there have not been for the better. "I Will Not Go Quietly" and "New York Minute" made me realize that looking at photos of attractive female celebrities is a good way to inspire myself to avoid an individual I've had issues with BEFORE I do myself in over it, whereas "Little Tin Gods" and "If Dirt Were Dollars" skewer hypocritical preachers and gossip columnists, respectively, and "The Heart Of The Matter", like the title song, is about letting go, whether of a lost love, a grudge, or your past. Overall, THE END OF THE INNOCENCE is an album with great music and multilayered lyrical messages. The fact that Henley believes that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia on drug-smuggling charges was wrongfully convicted makes this album an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience .Free Music Review: Don Henley's Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
"The End of the Innocence" really hit home.When JFK was killed in Dallas,I lost my Innocence.This song,that Bruce Hornsby co-wrote,and plays keyboards on,just brings back that terrible day.I was only 8,but I still remember sitting in my 3nd Grade Classroom,and being sent home.This song also tells about the terrible Reagan years,with the line,"For this tired old man that we elected king," and the preachers telling us not to sin,while there sleeping with everyone and stealing our money.Every song on this CD has some special meaning."I will not go Quietly,"about turning your life around,"The last worthless evening," a loveless relationship,and a the wonderfull fun cut,"Shangri-la." The last song on the album,"The Heart of the Matter," is my favorite.Just forget about hatred,and move on."You keep carryin that anger,it'll eat you up inside."When you play "The End of the Innocence," you think about the end of he 80's.This album is Don Henley's greatest solo Album.Free Music Review: Beautiful and elegiac, a heartfelt mourning of Americana.
Hit: 5 Stars
Don Henley's The End of the Innocence capped off the '80s on a perfect note. With Bruce Hornsby's classy piano sounding like the last, gentle strains of an uneasy age, lead track "The End of the Innocence" features one of the best lyrics ever written on disillusionment...and hope in the face of disillusionment. Henley sounds like he was put on earth to make this majestic song come alive, his singing the best he's ever done, a high croon filled with longing and sadness.And the rest of the album holds up: "The Heart of the Matter" is a quiet, extraordinary exploration of lost love, moving beyond words; "I Will Not Go Quietly" rips into hard-rock mode; "The Last Worthless Evening" is a brewing ballad with suppressed feelings of desire; and "New York Minute"'s ringing guitars make for a perfect accompaniment to Henley's mournful but hypnotic voice.
This album belongs on every list as one of the best of the 1980s.
Free Music Review: Landmark work.
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the only non-Eagles Henly work I own. It is clearly a masterwork for those who appreciate moderate-rock with social commentary.Some have interpreted the lyric "this tired old man we elected king" as referring to Reagan. Perhaps Henly is criticizing Reagan in this lyric. But this lyric could be applied to EVERY American president in history, as well as every British Prime Minister. Personally, slamming the American president who defeated--without firing a single shot--Soviet Communism's attempt at global enslavement is incredibly ignorant. Surely Henly was NOT doing this. Surely Henly was making a genuinely profound statement concerning mankind's apathy in protecting the liberties and freedoms that others have lost their lives fighting for.
However, whatever Henly's true intent, I prefer to assign my own meaning to his lyrics. I refuse to cheapen Henly's work, nor this review, by stooping to such political mudslinging and name-calling.
Free Music Review: Decadence shattered
Hit: 5 Stars
There is always a day of reckoning. As the 1980's drew to a close, Don Henley's conscience cracked wide open, leaving no alternative but exorcizing the demons that dominiated from the mid-70's forward. This was the end of the innocence.
The title track is an accomplishment in musicianship, but also a fine look at society's descent into shattered myths coupled with dreams destroyed. Great song for lying under a tree on a lazy summer day, wondering where it all went wrong.
" I Won't Go Quietly" is a fabulous duet with none other than Axl Rose. It seriously rocks. " If Dirt Were Dollars" is so direct the metaphors get lost. " The Heart of the Matter", the closing track, finds Henley melancholy, accepting equal parts sorrow and blame. It's an open invitation to put self aside in order to return some dignity.
A little philosphical, a lot melodic, this continues to stay fresh, almost twenty years later.