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DISCID=890b0d0b
DTITLE=Don Henley / Building The Perfect Beast (West German ''Target''
DTITLE= Pressing)
DYEAR=1984
DGENRE=Rock
TTITLE0=The Boys Of Summer
TTITLE1=You Can't Make Love
TTITLE2=Man With A Mission
TTITLE3=You're Not Drinking Enough
TTITLE4=Not Enough Love In The World
TTITLE5=Building The Perfect Beast
TTITLE6=All She Wants To Do Is Dance
TTITLE7=A Month Of Sundays
TTITLE8=Sunset Grill
TTITLE9=Drivin' With Your Eyes Closed
TTITLE10=Land Of The Living
EXTD=Building The Perfect Beast (West German ''Target'' Pressing)\n198
EXTD=5 Geffen Records, Inc.\n\nOriginally Released 1984\nCD Edition Re
EXTD=leased 1985\nMFSL Gold CD Edition Released August 12, 1997\n\nAMG
EXTD= EXPERT REVIEW: After experimenting with synthesizers and a pop s
EXTD=ound on his solo debut, Don Henley hits the mark on his sophomore
EXTD= release, Building the Perfect Beast. This album established Henl
EXTD=ey as an artist in his own right after many successful years with
EXTD= the Eagles, as it spawned numerous hits. While the songs seem cr
EXTD=afted for pop radio, it's hard to fault him for choosing arrangem
EXTD=ents that would get his messages to the masses. Unlike most pop i
EXTD=n the 1980s, however, Henley had deep intellectual themes layered
EXTD= beneath the synthesizer sounds and crisp production. In the open
EXTD=ing song "Boys of Summer," he talks about trying to recapture the
EXTD= past while knowing that things will never be the same. Henley ha
EXTD=s a gift for writing about the heart and soul of America and for 
EXTD=mixing his love for the country and small-town life ("Sunset Gril
EXTD=l") with cynicism about government ("All She Wants to Do Is Dance
EXTD=") and modernization ("Month of Sundays"). Although the politics 
EXTD=and the sound of the album make the decade of release easy to pla
EXTD=ce, Henley's earnest delivery and universal messages give many of
EXTD= the tracks a timeless feel, which is no small feat. This is Henl
EXTD=ey's most consistent album, and it is the place to start for thos
EXTD=e wanting to sample his solo work. -- Vik Iyengar \n\nAmazon.com 
EXTD=Editorial Review\nHenley--arguably the most talented member of th
EXTD=e Eagles--had toyed with playful pop hooks on his I Can't Stand S
EXTD=till solo bow in 1982. Two years later he got down to business on
EXTD= this brainy, politics-themed sophomore disc, which indicted his 
EXTD=native Hollywood as venomously as "Hotel California" once did. Su
EXTD=rfaces were still somewhat glossy--there's no denying the foot-ta
EXTD=pping elan of "Boys of Summer or "All She Wants to Do Is Dance." 
EXTD=But the vitriol roiling just beneath those surfaces was deep, int
EXTD=ellectual stuff. Henley, as he continued to prove with the more e
EXTD=loquent The End of the Innocence a few years later, is someone hi
EXTD=s fans can neither underestimate nor predict. Can we say the same
EXTD= of Glenn Frey or Randy Meisner? --Tom Lanham \n\nAmazon.com Cust
EXTD=omer Review\nMuch more than just another '80s record., August 6, 
EXTD=2001 \nReviewer: Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California
EXTD= and Germany) Songwriting is no trifle matter to Don Henley. And 
EXTD=although in the early 1970s the magic duo of Henley/Frey churned 
EXTD=out hits with enough speed to allow for the production of four al
EXTD=bums in four years, followed by an all-time best-selling Greatest
EXTD= Hits (Vol. 1) album even before the release of the Eagles' class
EXTD=ic "Hotel California," he started to take things considerably slo
EXTD=wer in his post-Eagles solo career. The two years he took to foll
EXTD=ow up 1982's "I Can't Stand Still" with "Building the Perfect Bea
EXTD=st" were actually the shortest time between any two of his solo a
EXTD=lbums; in part due to the fact that, as Henley explained, his col
EXTD=laboration with Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar worked along lines diffe
EXTD=rent from those he had established with Glenn Frey in the Eagles.
EXTD= These were not two guys sitting down together in a room with a g
EXTD=uitar and a drum kit any longer: For Don Henley's second solo rel
EXTD=ease, bowing to the musical developments of the 1980s, they relie
EXTD=d heavily on synthesized sounds (Henley's tour promoting the albu
EXTD=m even featured an elaborate light show, something that would hav
EXTD=e been inconceivable for any of the Eagles' tours). And while mak
EXTD=ing most of the songs on the album easily "listenable" and produc
EXTD=ing several top-selling singles ("All She Wants to Do Is Dance," 
EXTD="Sunset Grill," "Boys of Summer" and "Not Enough Love in the Worl
EXTD=d"), that choice of instrumentation also seemed to render "Buildi
EXTD=ng the Perfect Beast" the most easily dateable of all of Henley's
EXTD= solo releases.\n\nLyrically, however, Henley had lost nothing of
EXTD= his bite; the album's very name is indicative of that fact. "We'
EXTD=re the ones who can kill the things we don't eat," he warned in t
EXTD=he title track, musically the edgiest song on the album (synthesi
EXTD=zers or not) - "we have met the enemy, and he is us ... the secre
EXTD=ts of eternity; we've found the lock and turned the key ... all t
EXTD=he way to Malibu from the Land of the Talking Drum, just look how
EXTD= far we've come." "Sunset Grill" and "A Month of Sundays" lament 
EXTD=the death of small mom-and-pop farms and businesses and their tak
EXTD=eover by large corporations; a criticism of Reaganomics Henley wo
EXTD=uld take up even more forcefully in 1989's "The End of the Innoce
EXTD=nce." (Ironically, his beloved Sunset Grill in L.A. later went do
EXTD=wn that very same path, too - "Don't Go There," he therefore quip
EXTD=ped during the closing appearance of his recent "Inside Job" tour
EXTD=, "it ain't there anymore. Even though it still has the same name
EXTD=. Even though the guy has my name on the menu. Don't go there!") 
EXTD="All She Wants to Do Is Dance" has a similar theme, focusing on c
EXTD=orporate and political greed in general. "The Boys of Summer," mu
EXTD=sically based on a guitar riff supplied by Heartbreaker Mike Camp
EXTD=bell, is a warning not to look back and romanticize the past but 
EXTD=rather, to look toward the future - just keep your eyes open what
EXTD=ever you do, though, because if you're Driving With Your Eyes Clo
EXTD=sed "you're gonna hit somethin' ... but that's the way it goes."\n
EXTD=\nAs on all of his solo releases, Henley was able to secure the c
EXTD=ollaboration of a virtual all-star cast of musicians, from Fleetw
EXTD=ood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and 
EXTD=Benmont Tench to Randy Newman, Patty Smyth, Belinda Carlisle, Ric
EXTD=hard and Waddy Wachtel, Toto's Steve Porcaro and David Paich, "in
EXTD=official Eagle" J.D. Souther, and many, many more. And despite th
EXTD=e seeming bow to the 1980s' musical tastes in the instrumentation
EXTD= of many of the album's tracks, their lasting quality becomes app
EXTD=arent like on no other occasion when Henley performs them live, a
EXTD=s he did on his recently-concluded tour. Stripped of some of thei
EXTD=r fancy effects, they stand up even more visibly to the class of 
EXTD=his other work, both with the Eagles and solo - and you just have
EXTD= to have heard that stunning, several minutes' long drum/percussi
EXTD=on intro (not even performed by Henley himself) to "All She Wants
EXTD= to Do Is Dance," the closing song of the tour's regular program.
EXTD=\n\n"Building the Perfect Beast" cemented Don Henley's standing a
EXTD=s a solo artist, and it paved the way for his biggest release to 
EXTD=date, "End of the Innocence." As he had done with his bandmates a
EXTD= decade earlier, Henley again proved that he was able to create s
EXTD=omething lasting, in whatever format he chose. Maturity added mor
EXTD=e focus to his work (lyrically if nowhere else); and vocally, man
EXTD=y of the tracks on this album are among the most demanding he has
EXTD= ever written. Unlike the output of the era's countless hair band
EXTD=s, disco kings and queens and punk bands, all of Don Henley's fir
EXTD=st three solo releases still have a large enough audience to warr
EXTD=ant their inclusion in the catalogue of every major record store 
EXTD=- including the seemingly so 1980s-sounding "Building the Perfect
EXTD= Beast." \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nLight California rock sh
EXTD=ows Henley has solo potential, December 3, 2003 \nReviewer: Danie
EXTD=l J. Hamlow (Farmington, NM USA) \nOf the ex-Eagles doing solo ma
EXTD=terial, I so far have only gotten Don Henley's second solo album,
EXTD= Building The Perfect Beast. He gets a lot of help from guitarist
EXTD= Danny Kortchmar in music, songwriting, and keyboards. This is a 
EXTD=nice exercise in light rock that still has hallmarks of the mello
EXTD=w California sound popularized by his ex-bandmates the Eagles, J.
EXTD=D. Souther, Karla Bonoff, and Linda Ronstadt. Even though Glenn F
EXTD=rey had more notable hits than him, Don Henley's reputation is mo
EXTD=re intact, as Frey meandered into poppy soundtrack music that ali
EXTD=enated his old crowd.\n\n"The Boys Of Summer" having been covered
EXTD= recently by DJ Sammy and AFI, makes me appreciate the original a
EXTD=ll the more. I mean an oontsa-oontsa remix or a punk cover clearl
EXTD=y can never capture the wistful pain of trying to forget a lost t
EXTD=ime on the beach.\n\nAnother variation on the wealth not being ab
EXTD=le to buy love is told on the leisurely "You Can't Make Love" fea
EXTD=turing Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and harmonies and the Heartbr
EXTD=eakers--EBenmont Tench on keyboards. There's an added dimension t
EXTD=o the theme, that one can make a promise and walk down an aisle, 
EXTD=and "make a life for her that fits like a glove" but--you get the
EXTD= idea.\n\nThe rocking "Man With A Mission--Ewith a 50's rock-and-
EXTD=roll sound, of someone out to have a rowdy partying time, such as
EXTD= running a few red lights, starting some fist fights, drinking a 
EXTD=few beers. I was surprised this didn't make it on the Fast Times 
EXTD=At Ridgemont High soundtrack, because thematically, this would fi
EXTD=t. Charlie Sexton helps on guitar, as does Belinda Carlisle on ha
EXTD=rmonies.\n\n"You're Not Drinking Enough" has a trace of the count
EXTD=ry rock that popularized the Eagles. The idea here is trying to f
EXTD=orget a woman and if "you still wanna hold her/you must not be dr
EXTD=inkin' enough." The way he writes how men get stomped caught my e
EXTD=ye: "She passed on your passion/and stepped on your pride/turns o
EXTD=ut you ain't quite so tough."\n\n"Not Enough Love In The World" i
EXTD=s a timely song that has shades even today. "I know people hurt y
EXTD=ou bad/they don't know the damage they can do, and it makes me sa
EXTD=d/how we knock each other down just like children on a playground
EXTD=."\n\nThe tribal drums and chants of the title track is a jab at 
EXTD=creating the ultimate person with motifs of the gods of Olympus a
EXTD=nd Methuselah. "Relieve all pain and suffering and lift us out of
EXTD= the dark/turn us all into Methuselah/But where are we gonna park
EXTD=?--Eis a cheekily humorous question to the age old quest for immo
EXTD=rtality. Patty Smyth, J.D. Souther, and Martha Davis of the Motel
EXTD=s contribute to the chants.\n\nThe fuzzy bass synth in "All She W
EXTD=ants To Do Is Dance" makes this one of the most familiar songs by
EXTD= ear on the radio. Martha Davis and Patty Smyth help out here aga
EXTD=in.\n\nThe tearful "A Month Of Sundays" is by far the best song h
EXTD=ere, on the reflections of a farmer now on hard times, a familiar
EXTD= sight during the Reagan era. The generation gap is shown with th
EXTD=e more left of center grandson and the son-in-law, a Vietnam vete
EXTD=ran who's dismissive: "That little punk, he never had to serve" T
EXTD=he last few verses alone make a melancholy sunset.\n\n"Sunset Gri
EXTD=ll" is a social commentary on the mean city and the soul-draining
EXTD= effects it has. The subject here wants to leave, but here's the 
EXTD=tragic joke: "What would we do without all these jerks anyway? Be
EXTD=sides, all our friends are here."\n\nHenley gets a lot of help fr
EXTD=om varied musicians, such as some Heartbreakers, a woman from a M
EXTD=otel, and a woman who causes a Scandal. The light style rock does
EXTD= still give out that peaceful easy feeling of his former band, bu
EXTD=t his solo album shows he was the lynchpin of the Eagles. \n\nAma
EXTD=zon.com Customer Review\nLove and Hate, Bi-Polar Country Cousins 
EXTD=!, April 28, 2004 \nReviewer: billy c bowden (dallas,texas) - See
EXTD= all my reviews  \nThough Don Henley is to put it politely, a ver
EXTD=y prickly pear..He' smart..He's out there somewhere in his own ga
EXTD=laxy..But his talent won't be denied..And the music (the net resu
EXTD=lt of his inner angst) more than compensates for whatever charact
EXTD=er flaws he might possess..Apparently Henley's a control freak an
EXTD=d something of an intellectual bully..Henley is/was a transplante
EXTD=d East Texas boy to the Gold Coast of Southern California (who vo
EXTD=luntarily checked himself into the Hotel California)..And Henley 
EXTD=struggled mightily, like all aspiring artists do early in their c
EXTD=areers, likely further melding his nasty character, fidgeting phi
EXTD=losophically, As to Artist vs. The Record Companies..The eternal 
EXTD=struggle between art and enterprise, Good vs. Evil..Henley claims
EXTD= the labels really taught him how to hate, not to trust anyone, b
EXTD=ut himself..Probably a good idea.. He apparently mastered the gam
EXTD=e..Hired David Geffen to be his personal manager because he thoug
EXTD=ht, "I know he's an SOB"..a shark in a suit..but he's my "SOB"..t
EXTD=he net result of all this manuevering was..More Great Music..Big 
EXTD=Ideas and Themes..Big Money..Rock Star Status...More Independence
EXTD=..Leading Henley to (have enough money and freedom) to write musi
EXTD=c of choice about relevant topics rather than the formulaic piffl
EXTD=e much Eagle's music represents..Without a doubt, Henley is the b
EXTD=est mind, deepest thinker, best overall talent to evolve out of t
EXTD=he Eagles..Not a bad drummer either..And this album is worth its 
EXTD=weight in Gold.. "Boys of Summer".. "Sunset Grille".. "All She Wa
EXTD=nts To Do Is Dance"..Are bang up hits..Self explanatory..Brillian
EXTD=tly well thought out juxtapositions..Brilliant structures..From a
EXTD=n unusually razor witted mind..Yet, possibly at times, a conflict
EXTD=ed, tortured soul..Environmentalist/Gazillionaire?..Reconcile tha
EXTD=t..Doesn't matter much in the end..This is a bone crushing collec
EXTD=tion of tunes, as universally omniprescient as a Jackson Browne f
EXTD=aire..Though I might not care to know Henley personally, one can'
EXTD=t help but admire and respect the music, even begrudgingly..I'm n
EXTD=ot sure who the Perfect Beast really is in this sceario?..Henley,
EXTD= the music, or both ? This CD is almost a Perfect Beast..Henley, 
EXTD=like Jackson Pollack might not win any personal popularity contes
EXTD=ts, but like Pollack you can't deny the talent, the music..There'
EXTD=s a very fine line between love and hate..Perfect Country Cousins
EXTD=! Even Henley might agree with that! \n\nAmazon.com Customer Revi
EXTD=ew\nBest Don Henley Album - One of the Best Albums of the 1980s, 
EXTD=November 21, 2003\nReviewer: "argon78" (Forest Hills, NY United S
EXTD=tates) \nOne day during the summer of 1985, on one of my occasion
EXTD=al jaunts to the local strip mall to buy records, I obtained two 
EXTD=albums by former Eagles members - "The Allnighter" by Glenn Frey,
EXTD= and this album by Don Henley. Interestingly enough, I had never 
EXTD=really listened to the Eagles (sure I'd heard "Take It Easy" and 
EXTD="Hotel California", but it was only on the radio when I was much 
EXTD=younger and I didn't even know who had done them...) and did not 
EXTD=know that both of these artists had been in what I would soon dis
EXTD=cover was an amazing band. Of the two albums I bought, this was b
EXTD=y far the better one and it became a part of my regular listening
EXTD= rotation even into the 1990s.\nThere are so many good songs on t
EXTD=his album - they fit together to form a cohesive whole while at t
EXTD=he same time each stands on its own individually. I don't think t
EXTD=here is one song on this album that I don't really like except pe
EXTD=rhaps (and maybe ironically), the title track. Standouts range fr
EXTD=om the beautiful, longing and urgent "Boys of Summer", to the pre
EXTD=tty "Not Enough Love In the World" and "Land Of The Living", to t
EXTD=he songs that rock out "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" (complete w
EXTD=ith sarcastic, cynical political overtones) and "Drivin' With You
EXTD=r Eyes Closed". But to me, the highlight of the album are the two
EXTD= songs which segue into each other on what used to be side 2 of t
EXTD=he album - these are "A Month Of Sundays" which is a heartfelt an
EXTD=d heart-tugging glimpse at the struggles of farmers hit during th
EXTD=e glut of farm foreclosures which were taking place in the mid-19
EXTD=80s. This beautiful, sad song relaxes into the cool, jazzy "Sunse
EXTD=t Grill", which for some reason evokes Los Angeles to my mind....
EXTD=\n\nAt any rate, to sum up - this album brings out a wide range o
EXTD=f emotions through really well played, well conceived songs. Ther
EXTD=e are pretty songs and songs that rock on this album. An unusuall
EXTD=y solid blend of great lyrics and great music that plants images 
EXTD=in your head and induces contemplation...Just what music is suppo
EXTD=sed to do...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\n
EXTD=A Little Dated Musically, But Still A Lyrical Powerhouse!, Octobe
EXTD=r 9, 2002\nReviewer: D. Hawkins (Denver, CO United States) \nAh, 
EXTD=the sound of those synthesized drums that were EVERYWHERE in 1984
EXTD=. If Orwell had his book to write over again, he'd warn us about 
EXTD=the shelf life of those babies. Musically, songs like the title t
EXTD=rack and "Sunset Grill" scream to you loud and clear exactly when
EXTD= they were made, but the album still hits home today. With Walmar
EXTD=t and various other corporations running the world, the lyrics of
EXTD= "Sunset Grill" are even more relevant today (and ironic, since t
EXTD=he real location is now owned by a corporation!). "A Month of Sun
EXTD=days" has got to be one of the most poignant songs I have EVER he
EXTD=ard, and it could certainly apply to many industries besides farm
EXTD=ing. "The Boys of Summer" still holds up as just about the best s
EXTD=ong from the 1980's, and "Not Enough Love" and "You're Not Drinki
EXTD=ng Enough" show us why Don just might be the best vocalist in all
EXTD= of popular music.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nA Snapshot of T
EXTD=he Reagen Wasteland..., April 25, 2002\nReviewer: Greg McDowell (
EXTD=Tacoma,WA) \nAlthough several songs here haven't aged well, the m
EXTD=ajority of this album allows us to remember the days of conspicuo
EXTD=s consumption and moral bankruptcy that defined the 1980's. "All 
EXTD=She Wants To Do Is Dance" is my favorite here: anyone who has eve
EXTD=r traveled abroad and been embarresed in public by the rude, igno
EXTD=rant behavior of our countrymen will relate to this one! "A Month
EXTD=s Of Sundays" takes up the forgotten plight of America's farmers,
EXTD= whose suicide rate for a while, at least among males, rivaled th
EXTD=at of Western Samoa! "Drivin' With Your Eyes Closed" sums up our 
EXTD=politicians today as well as it did in 1984. Henley writes for Am
EXTD=ericans who still read books, and stil believe that individual fr
EXTD=eedom is the last doorstop we have left before the door of govern
EXTD=ment-imposed conformity slams our heads in its marble-encrusted f
EXTD=rame. \n\nThis is easily one of the top 10 American rock albums o
EXTD=f the 1980's!\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nHenley Soars, August
EXTD= 24, 2000\nReviewer: Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) \nWith Building The 
EXTD=Perfect Beast, Don Henley released an album that was his most bit
EXTD=ingly critical and cynical album to date. The album is a commenta
EXTD=ry on the baby boomers, who in the 60's were the counterculture, 
EXTD=but where now the mainstream yuppies in the Reagan-era 80's. Ther
EXTD=e is alot of commentary on the Reaganomics mentallity of greed is
EXTD= good. He takes on his adopted home state of California in numero
EXTD=us songs. In the title cut, Henley comments that back in the 60's
EXTD=, California was a place of rebellion, trying to build social cha
EXTD=nge, but now it was a place trying to build the perfect money mak
EXTD=ing machine. "Man With A Mission" is about the seemingly singlemi
EXTD=ndness of the country to succeed at any and all costs. "Drivin' W
EXTD=ith Your Eyes Closed" is a veiled commentary on how he felt Reaga
EXTD=n was running the country. The big hit single "Boys Of Summer" is
EXTD= a lament about trying to recapturing the past, but knowing thing
EXTD=s will never be the same again. "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" ta
EXTD=lks about the bad things going on down in Central America, but ou
EXTD=r country's lack of care as things are too good here. Not everyth
EXTD=ing is politically charged like the country-blues sounds of "You'
EXTD=re Not Drinking Enough", the moody "Sunset Grill & the pretty "No
EXTD=t Enough Love In The World", but they are critical in nature. The
EXTD= album is one of the defining releases of the 80's as it employs 
EXTD=a very contempary sound with alot of synthesisers and drum machin
EXTD=es, but since the songs are so great, it a timeless release and t
EXTD=he apex of Don Henley's solo career.\n\nHalf.com Album Credits\nB
EXTD=elinda Carlisle, Contributing Artist\nCharlie Sexton, Contributin
EXTD=g Artist\nDavid Paich, Contributing Artist\nJohn David Souther, C
EXTD=ontributing Artist\nMike Campbell, Contributing Artist\nPatty Smy
EXTD=th, Contributing Artist\nRandy Newman, Contributing Artist\nSam M
EXTD=oore, Contributing Artist\nGreg Ladanyi, Engineer\nNiko Bolas, En
EXTD=gineer\n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel includes: Don Henley (vocals, ke
EXTD=yboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion); Lindsey Buckingham (gui
EXTD=tar, background vocals); Danny Kortchmar (guitar, omnichord, keyb
EXTD=oards, organ, synthesizer, synthesizer guitar, synthesizer horns,
EXTD= bass, percussion); Mike Campbell (guitar, synthesizer, percussio
EXTD=n); Charlie Sexton (guitar); Ben Tench (piano, keyboards, synthes
EXTD=izer); David Paich (piano, synthesizer); Mike Boddicker (synthesi
EXTD=zer, emulator, programming); Bill Cuomo (synthesizer, percussion 
EXTD=programming); Steve Porcaro (synthesizer, programming); Randy New
EXTD=man (synthesizer); Larry Klein, Pino Palladino, Tim Drummond (bas
EXTD=s); Ian Wallace, Jim Keltner (drums); Belinda Carlisle, Sam Moore
EXTD=, Patty Smyth, Martha Davis (background vocals).\n\nProducers: Do
EXTD=n Henley, Danny Kortchmar, Greg Ladanyi, Mike Campbell.\n\nRecord
EXTD=ed at Record One, Sherman Oaks, California; Bill Schnee Studio, U
EXTD=niversal City, California; The Villa, North Hollywood, California
EXTD=.\n\nAlthough the 1980s production values sound a bit dated, Don 
EXTD=Henley's BUILDING THE PERFECT BEAST is made up of 11 smartly writ
EXTD=ten songs that stand the test of time. Henley's second solo endea
EXTD=vor, the release shows the various faces of the singer/songwriter
EXTD=, surrounded here by an excellent group of musicians, including l
EXTD=ongtime partner Danny Kortchmar. From the rocking "Man with a Mis
EXTD=sion" to the folk narrative "Month of Sundays" to the country bal
EXTD=lad "You're Not Drinking Enough," BUILDING THE PERFECT BEAST is a
EXTD= record built upon variety. Two Henley hits are also found on thi
EXTD=s album, namely the steamy "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" and the
EXTD= reflective, bittersweet "The Boys of Summer," the latter of whic
EXTD=h features some of the artist's finest lyrics, along with music b
EXTD=y Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell.\n\n\nROLLING STONE REVIE
EXTD=W\nWhen The Eagles left their gilded nest, America didn't lose it
EXTD=s favorite band, it gained a plethora of solo artists. Among them
EXTD=, only drummer Don Henley is making consistently compelling music
EXTD=, and his second solo effort manages to maintain the highest stan
EXTD=dards of studio professionalism and lyrical acuity set by that hi
EXTD=gh-flying band. Spontaneity has never been Henley's strong suit, 
EXTD=so he looks to score points with craft and tosses in a few topica
EXTD=l curves for good measure.\n\nHenley is currently riding high wit
EXTD=h "The Boys of Summer," a wistful look over the shoulder at a fad
EXTD=ed summer romance. Guitarist Mike Campbell frames the song with h
EXTD=is piquant single-note picking, while Henley offers up an aching 
EXTD=vocal that'll tug at the heartstrings of anyone who ever bid a so
EXTD=ulful sayonara to a bikinied baby. "The Boys of Summer" sets a mo
EXTD=od of romantic dolor that prevails, though is not equaled, throug
EXTD=hout the first side. Even the titles abound in weary negatives: "
EXTD=You Can't Make Love," "You're Not Drinking Enough," "Not Enough L
EXTD=ove in the World" -- all of the songs draggy ballads in the mold 
EXTD=of the Eagles hit "Take It to the Limit."\n\nSide two is another 
EXTD=animal altogether, wherein Henley and pals -- guitarist-sidekick 
EXTD=Danny Kortchmar, various members of the Heartbreakers and Toto, p
EXTD=lus other guests and sessionmen -- really spring to life. On this
EXTD= side, Henley moves from the personal to the political, mapping o
EXTD=ut with black humor a modern world barely hanging on its hinges.\n
EXTD=\n"Building the Perfect Beast" builds up steamrolling momentum as
EXTD= Henley nervously ponders the madness being loosed in laboratorie
EXTD=s in the name of science: "The secrets of eternity/We've found th
EXTD=e lock and turned the key/We've shakin' up those building blocks/
EXTD=Going deeper into that box." That's Pandora's box, friends. Here,
EXTD= and throughout the side, synthesizers are used not as sentimenta
EXTD=l embellishment but to sound an air-raid siren on the impending a
EXTD=pocalypse. "Beast" sounds something like big-band jazz, driven by
EXTD= a bank of brassy synths and a register-scraping vocal from Henle
EXTD=y.\n\nAfter the abstract horror of the title track, "Sunset Grill
EXTD=" zeroes in on its protagonist's tangible sense of entrapment in 
EXTD=a dead-end hangout in a big city. Hunkered over his beer while wh
EXTD=ores and bums promenade outside, Henley sings, "You see a lot mor
EXTD=e meanness in the city/It's the kind that eats you up inside." "S
EXTD=unset Grill" ends in a long, jazzy instrumental fade as evocative
EXTD= of darkened streets and unraveled dreams as "Slaughter on Tenth 
EXTD=Avenue."\n\n"All She Wants to Do Is Dance" is a caustic, dry-witt
EXTD=ed look at Americans abroad, partying obliviously in dangerous pl
EXTD=aces. It's Henley's own "Undercover of the Night," full of images
EXTD= of violence and heat: Club Med  go-go in the bloody Third World
EXTD=. And it rocks with words and music as pointed as punji sticks, a
EXTD=s does "Drivin' with Your Eyes Closed," a cryptic attack on the r
EXTD=eckless, violent road the U.S. is traveling ("You're gonna hit so
EXTD=methin'/But that's the way it goes"). Kortchmar slashes out some 
EXTD=nasty, Zeppelin-ish chords and overdubs a tinkly "96 Tears"-style
EXTD= keyboard, while Henley spits out his most derisive vocal and sla
EXTD=ms at the drums -- not bad for a two-man band.\n\nAfter the stark
EXTD= panorama of life in the ruins laid out in the preceding songs, t
EXTD=he LP ends on a positive note with "Land of the Living." No solut
EXTD=ions are proffered, just a bit of shelter from the storm in the a
EXTD=rms of one who "Came and pulled me through." It's sung almost as 
EXTD=a gospel confessional with an Al Green-type lilt -- an encouragin
EXTD=g personal testimonial that closes a brave, near-great side of mu
EXTD=sic from Don Henley. (RS 440 -- Jan 31, 1985)  --  PARKE PUTERBAU
EXTD=GH
EXTT0=D. Henley, M. Campbell [#5]
EXTT1=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar
EXTT2=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar, J. D. Souther
EXTT3=D. Kortchmar
EXTT4=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar, B. Tench [#34]
EXTT5=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar
EXTT6=D. Kortchmar [#9]
EXTT7=D. Henley
EXTT8=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar, B. Tench [#22]
EXTT9=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar, S. Lynch
EXTT10=D. Henley, D. Kortchmar
PLAYORDER=
