The Pretender (studio album) by Jackson Browne

Possibly Jackson Browne's greatest album. Chock-full of great, wistful songwriting and beautiful piano, guitar, and orchestration. Starts and finishes with the two best songs on the record (The Fuse, title track) and has lots of excellent moments in between (Your Bright Baby Blues, Here Come Those Tears Again, The Only Child, etc.). In having listened to Browne's classic period albums, this is the one to resonate with me most on first listen.

Album Rating: 70.13
(561/8)

1.The Fuse. 69
2.Your Bright Baby Blues. 69
3.Linda Paloma. 67
4.Here Come Those Tears Again. 68
5.The Only Child. 66
6.Daddy's Tune. 68
7.Sleep's Dark And Silent Gate. 77
8.The Pretender. 77

From VictorVale 02/04/2022 15:51

Muito radiofônico e isso é uma crítica positiva!

A great record from Jackson Browne during his peak. The Pretender comes at a key point in his career since his wife had killed herself prior to this album's release. His former mother in law gets a writing credit with Browne on the album's highest charting single Here Come Those Tears Again, which is one of the album's strongest tracks. The title track has stood the test of time and is among Browne's best songs and one of the best songs of the era. Linda Paloma is a real outlier on this album and brings it down a bit. I don't completely hate the song but it doesn't really belong on the record. Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate is gold among the deep cuts.

Not in the same class as, Late for the sky, but pleasant enough. Good, competent country/rock. Nothing less, nothing more.

From poppmusic 04/24/2017 05:07

This album could have been as good as "Automatic for the People" (that's the first thing that comes to mind in terms of mood). Alas, it is not. But it has it's moments (the underrated "Your Bright Baby Blues" being the high point). Love many of the songs lyrically but it is just over-produced at key moments. And "Linda Paloma" is just offensively stupid, unfortunately.

Absolutely fantastic album. I'm really surprised how unpopular Jackson Browne is on this site. This album is just as good as Late For The Sky. Every song is based around ingenius lyrics. Linda Paloma tends to take some flak compared to the rest of the songs, but it's supposed to have a mexican kind of vibe to it, which relates to the lyrics of the song.

I used to love this record. Once in a while I give it a spin and still enjoy it. The title track is the best cut.

From swhaze 12/29/2014 15:40

I'd only heard Jackson Brown's hits before this, and I like those a lot. I hadn't realized that many of his songs have what I would call minimal music, with the main thrust being in the lyrics.

This is perfect collection of songs with the exception of Linda Paloma. Otherwise listen to a Great artist with superb guitarbacking by David Lindley and Lowell George on some tracks.