Jackson Browne - Hold Out

Hold Out came after a three year hiatus, and it would set the pattern for his releases through the '80s. After the success of Running on Empty it seemed like an eternity between records but his audience was waiting patiently and Hold Out would become his lone number one album on the Billboard charts. The album didn't do as well here in Canada but it would crack the top ten stalling at number six.

This was the album I came to a few years later when my friend Steve couldn't stop heaping praise on the record. At the time I was enjoying Lawyers in Love and I did like the songs I'd heard on the radio. Over the years I've had this album on vinyl, then CD and now again on vinyl. Why get it again?

It was on sale ... and I'm a sucker ... and despite some pithy comments to come, I really liked this album.

It's always fun going back and reading up on things that are decades old and discovering the vitriol some artists are blessed with from the various critics. Jackson apparently was the easiest of targets, a singer songwriter who had dared to try and change with the times. It must have been sweet revenge to when Hold Out went to number one. In '83 he still had gas in the tank and I loved Lawyers in Love but apparently there were fewer people like me than there used to be for the one time '70s troubadour turned '80s rocker. He never went away, his audience did - at least those who were on the bandwagon. He'd continue to release albums but his commercial relevance gave way to the elder statesman he eventually morphed into. 

As usual I'm getting ahead of myself.

Hold Out is a bit of an odd duck listening to it now. It's weird how with the passage of time we start to look for things and patterns that weren't originally there. At the time this was just another Jackson Browne album, but listening to it now if feels like a loving goodbye to the '70s. The album only contains seven songs and considering the time between releases feels a bit thin.

Jackson was surrounded by crack players, Russ Kunkel on drums, Bob Glaub on bass, and Craig Doerge on keyboards who provided a rich soundscape to his songs. The emotional centre to me is David Lindley, especially his slide work on the pedal steel, I am always in awe of his playing. Of course everything is deliberately crafted and centred on Jackson Browne's voice. He may not have the best voice in rock and roll but by gum the guy knew how to infuse a song with emotional gravitas.

I hate picking on anything, as there is so much to praise here, and while at the time critics carved up some of the songs, particularly "Of Missing Persons"  I tend to be moved more often than not, and yes I think "Of Missing Persons" totally works. One of the songs here that always got me in the feels was "Call it a Loan" that was written by Lindley and Browne. 

If there was a fly in the ointment it was the album's closing cut "Hold On Hold Out" that just seems to collapse under the weight of its own sense of self importance. Which is a bit harsh as the song itself starts out strong and the groove is infectious. The first part of the song up to David's solo always seemed to evoke echoes of "The Load-Out" from Running on Empty. Then the song goes into a restrained breakdown where Jackson figures it was a good idea to go into a spoken word narration of the last couple of stanzas that for me derails the entire song. By the time he gets to the part where he says to the listener, "I Love You" I found myself looking to see if there was a barf bag in the seat in front of me. The song clocks in over eight minutes and it's a hell of a song, right up to when it isn't.

It leaves a bit of an aftertaste, but frankly the other six songs are so good and there are some absolute burners on the album. The first side is all sparkly goodness, and the second side is great if you can Hold Out to the end, and sort of pretend the last minute or so doesn't exist.