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sodascouts
06-24-2009, 01:17 AM
The End of the Innocence was released on June 20, 1989. Can you believe it's 20 years old? Soon it will be old enough to drink. ;)

The album has some really brilliant songs on it: my personal favorite Heart of the Matter as well as the magificent title track and Last Worthless Evening. It deservedly received a lot of critical acclaim and showed Henley's growth in many ways.

Happy birthday, End of the Innocence!

TimothyBFan
06-24-2009, 07:48 AM
My absolute favorite of Don's. Heart Of The Matter is my favorite of course but you also can't go wrong with End Of The Innocence (love Bruce Hornsby), New York Minute, If Dirt Were Dollars, I Will Not Go Quietly (love Axl Rose on here), Last Worthless Evening, I mean there really isn't a bad song on here!!!

I've worn out 2 albums and 2 cd's of this one!

Brooke
06-24-2009, 10:47 AM
Ok, so I have to rotate Strange Weather and End of the Innocence for the week! I can hardly keep up! :lol:

My favorites are Heart of the Matter, title track, Last Worthless Evening and New York Minute. Really, what's not to like?

Koala
06-24-2009, 11:06 AM
A great album!
It´s my favorite solo album from Don, especially I like If Dirt Were Dollars, Last Worthless Evening, I Will Not Go Quietly, Shangri - La, Little Tin God
and of course Heart Of The Matter!
I think at the moment I hear every day at least one song from the album.

Fan_For_Life
06-24-2009, 07:00 PM
One of my all time favorite cds. The title track says it all.

My favorite songs being TEOTI, HBDYWI, IWNGQ, LWE, LTG, GWYG and HOTM.

Freypower
06-24-2009, 07:59 PM
I think this is Don's finest work. I don't wish to attempt a track by track analysis because I have just done that for Strange Weather. I will say a couple of things. The title track and HOTM are utterly timeless and acquire more and more depth. I would say the same about Gimme What You Got. Little Tin God and If Dirt Were Dollars, which have three of my favourite, most acerbic and 'Henleyesque' lyrics. LWE is just plain sexy and beautifully sung. IWNGQ rocks. NYM and HBDYWI are pretty good. The only substandard song in my opinion is Shangri-La.

Peekaboo
06-24-2009, 09:39 PM
Wow 20 years!!! There isn't a song on this album that I don't like. I love them all but (for me) it was seeing/hearing HOTM performed on HFO that completely took my breath away. Everything about that song is just beautiful. It was this song that got me completely hooked on Don and made me say "YES!!! This man has got it!! He's got the best voice i've ever heard!!"

I agree that LWE is just plain sexy. The video adds even more to that. I love the story that Don tells about this song during his solo concerts. I Will Not Go Quietly is an awesome rocker, especially live. I wish Don wouldn've done a video for this song. I think it would've been really cool to see Don and Axle in a video together.

TimothyBFan
06-25-2009, 07:36 AM
I wish Don wouldn've done a video for this song. I think it would've been really cool to see Don and Axle in a video together.

:faint: That would of been one of the most awesome things on MTV at the time!!! LOVE Axl!!!

Ive always been a dreamer
06-27-2009, 02:19 PM
Well, I somehow missed this event on the “Today In Eagles History” calendar, so I’m sorry for my delayed response here. :cry: I am going to try to go through this album song by song to give my thoughts, although I’ll probably won’t be as detailed as Soda and Freypower were in the Strange Weather thread. I think this album is a near masterpiece and is Don at his finest. The album is very appropriately named given the social and political themes that Don confronts. If you’ve never heard it, I would definitely encourage you to give it a listen. It is by far my favorite of Don’s solo albums and is very good from start to finish. I do think there are a couple of songs on the album that are just average, but most of the tracks are exceptional pieces of work. I rank this one near the top of my all-time favorite Eagles solo albums. I had to brush up on some of the lyrics and do some “refreshing” of my memory to write this, but I think the album deserves some extra attention. So, I’m going to categorize how well I like each song and my order of preference.


I absolutely love this song

The Heart of the Matter – I don’t know what I can say new about this song. It is just incredibly gorgeous. Don’s heartfelt, regretful lyrics and vocals are simply superb and he delivers each line so beautifully and eloquently. Of course, I think it’s about forgiveness (pun intended). It’s hard not to be moved by the lines that pretty much sum up the song’s main theme for me:



“You better put it all behind you, baby
'cause life goes on
You keep carrying that anger
it'll eat you up inside, baby”
I just can’t think of any flaws – everything about the song is near perfection, IMHO.

The End of the Innocence – This song is just absolutely brilliant and is virtually tied with HOTM as my favorite on the album. Don’s vocals, Bruce Hornsby’s piano, the melody, and the lyrics – all are incredible. This is one you where can analyze the lyrics to death, but the song is primarily a commentary on the Reagan administration. I’ll just say that the way Don paints imagery with words is amazing and almost every line can be left open for multiple interpretations – it just doesn’t get much better, IMO.

The Last Worthless Evening – <VERY HUGE SIGH> It’s just hard to find a hotter, sexier song. I wonder if there is any woman on the planet that doesn’t melt when she hears that uber sexy voice promise that this will be her last worthless evening??? ‘Nough said!

How Bad Do You Want It? – Okay, what can you say about a song with an opening line of “you're leavin' tongue marks on the carpet”? :wink: This song is vintage Don. I think this is about as honest of a commentary as you can get about the attitudes of love from a young, party-loving, hormone-raging male stud i.e. “you found an excuse to walk away, but you didn’t find no reason”. Great music as well - the sax rocks!

I Will Not Go Quietly – About the only thing to say here is that this song is full of attitude and just rocks with Axl Rose singing backup. Now what kind of images are conjured up when Don sings ...



Well, c’mon over here baby
You ‘bout to gimme a heart attack
I wanna wrap my lovin’ arms
Around the small of your back
Yeah, and Im gonna pull you, pull you, pull you
Pull you right up close to me
:shock: :idea: :makeout:

New York Minute – Another excellent song that Don delivers with such passion. Once again, he manages to paint such images with his lyrics that it’s almost like you are part of the song. A great message here that can best be summed up with the lines “If you find somebody to love in this world, you better hang on tooth and nail”.


I like this song a whole lot

If Dirt Were Dollars – I am not a big fan of Don’s delivery when he ‘talks’ a song – I’d much rather hear his gorgeous voice “sing”. But I do love the melody, music, and, of course, clever lyrics in this song. I’m amazed at Don’s ability to deliver such a scathing tongue-lashing about the televangelists that rose to prominence in the 80’s, and turn it into a humorous and entertaining song.

Little Tin God – This is another very clever, catchy commentary about the Reagan (Jingo the cowboy) years and televangelists (the shaky modern saviors) that were involved in sex scandals in the 80’s. To me, the main theme of the song is best conveyed in the line “If you stop and listen long enough, you will hear your own small voice”. Or to put it another way, look inside yourself for guidance and answers rather than worshipping flawed, pompous leaders (or fake gods). To me, Don very effectively delivers an upbeat message while managing to take a few jabs at the afore-mentioned “leaders”.


I like this song

Gimme What You Got – Again, Don is “talking” this song too much for my liking. To me, this song is very similar to If Dirt Were Dollars in style, but I am not as fond of the chorus as much and it’s not as melodic. But, the music is great. More clever social commentary about our materialistic society.

Shangri-La – By far, this is the weakest track on the album, IMO. It’s not horrible, but the lyrics, melody, and music are average and repetitious. Of course, the vocals save it for me.

sodascouts
06-27-2009, 09:21 PM
Great job, Dreamer!

BTW, I have a story to go with my purchase of End of the Innocence.

It came out right at the time my family moved to Saudi Arabia when I was in my early teens (my father was chosen to head the Mobil petrochemical refineries in the western region of the country). At the time, no rock music was allowed to be sold in the country - rock music was considered a Western instrument of Satan to lure Muslims away from the One True Faith (I don't know if that has changed now; this was 20 years ago. Wow, hard to believe it's been that long).

Anyway, the only way you could get rock music was through the "black market." Sellers made copies of albums on blank tapes. They put the tape in a big plastic-covered heat-resistant case, then photocopied the album cover, folded it, and slid it up under the plastic. Also included was a (very poorly done) transcription of the lyrics. It was really hilariously bad production and of course completely illegitimate, but like I said it was the only way anyone in Saudi could get their hands on rock music. The good news is the tapes were only 10 riyals (then about $3).

I bought The End of the Innocence from a black market seller in Jeddah because I had heard the title track on the radio several times before we'd left America, and I loved it. I knew it by heart. It spoke to me, in a way. Honestly, I hated living in Saudi. I was out of place, resented by the locals as an American intruder, and completely miserable. I couldn't go to town without a male escort, whom I had to be careful to walk behind and not touch in any way (I couldn't even hold my father's hand). I had to wear a black abaya over my clothes in public while the men could wear whatever they wanted. I had Saudi Arabian kids throwing stones at me for doing nothing more than passing them in the street (well, more like pebbles, but it was the principle of the thing).

The song "End of the Innocence" reminded me of my home back in Texas. Despite the fact that it contained a critique of American policy, it made me think of the U.S. wistfully. I related to the lyrics in a way Henley never intended: America and its "spacious skies" was to me the idealized aspect of the song, and Saudi was the tainted, "threatening" counterpart. I didn't give a crap about whether or not Reagan's policies had been successful, or whether a Republican or Democrat was in office. All I knew was that living in America - even with all its flaws - was a thousand times better than living in Saudi Arabia, and I desperately wanted to go back there.

We lived in Yanbu, a small town on the Red Sea which had no black market sellers... which didn't have much of anything, actually. We went to Jeddah about once a month. On our first trip to Jeddah, I was so excited to be able to get some new rock music that I couldn't wait to hand over my money to the first black market music seller I saw. I immediately bought The End of the Innocence. However, after a few listens, I wound up throwing it away because I felt guilty about owning it and that it was wrong to listen to it (I'm sure it sounds silly to you guys, but I was trying to do the right thing). I re-bought it as a CD years later... an officially released CD . Over a decade after I'd thrown away that black market copy, Mr. Henley finally got his royalties from me. ;) By that time, I no longer thought about Saudi when I heard it. Indeed, this is the first time in a long time that I've thought about its connection to my time in Saudi. I would rather just enjoy the title track as a brilliant piece of music, enjoy the album on its own merits, and not saddle it with "baggage."

But the whole experience does give me a story to tell at any rate, and I felt like sharing. lol

Edited to add: I think the above comes off a bit melodramatic. I didn't spend every minute of every day crying about being there, lol. My reaction to Saudi culture was immature. Now that I'm older and better appreciate the importance of money, I also understand why we went there and why my parents stayed there after my sister and I went back to Texas. I just didn't "get it" then.

Ive always been a dreamer
06-28-2009, 12:43 PM
Thanks, Soda. And for what it's worth, I think you had very normal reactions for someone that age. I mean what average American teenager wouldn't begrudge that lifestyle. I mean - are you kidding me - I have to buy my CD's on the black market! And I won't even go there about the black abaya! :lol:

sodascouts
06-28-2009, 02:46 PM
lol! Yeah, it was normal for a teen - so is immaturity. ;)

There are a couple of other threads I could put this in, but this one's as good as any: I'm so disappointed the video for "The End of the Innocence" wasn't released on the new "Best of Henley" DVD. All I can think of is that there was some kind of external circumstance - perhaps a copyright problem, as I believe the music videos are not actually copyrighted to the artist - that made them unable to include it. I doubt they would leave it off willingly as they probably did for Johnny Can't Read (although I have no problem with that video).

Glennsallnighter
06-28-2009, 06:24 PM
Sorry this is a couple days late, but I was traveling.

The End of the Innocence was released on June 20, 1989. Can you believe it's 20 years old? Soon it will be old enough to drink. ;)

Happy birthday, End of the Innocence!

If it 'lived' over here it WOULD be old enough to drink!! 18's the age!

Brooke
06-29-2009, 11:34 AM
Thanks for sharing that story, Soda. It must have been hard for you at the time, especially being a teenager and leaving your friends.

I'm disappointed EOTI isn't on the new dvd, too. One of his best!

TimothyBFan
06-30-2009, 09:02 AM
Great story Soda--thanks for sharing here!

EagleLady
06-20-2010, 01:19 AM
Hard to believe it is 21 years old

tequila girl
06-20-2010, 04:53 AM
Happy 21st End of the Innocence

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/carolwayne/charlie/eagles/IMGP2149.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/carolwayne/charlie/eagles/IMGP2148.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/carolwayne/charlie/eagles/IMGP2147.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/carolwayne/charlie/eagles/IMGP2150.jpg

Super Frey
06-20-2010, 12:05 PM
Happy 21 Birthday To the end of the innocence album.:drummer:

sodascouts
06-20-2010, 01:23 PM
Wow, it's finally old enough to drink! ;)

Happy birthday to the album which contains my personal favorite Henley song, Heart of the Matter, as well as some other outstanding tracks such as the title number.

Love those screenshots!

Ive always been a dreamer
06-27-2010, 11:34 AM
Happy Belated Birthday to The End of the Innocence!

Sorry this is late, but I was away last week on the anniversary date. I absolutely love this album and rank it among one of my favorite Eagles solo albums. It is a near masterpiece, IMHO. I did a song-by-song review on the anniversary last year, so I won't repeat it here. For those of you interested, there were some good comments made about the album in that thread. Here is the link:
https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1785

sodascouts
06-20-2011, 03:25 AM
Happy Birthday to The End of the Innocence! It turns 22 this year!

WalshFan88
06-20-2011, 03:27 AM
Happy Birthday! It's the same age as me! :hilarious:

EaglesKiwi
06-20-2011, 04:46 AM
Happy Birthday End of the Innocence.

Another one I only bought recently (couple of months ago). I actually became an Eagles fan because of the songs from this album performed on HFO (HOTM and NYM) - the Eagles performance being even better than the original.

Whilst I normally prefer to get whole albums as CDs, I downloaded this one off iTunes because I couldn't stand the album cover photo (how can someone so HS&G look so terrible in one photo?!! The cigarette doesn't help either :sad:).

Love, love, love this album. :inlove: To me (as a newbie to it), it doesn't sound like a 20-year old album at all. LWE is absolutely heart-melting, and I laugh every time I hear "she just stared at me uncomprehendingly - like cows at a passing train" on IDWD.

The only song I skip occasionally is Shangri-La, which doesn't quite work for me either musically OR lyrically.

Koala
06-20-2011, 08:11 AM
Happy Birthday to The End of the Innocence! What should I say it is my favorite album from Don, love it!!!

Ive always been a dreamer
06-20-2011, 10:19 AM
HAPPY 22ND ANNIVERSARY THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

I absolutely love this album and consider it a near masterpiece. It is by far my favorite of Don's solo albums and ranks up there near the top of my all time favorite Eagles solo albums. Anyone whose never heard this one should definitely give it a listen. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

TimothyBFan
06-20-2011, 10:40 AM
With you Dreamer--definitely my fave Don album and one of my fave solo efforts also. Some wonderful guest on this one like Bruce Hornsby, Axl Rose, Cheryl Crow, Mellisa Ethridge, Waddy, J.D., Danny Kortchmar, Jeff Porcaro... and the list goes on and on!! Not a bad song in the bunch!!!

But has it really been 22 years?!?!? Not possible! I was only in my mid 20's and that was just last week! :hilarious:

Troubadour
06-20-2011, 08:43 PM
Happy Birthday to The End Of The Innocence! What an incredible album. It contains four of, what I consider to be, Don's best songs.

The End Of The Innocence - The title track remains one of my favourite songs. The piano part at the beginning gets me every time. Don's voice is so gorgeous and the song manages to sound incredibly romantic while talking about deeper, darker issues, both emotional and political. Beautiful lyrics. I consider this a true masterpiece.

New York Minute - This is in the same league as EOTI for me. I love the lyrics and the message... Things can change in a split second, so never take anything forgranted. But, also, don't lose hope. As quickly as things can change for the worse, they can change for the better. I think the most poignant line in the whole thing is "you can get out of the rain". (Often skipped over, blended in nicely with the rest of the song... but it's there.) I like the small twist of hope that is present in this song with that line.

The Last Worthless Evening - I remember reading a quote from an article that said something like "The song that got all those women with a crush on Don Henley swooning." Heck yeah! It's so sexy, sweet and romantic, and the video is a rather nice complement to the song... I was thrilled to hear Don sing this the first time I saw him in Quapaw, Oklahoma. I think this is what every girl would like to hear from a guy! One of my favourite lines is "I know you're still afraid to rush into anything, but there's so many summers, babe, and just so many springs." I also like his admittance that he is not perfect and he has made some "big mistakes"... but that, if she gives him a chance, he will be there for her. Altogether now: siiiiiiiiiiigh.

The Heart Of The Matter - This song holds so much meaning for a lot of people, and it's easy to see why. I could easily quote the entire lyric, but I'll mention this as a favourite part: "You better put it all behind you, baby, cos life goes on, you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside." This has helped me out in a lot of different situations in my life. He just speaks the truth. You can tell that writing this was a painful but cathartic experience, and it resonates. I love the original, but the Eagles took it to a whole new level when they performed the acoustic version on Hell Freezes Over. INCREDIBLE.

I've also got to give props to I Will Not Go Quietly. I love that Don has done something a little rockier (another song I was lucky enough to hear in Quapaw.) You can really hear Danny Kortchmar's harder, grungier influence here and I like it! I love the "never stop fighting" attitude. Just a kick-ass song.

I'm gonna have to pull this album out tomorrow and listen to it from beginning to end. It's been a while.

Can I also mention the cover? YUM!

Brooke
06-21-2011, 03:48 PM
Troub, those are my favorite songs from the album, too. Great review there!

Your mention of the cover made me go take a look. I couldn't remember it!

So, here we go:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/desperado74/Henley/eoticover.jpg

I don't think it's a bad picture, but I want to brush that hair away from that gorgeous face! lol

Troubadour
06-21-2011, 05:57 PM
Yeah, the long hair isn't my favourite look for Don, but there's something about this cover that I love. It's simple and classy, quite atmospheric, and his eyes look beautiful. He looks contemplative and sexy. His style was perfect for that time period, I guess.

sodascouts
06-22-2011, 09:19 AM
I don't think it's a bad picture, but I want to brush that hair away from that gorgeous face! lol

Agreed! lol

Annabel
06-22-2011, 09:24 AM
I watched Don on MTV Unplugged DVD this morning and that bit of hair was playing up then too. He kept trying to tuck it behind his ear!

whitcap
06-22-2011, 01:51 PM
Happy Anniversary to my favorite Don album, The End of the Innocence. This album was my first introduction to anything Eagles so it will always have a special place in my heart :)

Henley Honey
06-22-2011, 05:49 PM
I'll second that but I'd also like to smack the cigarette
out of his hand. :-(
How could you risk an instrument like that voice with that poison???

EaglesKiwi
06-23-2011, 03:34 AM
I'll second that but I'd also like to smack the cigarette
out of his hand. :-(
How could you risk an instrument like that voice with that poison???
Exactly.

Besides, it's bad for the environment!! :nahnah:

whitcap
06-20-2012, 01:00 AM
Don's album "The End of the Innocence" was released 23 years ago today! This is my favorite Don album. It was also my first exposure to anything Eagles related :)

Topkat
06-20-2012, 07:54 AM
This album is probably one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE albums, including the Eagles albums. Every song is pretty much a gem, but these all on one album makes it a TRUE MASTERPIECE. Henley at his best. LOVE :love:LOVE LOVE. I had known Henley was an amazing lyricist, but this shows all his talents, bringing thoughtful lyrics with musicality that is different from the Eagles, and spectacular on his own.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!

Windeagle
06-20-2012, 08:58 AM
During the interim years, I followed Henley closely, but didn't keep up with the others' solo work. I agree that this CD was amazing. The first time I heard "New York Minute" literally stopped me cold. I was frozen in place listening to the gorgeous lyrics and soaring harmonies. And then to contrast that with "I Will Not Go Quietly" where he rocks out with Axl Rose, wow! What a range. This CD is brilliant!

zeldabjr
06-20-2012, 09:16 AM
During the interim years, I followed Henley closely, but didn't keep up with the others' solo work. I agree that this CD was amazing. The first time I heard "New York Minute" literally stopped me cold. I was frozen in place listening to the gorgeous lyrics and soaring harmonies. And then to contrast that with "I Will Not Go Quietly" where he rocks out with Axl Rose, wow! What a range. This CD is brilliant!

I agree with everything you said WE...this is Don at his absolute best!!

Ive always been a dreamer
06-20-2012, 11:43 AM
HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY "THE END OF THE INNOCENCE"!!!

Now, I going to have to agree that this is album is Don's solo masterpiece and is one of my favorite of all Eagles' solo albums. It's kind of funny, because I just posted in Glenn's Allnighter celebration thread before I came here and I notice I have very different comments to make here. While The Allnighter is my least favorite of Glenn's albums, I love his look during that era. However, The End of the Innocence is my favorite Don album, but his look during that era is my least favorite for him. Having said that, of course, I'm not shallow - I know it's really all about the music. :wink:

I wrote a song-by-song review of the album earlier in this thread, but, as usual, I'll go ahead and list the songs from my favorite to least favorite here. We haven't been getting much participation lately, but if enough of you post your list, I'll compile the results as I usually do. So here goes ...

1. The Heart of the Matter
2. The End of the Innocence
3. The Last Worthless Evening
4. How Bad Do You Want It?
5. I Will Not Go Quietly
6. New York Minute
7. If Dirt Were Dollars
8. Little Tin God
9. Gimme What You Got
10. Shangri-La

Windeagle
06-20-2012, 12:00 PM
Ok, I'll try it. I just listened to this one recently, so I think I can do it blind. I'll have to re-listen to The Allnighter before I can make a list for that one.

Here goes:

1. New York Minute
2. I Will Not Go Quietly
3. The Heart of the Matter
4. The Last Worthless Evening
5. The End of the Innocence
6. Little Tin God
7. If Dirt Were Dollars
8. How Bad Do You Want It?
9. Gimme What You Got
10. Shangri-La

Freypower
06-20-2012, 06:46 PM
Although overall this is Don's best album, for some reason, the worst song he ever recorded as a solo artist (in my opinion) is on it.

1. The Last Worthless Evening
2. The End Of The Innocence
3. If Dirt Were Dollars
4. Little Tin God
5. The Heart Of The Matter
6. New York Minute
7. How Bad Do You Want It?
8. I Will Not Go Quietly
9. Gimme What You Got
10. Shangri-La

shunlvswx
06-20-2014, 10:38 AM
Happy 25th Birthday to The End Of The Innocence album.

This is my favorite album of Don's. Inside Job is getting up there as my favorite too. I love every song on this album.

Of course my favorites are The Heart of The Matter, The End Of The Innocence, Last Worthless Evening, How Bad Do You Want It and I Will Not Go Quietly.

DivineDon
06-20-2014, 11:55 AM
I love the Heart of the Matter and Last Worthless Evening...I can easily imagine him singing both to me...

(darn, I've woken up too soon from that dream again, haven't I!!! lol)

Do not like the long-haired look though. The start of the video for LWE always makes me laugh. The first shot of Don shows him flicking his fringe away :hilarious:

sodascouts
06-20-2014, 03:11 PM
This album has some of his best and some of his worst. I can't believe it's been 25 years! I know I've already told this story in this thread, but again today I thought about buying that black market tape in Saudi Arabia all those years ago. Funny what "album birthdays" make you remember!

Lisa
06-20-2014, 04:26 PM
"The End of the Innocence" is such a strong collection from Don Henley. I think there are only two off numbers, and both of them were also popular hits with many fans. (I won't name either of them. No controversies.) I like the title track, and probably all of the regional description-and-digression numbers.

Ive always been a dreamer
06-29-2014, 03:23 PM
A little late, but ...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

A thing of pure beauty (with a couple of exceptions). I love this album and it is my very favorite of Don's solo work. It is very worthy of the recognition and awards it received, IMHO.

Houston Debutante
07-01-2014, 05:05 PM
I'm late too. Funny enough, I heard The End Of The Innocence on the radio today. I love that song so much, the album is good too but that song really blows me away.

shunlvswx
06-20-2015, 10:02 PM
Happy 26th Birthday to The End OF The Innocence. One of my favorite albums of his. CC might surplus this album. LOL I just love this album. I'm listening to it right now.

*Raises her pink champagne* Happy 26th Birthday, EOTI.

sodascouts
06-20-2015, 10:21 PM
Time for some "Heart of the Matter"!

AlreadyGone95
06-21-2015, 12:47 AM
For me, I've gotta play "New York Minute". That's one of my favorite Don Henley solo songs!

Funk 50
06-21-2015, 06:56 AM
Although overall this is Don's best album, for some reason, the worst song he ever recorded as a solo artist (in my opinion) is on it.

1. The Last Worthless Evening
2. The End Of The Innocence
3. If Dirt Were Dollars
4. Little Tin God
5. The Heart Of The Matter
6. New York Minute
7. How Bad Do You Want It?
8. I Will Not Go Quietly
9. Gimme What You Got
10. Shangri-La

I thought Shangri-La and I Will Not Go Quietly were real highlights of the Henley live show I attended in '89. Freypower. Never really cared for The Last Worthless Evening though.

Some great songs but a tepid album imho.

1. The Heart Of The Matter
2. New York Minute
3. I Will Not Go Quietly
4. The End Of The Innocence
5. If Dirt Were Dollars
6. Little Tin God
7. Shangri-La
8. The Last Worthless Evening
9. How Bad Do You Want It?
10. Gimme What You Got

Ive always been a dreamer
06-27-2015, 02:29 PM
A belated ...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

F50, I'm sure there are some who may agree with you, but tepid is definitely not the adjective that comes to mind when I think of this album ,,, for me, I'd chose something along the lines of BRILLIANT! :thumbsup:

VAisForEagleLovers
06-27-2015, 03:16 PM
Yes, actually EOI was the first of Don's solo albums that I bought, I didn't buy the others until after I listened to EOI about a hundred times.

I don't usually do the ranking thing for any Eagles or Eagles-related album, but this one for some reason is pretty easy. I guess because my favorites on other albums change day to day, depending on mood, but this one is pretty set for me and always has been. In reality, I feel my top two are far, far above the others on the album. Not to say I don't like the others, I do, but when I have the CD in and playing, the top two average several repeats as opposed to one listen each for the rest.

1. The Heart of the Matter - one of my favorite songs of all time
2. The End of the Innocence - as with every song, I never think of the possible political statement, I only care about what it means to me and my life. This song means a lot, if not as much as THOTM.
3. The Last Worthless Evening - yet another song that gave the words to feelings I had at the time.
4. How Bad Do You Want It
5. I Will Not Go Quietly
6. Little Tin God
7. If Dirt Were Dollars
8. Gimme What You Got
9. New York Minute
10. Shangri-La - If I skip a song, this is it

DJ
06-27-2015, 03:43 PM
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO A GREAT ALBUM

shunlvswx
06-20-2016, 09:32 AM
I was looking up The End of The Innocence. Four or five websites has the released date on the 27th. So I'm going to come back on the 27th to wish it a happy birthday.

sodascouts
06-20-2016, 09:58 PM
Yeah, there's conflicting info about it. It's the thought that counts, though. :)

Ive always been a dreamer
06-26-2016, 02:27 PM
I'm a bit late to the party again, but ...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

This is my very favorite Don solo album and I have sung high praises for it in this thread throughout the years. I absolutely love this album and it is my second favorite of any of the band members solo efforts.

shunlvswx
06-27-2016, 07:19 AM
Happy 27th Birthday to The End Of The Innocence album on the 27th.

This is my favorite album of Don's. I love majority of the songs on this album. Don and his long hair phase that didn't last. LOL

Jonny Come Lately
06-28-2016, 05:48 PM
Happy 27th Anniversary to The End Of The Innocence!

This was my introduction to Don's music many years ago, long before I first listened to Hotel California and got into the Eagles. Almost all of the songs on this album are very good, and this includes several of his best solo tracks, including two of my top three (The Heart of the Matter and the title track). I believe yesterday marked the anniversary itself, which is quite fitting on a personal level - I couldn't think of a better way of celebrating the 27th anniversary of the album's release than getting to hear Don play these two songs plus New York Minute (another album highlight) live. Quite a nice coincidence!

My approximate ranking of the songs:
1. The Heart Of The Matter (absolute classic)
2. The End Of The Innocence (absolute classic)
3. New York Minute
4. The Last Worthless Evening
5. If Dirt Were Dollars
6. Gimme What You Got
7. I Will Not Go Quietly
8. Little Tin God
9. How Bad Do You Want It?
10. Shangri-La (the only song that isn't particularly good IMO. I don't skip it, but it definitely feels less accomplished than the others to me)

ambulance girl
08-02-2016, 08:36 PM
New York Minute never fails to give me chills. And I like that Don wrote it as a solo song, but it perfectly fits TBS's backing vocals. Just finished watching "Hell Freezes Over", lol.
I saw Don on the "End of the Innocence" tour and was lucky enough to meet him afterwards. Very sweet, down to earth guy.
I would love to see him and Bruce Hornsby work together some more.

shunlvswx
06-27-2017, 07:41 PM
Happy 28th Birthday to The End Of The Innocence album. I think this is my top three favorite album.

Delilah
06-28-2017, 11:04 AM
Happy birthday/anniversary to what is probably Don's best album--although it's not my personal favorite, I still love it. It's a little too "heavy" sounding at times, but Don's singer-singwriter skills absolutely shine here. There are a lot of great tracks, and by this point it seems Don had matured and grown up. Yet he still rocked out and sounded current. He didn't wander into adult contemporary mode like some of his peers e.g. Glenn.

I remember these singles well from those days: "End of the Innocence" which hit #8 on the charts, and both "Heart of the Matter" and "The Last Worthless Evening" which peaked at #21. A 4th single, "New York Minute" reached #48. Not too shabby! :thumbsup:

Jonny Come Lately
06-28-2017, 01:03 PM
Happy anniversary to The End of the Innocence!

On a personal level, not only is this my favourite Don solo album, it is also the album that introduced me to his music (a decade before I first listened to the Eagles with Hotel California!). As much time has elapsed between me first hearing it as a child and today as between then and its release in 1989, which makes me feel vaguely old! It's also funny how the anniversary of the album's release coincided almost exactly with my first (but hopefully not last) Don concert. Two of my three favourite Don solo songs are on this record, these being the songs that bookend the album (EOTI and HOTM).

Dawn
07-01-2017, 11:03 PM
I loved this album when it was first released and I still love it .. hard to choose a favorite song, for me, they are all great.

shunlvswx
06-27-2018, 10:37 AM
Happy 29th Birthday to The End Of The Innocence album. This was my favorite album until Cass County came around. LOL

groupie2686
06-27-2018, 01:21 PM
I love this album, definitely my favorite of Henley's. The End of the Innocence and The Heart of the Matter are two of my favorite songs of all time.

Delilah
06-27-2018, 02:39 PM
EOTI represents some of Don’s best work. He gives a lot of credit to Danny Kortchmar and Stan Lynch in this album review.


As with his previous solo efforts, Innocence found Henley working extensively with producer and session player Danny Kortchmar, who'd been a crucial part of his stable for 1984's Building the Perfect Beast and 1982's I Can't Stand Still.

"I have the final say on what goes on my records, but Danny's the man. It's his baby," Henley told Modern Drummer. "He's got a little studio in his house, and he does a lot of work right there in his basement. The key is that I know how to conceptualize to him, and he knows how to read me. If I want to write a song with a certain style or about a certain subject, he knows what I'm talking about. We talk to each other sometimes by referencing old records or certain styles of records: Motown, the Philadelphia Sound, and Memphis. We talk in a language we both understand."

Also of extreme importance was the involvement of soon-to-be-former Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch, who received a special thanks in the liner notes because, as Henley bluntly pointed out, "he deserved it." "He's a real morale booster," he explained. "When we were into our second year working on the album and were getting completely batty and nuts, Stan would come down to the studio and just sit around with us sometimes and make things lighter. Stan's a very funny, very bright guy. Sometimes he assisted in production. Kootch and I would sometimes get so fatigued that Stan would catch things that we weren't exactly listening for. He was a fresh set of ears, a fresh sounding board."

“Revisiting Don Henley’s ‘The End of the Innocence’” by Jeff Giles, Ultimate Classic Rock, June 27, 2015 (http://ultimateclassicrock.com/don-henley-the-end-of-the-innocence/)

He also claims to not be a perfectionist!

sodascouts
06-28-2018, 02:05 AM
Happy belated birthday to The End of the Innocence!

Ive always been a dreamer
07-01-2018, 01:58 PM
Well, I'm also late to the celebration, but ...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

This is Don at his finest IMHO. I love this album - it is my favorite of all Don's solo albums and my second favorite Eagles solo album of all time.

shunlvswx
06-27-2019, 08:58 AM
Happy 30th Birthday to The End of The Innocence. One of my favorite albums of Don's. Great songs, great special guest and everything else.

sodascouts
06-27-2019, 12:21 PM
I still remember buying this album as a bootleg in the backroom of music store in the Jeddah souk... not because I was trying to save money, but because in Saudi Arabia (where I was living at the time), rock music was literally contraband and I could not obtain it legally. It was in a cassette tape in a heatproof case with a cover that had been photocopied, and it cost 10 riyals. I told this story in much greater detail in this thread already, so I'm just giving the Cliff Notes version here, but I remember it each time the anniversary rolls around.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY END OF THE INNOCENCE!

shunlvswx
06-27-2019, 12:30 PM
Interesting story, Soda. I've never heard that story. I did go back and read it early in the post.

Last Worthless Evening always makes me melt especially the music video (hot late 80s Don. I wonder who came up with the long hair. LOL) and I Will Not Go Quietly:fainted:

groupie2686
06-27-2019, 02:40 PM
I love this album, my favorite of Henley's (and in my opinion, his best)! I remember my mom had it on cassette when I was a kid, when I got into the eagles and their solo careers much later I remembered seeing the album cover, with Henley with the long hair and cigarette.

sodascouts
06-29-2019, 11:20 AM
I love this album, my favorite of Henley's (and in my opinion, his best)! I remember my mom had it on cassette when I was a kid, when I got into the eagles and their solo careers much later I remembered seeing the album cover, with Henley with the long hair and cigarette.


It's not his best look, but he makes it work!

http://www.donhenleyonline.com/images/eoticover.jpg

shunlvswx
06-29-2019, 05:32 PM
IMO. I love it when it was down. Not in a ponytail. Why grow your hair long and have it in a ponytail that year and few months.

Ive always been a dreamer
06-30-2019, 12:04 PM
Once again, we have a discrepancy about the release date of an album. We have traditionally celebrated the release date as June 20, 1989 here; however, Amazon and Wikipedia both have it listed as June 27, 1989. In any event, it's hard to believe the album is 30 years old. I adore the album - it's my very favorite of Don's solo albums by far and my second favorite of all the band members solo albums. However, as much as I love the album, I am definitely not a fan of long-haired Don. This was not his best era as a fashionista, IMHO. :shock:

HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

Delilah
07-01-2019, 02:57 PM
A great album and solo effort by Don. It went 6x Platinum in the U.S. and ranked #389 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. My favorite song is “Heart of the Matter.”

I agree he makes the long hair work, even though I prefer him with short hair.


I still remember buying this album as a bootleg in the backroom of music store in the Jeddah souk... not because I was trying to save money, but because in Saudi Arabia (where I was living at the time), rock music was literally contraband and I could not obtain it legally. It was in a cassette tape in a heatproof case with a cover that had been photocopied, and it cost 10 riyals. I told this story in much greater detail in this thread already, so I'm just giving the Cliff Notes version here, but I remember it each time the anniversary rolls around.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY END OF THE INNOCENCE!

What a cool memory tied to the purchase of this album. Almost sounds dangerous. :fear:

sodascouts
07-01-2019, 03:16 PM
What a cool memory tied to the purchase of this album. Almost sounds dangerous. :fear:

I'm thinking those backrooms must have been an open secret with the amount of people going in and out of there in broad daylight. The right palms getting greased... but yeah, I guess technically, I was in possession illegal goods! They also made an effort to appease the Mutawa - I have a Madonna cassette tape where they colored over her outfit with a permanent marker to make sure no skin was showing LOL.

Ive always been a dreamer
02-22-2020, 12:23 PM
I'm a date late, but I wanted to mention that yesterday, Feb. 21, marks the 20th anniversary of Don winning the best male rock vocal grammy for The End of the Innocence. It was definitely well-deserved. I love the song and Don's mournful, yearning vocals.

http://www.donhenleyonline.com/images/DHenleyGrammys90-3.jpg

shunlvswx
02-22-2020, 11:13 PM
This Grammy show was on YouTube and I got the whole show in my collection. I need to find it.

Poor, Don. It almost wasn't his night.

groupie2686
02-23-2020, 10:31 PM
I love this song, one of my favorites ever. The Grammy was well deserved!

Delilah
02-26-2020, 05:04 PM
I'm a date late, but I wanted to mention that yesterday, Feb. 21, marks the 20th anniversary of Don winning the best male rock vocal grammy for The End of the Innocence. It was definitely well-deserved. I love the song and Don's mournful, yearning vocals.



The 20th, Dreamer? I’m younger than I thought! ;)

Seriously, though, this was a wonderful honor for Don and he was very deserving.

Ive always been a dreamer
02-27-2020, 10:05 PM
:oops: I knew it was 30 years, but must have had 2020 on my mind. But, I'm all over knocking 10 years off my age. :thumbsup:

shunlvswx
06-27-2020, 10:05 AM
Happy 31st Birthday to the End of the Innocence album. My favorite of Don's. Great songs on there.

Ive always been a dreamer
06-27-2020, 02:07 PM
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE END OF THE INNOCENCE!!!

This is Don at his finest IMHO. I love this album too - it is my favorite of all Don's solo albums and my second favorite Eagles solo album of all time.

KingWalsh
06-30-2020, 03:27 AM
I appreciate the title track so much more now that I’m older. Beautiful. I remember “If Dirt Were Dollars” getting solid radio play back in the day on the local rock station...a solid album, But not a fan of the hair...90s are hard to look at fashion wise, imo.:nahnah:

WalshFan88
06-30-2020, 03:52 AM
Happy Anniversary to EOTI.

Not my favorite Don album, but I do prefer it over I Can't Stand Still, Inside Job, and Cass County. It's a little too stripped back for my tastes, leaning more on the pop/rock sentiment, but I can appreciate the songwriting. I prefer the more ear candy radio hits like TBOS, ASWTDID, DL, SG, etc. Count me in as a synthesizer-laden Building The Perfect Beast fan. :grin: I can't get enough of that 80s sound that some love to hate. :hilarious:

shunlvswx
06-27-2021, 10:24 PM
Happy 31st Birthday to The End of the Innocence album. I love this album.

WalshFan88
06-28-2021, 03:58 AM
Great album. I still share the same thoughts as I posted last year.

I'm a BTPB super fan, but this is my 2nd favorite of Don's albums. On this record, New York Minute is my favorite song. I do notice a definite heavy leaning on simplistic, pulled back acoustic sounds on this record, particularly on the title track and THOTM. I like the title track more between those two. I feel like perhaps I've grown tired of THOTM over the years, although if I'm being fair I wasn't big on it ever, but I've gained a new appreciation for the title track. Should have been played with the Eagles in their unplugged set.

That said, as someone who normally either prefers an electric rockin' sound or more of an 80s synth thing, I feel it's still a good record to me and has songs I do like. I just feel like that this record while seen as the pinnacle of Don's solo work, let's just say, is perhaps not exciting enough for someone who appreciates AC/DC and Angus's stage antics. It's the same reason I don't "get" Dylan's work himself but love it when people like Guns N' Roses, The Rolling Stones, or Jimi Hendrix cover him. I'm really not an acoustic music soft rock kind of guy. I definitely am not a classy listener who gets into deep lyrical meaning or needs a song to be mentally enlightening. My music taste and what I'm after most of the time can be compared to what fast food is to formal dining. Spaghetti-O's vs a real Italian restaurant with fancy dishes. lol. No suit, no problem! :lol:

shunlvswx
06-28-2022, 12:09 AM
Happy 33rd Birthday to The End of the Innocence. It’s still my favorite.

groupie2686
06-28-2022, 10:13 PM
I love this album (although its not without some filler IMO). My favorite of Don's.

Elle81
12-18-2022, 09:49 PM
I don't think I mentioned that back in the beginning of the year I found this album on CD at a Deseret Industries thrift store in Provo, along with Eagles collection: the early years. I have not listened to either albums yet. Call me picky but when I hear the songs I don't know for the first time, I don't want it to be through headphones. I would rather wait until I am able to get a good stereo system. And also hearing the title track and my favorite Henley solo, HOTM needs to be heard on a big system.

shunlvswx
06-27-2023, 10:35 PM
Happy 34th Birthday to The End of The Innocence album.

WalshFan88
06-28-2023, 12:28 PM
As someone who prefers the more 80s synth-laden sound of Building The Perfect Beast, this album had to do some growing on me. I can now appreciate the more acoustic and piano heavy tracks. I really do love New York Minute and The Heart Of The Matter and I also like the title track. I feel like that song in particular was the perfect response to the dastardliness of American government at the time but the whole album could be seen as a response to what was going on in the country at that time while not being overt.

Probably his most raw and down to earth solo effort to date. There isn't a lot of fluff or pizazz on that record but it's a solid record that I feel like captures Don's sound and vibe.

Ive always been a dreamer
06-30-2023, 11:37 AM
I love this album. From start to finish, it is Don's strongest solo effort, IMHO.

RushFanForever
03-03-2024, 01:08 AM
The End of the Innocence is a great album.

This is going to sound silly for me to say:

The funky, keyboard, and drum machine type songs with guitar solos from Don Henley's solo career such as 'Dirty Laundry', 'All She Wants To Do Is Dance, 'Sunset Grill', 'Drivin' With Your Eyes Closed', 'Nobody Else in the World but You', 'The End of the Innocence', 'New York Minute', and 'I Will Not Go Quietly' would make great music for law firms.

I considered this music in a genre called 'law firm rock.'

FreyFollower
03-04-2024, 10:33 PM
35 years. Wow. Happy Anniversary, TEOTI!