What does it sound like?:
Running On Empty may not be Jackson Browne’s best album – well, it does have some pretty stiff competition after all – but perhaps surprisingly it is his biggest seller. This is a straight remaster of the original 1977 album, and thus excludes the two extra songs that appeared on the 2005 reissue. It’s not a live album as such – instead it’s a mixture of songs that were recorded in live environments rather than in a studio, be that in a concert setting, backstage, on the tour bus or in a hotel room. JB is accompanied throughout by a crack band that included David Lindley, Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar among others. You simply don’t get a better supporting cast than that!
Although the two most well known pieces are the title track and the version of Stay (segued with The Load Out) that closes the album, it includes a number of very fine songs, as beautifully crafted and performed as you might expect. Having said that, only two songs are actually new Browne solo works, with four others being co-writes and the remaining four tracks being cover versions. None of the songs, unusually for what is effectively a live album, had previously appeared on a studio album. As well as the two songs mentioned, I’m particularly partial to the commercial rocker You Love The Thunder, The Road, which kicks off in a hotel room and ends on a stage, and Nothing But Time, recorded on the band’s Silver Eagle tour bus. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the gorgeous co-write with Lowell George Love Needs a Heart.
Another first class Browne record then, perhaps not as ambitious as some of his early works, but it more than makes up for that by being one of his most easily accessible albums for the newcomer. (where have you been?)
What does it all *mean*?
A live album with a difference, one that is in fact more a portrait of life on the road and the bonds formed in that unique environment
.
Goes well with…
Travelling – looking out at the road rushing under your wheels.
Release Date:
Out now
Might suit people who like…
Great singer/songwriters.
Nice! This was indeed the album that made me ‘get’ Browne (re newcomer), when I found it on vinyl a couple of months ago. Nice and relaxing, isn’t it?
The first JB album I bought on release, having got “Late for the sky” a few years after it came out (which is his masterpiece of course) and “The Pretender” shortly after. I really love ROE though – I know every note. One bit of personal pain – I bought it on the day of release – mates bought it later and theirs came with a full colour LP size photo book which was missing from mine. It still hurts!
My fave JB album. Wonderful evocation of what must have felt like a real pioneer experience. Almost famous in vinyl form.
Not in the pantheon of cold stone classics but an excellent record nonetheless and one I play more often than the others. A bit less intense perhaps?
Agreed, it’s less confessional that its two predecessors – Sky and Pretender are almost painfully raw.
Looking hard into your eyes
There was nobody I’d ever known
Such an empty surprise to feel so alone…
How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
How long have I been dreaming I could make it right
If I closed my eyes and tried with all my might
To be the one you need
I had a good mate at uni who had to leave the room if someone put on The Pretender. I never really found out the exact historical trigger, but more than once I saw him go ashen faced and almost shake as he closed the door behind him.
Love it. Rosie is probably my favourite JB track even if a tad un- me too
Good songwriter, but I always found his albums very bland to listen to. Archetypical west coast tastefulness.
My but you is Wrong
My personal opinion cannot be wrong. You may well have a different one.
I beg to differ. I am Wrong on so many things but one thing I know for certain – JB is not “archetypal West Coast tastefulness”. More than Dylan, more than anybody, for a relatively short time in the seventies he spoke for a generation
My favourite JB album. The Load Out and Stay are just magnificent – I know he has written better songs but that is his finest moment for me.
I keep waiting for a JB box set – I keep expecting one or two of those little 5 CD boxes, but he sems to be about the only artist of that era to be ignored!
For some reason the above comment saved itself and wouldn’t open again for editing! I was going to add that I keep expecting one or two of those little 5 CD boxes to appear, but he seems to be about the only artist so far ignored!
And now I can’t delete the second comment….admins, save me from this circle of hell!
Every collection should have some Jackson Browne. ‘Late For The Sky’ is the one but I also love ‘Lawyers In Love’.
I managed to get a 5:1 SACD of ROE from a guy in Sweden a few months back, lovely stuff.
Bargie is that the new vinyl edition you have reviewed?
Yes it is – and good shout re Lawyers in Love – too long since I heard that album, must dig it out.
I really like “I’m alive” and can recommend this excellent DVD with the band from the album plus interview snippets. One of my better music DVDs (i.e. I actually watch it…).
Going Home [DVD] [2010] https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003Q58ZVC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Another Afterword favourite, but one I’ve never really checked out. Now corrected with my purchase of the 2005 remaster. £1.03 c/o the Dodgers. God, this place is costing me money.
Ah my dad loves this album! It was the first thing he asked me to download when he found about Limewire (he’s a bad man, but to be fair to him I think he had it on vinyl somewhere).
I’ve been meaning to listen to it for a while, and going by this review I think I’d like it.