Track Listing

1. Nobody Else In The World
2. Taking You Home
3. For My Wedding
4. Everything Is Different Now
5. Workin' It
6. Goodbye To A River
7. Inside Job
8. They're Not Here, They're Not Coming
9. Damn, It Rose
10. Miss Ghost
11. The Genie
12. Annabel
13. My Thanksgiving

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10026 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
With Inside Job, Don Henley--the Voice Of AOR--returns, proudly married-with-kids and armed with another polished state-of-the-zeitgeist summary of the moral preoccupations of his baby-boom generation ... or at least its winners. This is intermittently haunted by human frailty ("Damn It Rose"), corporate culture ("Workin' It"), environmental issues ("Goodbye To A River") and lives of "too many blessings" ("My Thanksgiving"). As uniformly serious in tone as it is pristinely rockin' in intent, Inside Job is the first release in a decade from the quintessential California music industry insider, following ten years of charity work, a monster Eagles reunion and the odd legal wrangle. Sure to be respectfully and profitably received regardless, it nevertheless strives for fresh musical energy, driven by Henley's pop-rock instincts and pedigree collaborators (Stevie Wonder, Glenn Frey, sundry Tom Petty sidemen and Randy Newman, whose savage, mischievous satire is repeatedly echoed, in tamer fashion, in tracks like "They're Not Here, They're Not Coming"). Predictably, family matters loom large in the ex-hedonist's universe, with "Taking You Home" and the oddly resigned-sounding "For My Wedding" weighing in on the side of commitment and a self-loathing, witchy-woman-dissin' "Miss Ghost" in the opposite (hotel room) corner. Nevertheless, Inside Job's "lessons of humility" are more frequent than we've a right to expect of anyone whose previous band's Best Of sold 26 million copies. Even if, when Henley decries a world of "no authenticity, no sign of soul/The radio won't play George and Merle", you can't help thinking it's because radio's still playing the Eagles' "Hotel California" on continuous loop. --Jennifer Nine

CD Description
The former Eagle's first solo album in more than a decade doesn't sound much like the Eagles. Musically, the album is amelange of folk rock, mild funk, blues, and piano driven New Age balladry reminiscent of Bruce Hornsby. Lyrically, the songs continue in the vein of Henley's last recorded original outing, the 1994 Eagles reunion single "Get Over It".
The years seem to have mellowed Henley enough that he sees the irony of a rock star addressing important issues like ecology ("Goodbye to a River") or class warfare. Other notable tracks here include "Taking You Home", a lush romantic ballad, and "Nobody Else in the World But You", featuring some deft keyboards by guest Stevie Wonder. "Damn it, Rose", is a genuinely poignant song, from the perspective of a single father whose wife has committed suicide. The most ambitious track, however, is "They're Not Here, They're Not Coming", which is not only the album's best rocker, but a hilarious dissection of UFO mania as "a sorry substitution for a spiritual life".

Customer Reviews

He's back, as good as ever, even if some things have changed
"I hate to tell you this, but I'm very, very happy; and I know that's not what you'd expect from me at all" ... There you have it! The opening lines of "Everything Is Different Now," Henley's love song to wife Sharon (née Summerall) sum up everything that is, indeed, "different" about this album, and unexpected from the guy we all came to love (or hate?) as Reaganomics's fiercest critic, and as one of the driving forces behind one of the supergroups of the 1970s.

There is still plenty of the Don Henley we know here, from the opening funky diatribe on egocentricism, "Nobody Else in the World But You" (featuring Stevie Wonder and flat-out addictive when performed live), to the first single release "Workin' It" (revisiting the mainstay of Henley's socio-economic criticism, corporate and personal greed), to "Goodbye to a River" (the singer/environmentalist's swan song on the preservation of nature) and "Damn It, Rose" (inspired by a friend's suicide). The album's title track is directed against Henley's own industry, whose representatives he accuses in no uncertain terms - not only here but also in congressional testimony and initiatives taken by his own Coalition for Artists' Rights - of sneaking in, through the back door, legislation which would have virtually denied a recording artist control over their own work. In fact, reportedly the album was originally supposed to be called "Otherwise" ... until Henley learned of that legislation, which caused the spontaneous change of title.

But it's been eleven years since Henley released "End of the Innocence," and even if he did not publish another album (except for "Actual Miles," his last hurray on Geffen Records; a "greatest hits plus three new tracks" compilation), he was certainly not idle. He founded the Walden Woods Project, to save as much as possible of Henry David Thoreau's treasured lands from commercial development. He agreed with his former fellow band members to bring their "14-year vacation" to an end, release an Eagles reunion album and go on what turned out to be a two-year world tour. And perhaps most significantly, he married and had kids - the song "Annabel" is dedicated to his daughter. Did all this make him more mellow? Maybe. Did it make him more mature? Definitely. The man who had realized that the "Heart of the Matter" in overcoming a failed relationship is forgiveness now found himself confronting the fact that after all those "nights of running" with "the old crowd," "you wake up one morning and half your life is gone" ... and since you always only "get the love that you allow," you first have to allow love back into your life if you want a fulfilling relationship ("Everything Is Different Now.") And he learned to say his "Thanksgiving" for a life that he "still loves," because of the expectations it holds, because of family and friends, and because of the satisfaction found in work. (And who would ever have expected Don Henley, of all people, to come up with the insight that "an angry man can only get so far until he reconciles the way he thinks things ought to be with the way things are?")

So yes, this album is different from Henley's prior releases; but then, no two of them have ever been entirely alike; and ballads have always been his forte, too, from 1982's sad and beautiful "Lilah" to the award-winning title track of "End of the Innocence." Musically, "Inside Job" is perhaps more diverse than any of its predecessors, featuring everything from funk ("Nobody in the World But You") to straightforward rock ("Workin' It," "Inside Job," "The Genie") to blues ("Miss Ghost" ... with Jimmie Vaughan on lead guitar!) to gospel ("Everything Is Different Now" - you just *have* to have seen him and his background choir perform this one live, particularly the ending) and of course, ballads ("Goodbye to a River," "Damn It, Rose," "Annabel"); the made-for-Hollywood "Taking You Home" even garnered him a Grammy nomination in the pop category. (Hmm. Don Henley - pop??? That DID give me pause I'll admit.) Maybe what shines more here than ever before, though, is a side of Henley's not always apparent from his prior releases, nor from his often razor-sharp language in interviews and when speaking publicly - namely, his sense of humor. A stand-out in this category is "They're Not Here, They're Not Coming," skillfully using irony and a longing for the days of Rocky the Flying Squirrel to simultaneously blast the shortcomings of the "cold, cold, cold (...) postmodern world" and the belief of, according to recent statistics, 47% of the U.S. population in the existence of visitors from outer space. And maybe the album's biggest hidden gem is "Miss Ghost," a Cajun blues tale about confronting the ghosts of your past, told from the perspective of a man returning from a night of drinking to find, to his surprise, a long-forgotten "ghost" (woman? sin? mistake?) waiting for him, but overcoming the temptation she represents and instead shooing her out of the door with a toast: "Here's to seeing through you - Miss Ghost." (Henley even nails the tone and accent to a tee here; I'd have loved to hear him perform it live ... unfortunately, he never did.)

In all its diversity, the album nevertheless comes as one piece, thanks in no small part to the continuity of production provided by Henley's trusted friend Stan Lynch. It features the "all star" cast of supporting artists we have long come to expect - (ex-)Eagles Frey and Felder, Henley friends Danny Kortchmar and Frank Simes, Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, and many others. More than anything, however, it proves that Don Henley is still on top of his game when it comes to music - a welcome affirmation after an eleven year wait.

The best Don Henley album.
As a younger listener of Don Henley (19), I have to say that initially I was slightly disappointed with the amount of slower tracks on this album, especially compared to 'End of the Innocence', but after only a few plays through I was amazed at the intelligence of the lyrics, the quality of the recording and the overall class of the album. It is by far his most mature work, and there is not one filler or lesser song on the album. Suicide, corporate USA, aliens, family, self-obsession, lost love....everything is covered with a style and class that seems to be increasingly rare in todays music. The songs are masterpieces. The album opens with an energetic and satirical comment on the self indulgent featuring Glen Frey and Stevie Wonder, and is followed by a superb ballad about his family. Inside Job and Workin' It are brilliantly mastered attacks on "these corporation nation states' and this only touches the surface. Everything you could possibly want from Henley. A truly wonderful album, this will spend more tome in your cd player than in the case.

10 years very well spent
I will own up to being a great Don Henley/Eagles fan but even so this is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. There is no loss of voice and - although the songs cover most of Henleys favourite subjects they are still fresh and different. From the title track to the song about the suicide of a friend Damn it Rose and on to the humour of They're not here They're not coming and to my personal pick Taking You Home it is clear that Henley has not lost his touch in song writing. The only song where he does not have a writing credit For My Wedding is queitly evocative and all his other songs especially the refrain for a past love Miss Ghost, the song I think is for his daughter Annabel and the haunting and excellent Goodbye to a River are of the highest quality. While I think that the strongest appeal of this album will be to Henley/Eagles fan I would urge anyone else who likes quality music to give it a go. Lets hope he wil tour here soon so we can hear this material live!