Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The vibrant rich tones associated with the heartbeat of the Eagles has missed being played out as a solo performance, whilst the exuberance of the band has been seen and heard in Joe Walsh’s stunning 2012 album Analogue Man. The more thoughtful repose, the more natural sounding and gentle like feel that comes with many of the Eagles classic ballads has been strangely and sadly quiet before the massive and exhilarating tour that brought the group back where they belong and, until now, hushed into the dark spaces of memory of the post Eagles shows.
For Don Henley, alongside Glen Frey, the heartbeat and signature of the Eagles lives and breathes in the man who founded the band and his solo work has long been seen as exemplary. A testament to the thoughtfulness, consideration to each well placed note and word that comes when you have been at the top of your game for over 40 years. Don Henley may not bring the full on liveliness of the Eagles numbers to the band like the great Joe Walsh but what he does is bring reflection, a touch of the honest appraisal and the delicate character of a man who understands that the balance between humanity and the natural world is such that it cannot and should not be taken for granted. It is a measured and unselfish approach and whilst his fans may have found the wait frustrating, to hear Cass County, the first new studio album by the American legend in 15 years, is to acknowledge that true beauty does not just happen overnight, like nature herself, it can many years, but the wait is worth it.
Cass County delivers in true Don Henley style, not with the heavier rock sounds that found its way in to the songs Boys of Summer for example but in the way he brings the lyrics out into the open, not hiding behind the big sound and the argument of choice. This is his forte, his true panache, the lyrical response to the world of today and like any poet, the words and the reason are more than enough to capture the ideal set out without it being placed behind a guitar going at a fair rate of knots.
It is this strength of purpose and will that sees tracks such as Take A Picture of This, the sorrow of Waiting Tables, the innocent truth and destructive overload in Praying For Rain and the response to ageing and relationships in A Younger Man all come to the forefront of the man’s career and aside from his time leading one of America’s greatest ever Rock bands, easily stands up and against the best solo work created by any of the membership of the group to date.
Don Henley may have paused for 15 years to bring out a new solo album but it is a wait that is worth it, a piece of art that captures the soul of a man who knows the truth behind quiet reflection.
Ian D. Hall