Editorial Review:

Album Description:
Over the past three decades, Jackson Browne has created and voiced many of the most literate and emotionally resonant compositions in popular music—and sold more than 15 million albums, including the seven-times platinum Running On Empty and the #1 Hold Out. This year Browne’s artistry is celebrated with his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and with this new retrospective from Rhino. Browne’s first-ever double-disc set compiles hits, singles, and choice album cuts from his acclaimed catalog, spotlighting both insightful works of personal introspection and passionately delivered songs of social and political observation. The 2002 recipient of the prestigious John Steinbeck Award (honoring those exemplifying the famed writer’s environmental and social ideals), Browne is a mature artist and world citizen whose work shines on this long-awaited collection.

Amazon.com:
Though Jackson Browne's albums are not plentiful--in a career that stretches 32 years, he's released just over a dozen--they're filled with songs that serve as resilient touchstones for millions who passed through those decades. Originally forging a way for himself as a songwriter, his debut, Saturate Before Using, placed him at the forefront of the southern California rock scene. His contemporaries and compatriots, the Eagles, even took his 'Take It Easy' to the top of the charts. Even at his most anthemic, his songs resonate with small details that keep the proceedings human-scaled. The sympathetic accompaniment buoys a voice that's remarkable for its lack of idiosyncrasies. His unmannered singing voice is an essential component in making songs like 'These Days,' 'Fountain of Sorrow,' and 'Running on Empty' flow with a casual ease that belies the high level of craftsmanship throughout. --David Greenberger









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• The Greatest Hits
• Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1
• Greatest Hits
• Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2
• Running on Empty
• see more

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Disc 1:

1. Doctor My Eyes
2. Rock Me on the Water
3. Jamaica Say You Will
4. Take It Easy
5. These Days
6. For Everyman
7. Red Neck Friend
8. Fountain of Sorrow
9. For a Dancer
10. Late for the Sky
11. Before the Deluge
12. Your Bright Baby Blues
13. The Pretender
14. Here Come Those Tears Again
15. The Load-Out
16. Stay

Disc 2:

1. Running On Empty
2. You Love The Thunder
3. Boulevard
4. Somebody’s Baby
5. Tender Is The Night
6. In the Shape Of A Heart
7. Lawless Avenue
8. Lives In The Balance
9. I Am A Patriot
10. Sky Blue And Black
11. I’m Alive
12. The Barricades Of Heaven
13. Looking East
14. The Naked Ride Home
15. The Night Inside Me

Rating: - The Very Best of Jackson Browne
CD was brand new and worth every penny....excellent service, smooth transaction from seller...I will purchase from seller in the future! Many thanks

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Rating: - The Evolution of Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is, simply put, one of America's best songwriters. It was what drew David Geffen's attention to him in the early seventies when Geffen started Asylum records. With Jackson at the mic (along with stalwarts of the California Sound, Joni Mitchell and The Eagles), Asylum Records started a revolution in music.

Browne, however, is not so easily categorized. He has gone through four rather distinct periods in his 30 plus years of music making. Starting as the confessional singer-songwriter, Browne walked this turf with few peers save Joni Mitchell or CSN&Y. His most recognizable work is from this period, and the first four albums take up the fist disc's 16 songs. There are a lot of classics here, like "Doctor My Eyes" and "Fountain of Sorrow," yet Browne peaked with The Pretender, a spiritual kin to The Eagles' "Hotel California." The California Dream is now dissected and the realization that things aren't going as planned hits home ("I'm gonna be a happy idiot and struggle for the legal tender"). He followed that with the road-suite of Running on Empty, a travelogue worthy of Neil Young. Recorded in fits and starts while traveling across the country, Browne sees his compatriots as he's "Looking in their eyes, I see them running, too."

That is the song Browne chose to kick off the second disc of this collection, which is filled with the second phase: Pop Popularity. "Running on Empty" and "The Load Out/Stay" made Browne into a popstar of sorts, and Hold Out sealed the deal with a rather pedestrian rocker, "Boulevard." "Lawyers In Love" was something of a reaction to New-Wave, with a satirical bent and a harder edge and the hints of the next wave, Browne's political period. However, he took a little time to record the endearingly poppy "Somebody's Baby" for the movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in the middle of all this, and it became a surprisingly huge hit.

When Browne turned his activism into the music, the results were Lives in the Balance and World in Motion, along with a dwindling of his audience. Even though Browne had down major work organizing the No Nukes concerts of the 80's, he had refrained from putting any of these thoughts to music until the Iran-Contra scandals blew up. INHO, "Lives In The Balance" is as essential a Jackson Browne album as "The Pretender," in as much as the "Happy Idiot" has been moved to action and starts to question

"I want to know who the men in the shadows are.
I want to hear somebody asking them why
they can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are,
but they're never the ones to fight and to die."

I find it odd that only the Little Steven penned "I Am A Patriot" is here from "World In Motion"...oh well. Browne still had a little of the old-style in him as "In The Shape of a heart" and "Tender Is The Night" show, but he then went quiet till 1993, when I'm Alive brokered Browne's fourth (and current) phase, elder statesman. Both "I'm Alive" and Looking East took a few pokes at hs very public and acrimonious breakup with actress Daryl Hannah (it's hard not to imagine "Sky Blue and Black" as a goodbye letter). But then the remaining songs take a look back at his career ("The Barricades of Heaven" and the title track to The Naked Ride Home).

"The Very Best Of Jackson Browne" is not without omissions ("That Girl Code Sing" or "For America" make my list). Still, at 32 songs over two CD's, it's hard not to suggest going and picking up a few of the full albums on your own. Browne is one of the few artists who still looks at albums as whole pieces, meant to be listened to in one seating. His two acoustic concert discs are also standouts, as is the recent "Time The Conqueror."

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Rating: - MISSING A GREAT SONG !!!!!!!
I'll be brief and to the point. One of my all-time favorite jackson browne songs (and perhaps yours, too) "THAT GIRL COULD SING" is missing from this greatest hits package. i can't deal with that, plus it really pisses me off !!!
of course, why would i expect it to be on this 'greatest' cd - it was only ONE OF HIS BIGGEST HITS !!!
Shame on you Mr./Mrs. record company !!!

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Rating: - Classic Jackson
The title for this CD says it all. It is a good mix of his classics.

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Rating: - Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne has been a staple of the American music scene since the early 1970s, when he produced such great tunes as Doctor My Eyes and Song For Adam. But, he has never stopped producing great tunes, and this 2004, 2-CD album is a compilation of some of his best work, focusing primarily on his later career. Now, as with any "Best of..." album, there's bound to be disagreements about what should and shouldn't be included, and this album is no exception. Like I said, it skews towards his later career, which will please many of his later fans, and displease more long-term fans.

So, is this a great album? Overall, I would say, yes. The quality is excellent, showing of Mr. Browne's voice at it best. Plus, I like the one I got, which came in an environmentally-friendly, no-plastic holder. I really liked this album and don't hesitate to recommend it!