Celebration of "Building the Perfect Beast"

[Houston Debutante]

I like you already !!

It looks like we think alike.

On the car to work today I heard Walkaway Joe and when Don comes in, I just melt a little. His voice, it just makes me tremble, even though he doesn't sing very much of the song.

I would recognize his voice anywhere. I will be walking in a grocery store or something and stop dead whenever I hear that voice over the speakers. He's so amazing. There is no one else on his level in my mind. I am happy to have found some like-minded people.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Well, Sara, out of all the singers/songwriters/musicians there are, Don is my absolute second-favorite. I suppose you can guess who my favorite is. How lucky am I, though, that my two favorite are in the same band?

[Houston Debutante]

Oh yeah, I like Glenn too, and Joe and Tim. I like all of The Eagles. I like the ex Eagles too.

There's just something about Don's voice that puts him over the top for me. The texture of it, the depth of it, the power of it. It's hard to explain, sorry i"m not more eloquent.

I might be coming across as extreme but I'm really very normal, I just love him!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Well HD - you'd have to be REALLY bad to be considered extreme around here! This place is reeking with hardcores.

Now, I wanted to get back to this album. As I was reading some comments in this thread yesterday, it got me thinking about something. I did an album review earlier in this thread, and basically, my opinion is that this is Don's most uneven album. The songs that are good are incredibly good, but I also think it contains some of Don's weakest solo songs i.e. Land of the Living, Man on a Mission, and Building the Perfect Beast. So just wondering ... am I alone here - how do others feel about this?

[Freypower]

Well HD - you'd have to be REALLY bad to be considered extreme around here! This place is reeking with hardcores.

Now, I wanted to get back to this album. As I was reading some comments in this thread yesterday, it got me thinking about something. I did an album review earlier in this thread, and basically, my opinion is that this is Don's most uneven album. The songs that are good are incredibly good, but I also think it contains some of Don's weakest solo songs i.e. Land of the Living, Man on a Mission, and Building the Perfect Beast. So just wondering ... am I alone here - how do others feel about this?

This is what I wrote on Page One of the thread:

Soda, you have made some good points about this album, but it is my least favourite Henley album, mainly because Side 2 is in my opinion not very strong, with the exception of A Month Of Sundays, and Man With A Mission is a throwaway. I do like You're Not Drinking Enough & You Can't Make Love more than I used to, but overall the incessant synthesizers throughout get on my nerves. As for Not Enough Love In The World, I know many people love this, but I can take it or leave it. I am surprised you say its your favourite, because your review doesn't come across that way.

You & I really only disagree on A Month Of Sundays, which is probably in my Top 5 Henley songs, and Driving With Your Eyes Closed, which I find extremely annoying. I probably think about that song the way some people feel about The Disco Strangler. Like The End Of The Innocence, this album goes from one extreme to another in how I rate the songs.

[sodascouts]

You're definitely not extreme around here, Sara!

As for unevenness, I find this album to be less uneven than EOTI. That has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows indeed.

[Freypower]

In my opinion EOTI has one low, Shangri-La, & everything is else of pretty high quality. That cannot be said of BTPB for me.

[Houston Debutante]

I love both albums but this one has a slight edge for me.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

In my opinion EOTI has one low, Shangri-La, & everything is else of pretty high quality. That cannot be said of BTPB for me.

ITA with you here, FP. BTPB has the crowning achievement of his solo career, the incredible The Boys of Summer, along with the wonderful All She Wants To Do Is Dance, Not Enough Love In the World, and Sunset Grill. But then, it also has what I think are some of the weakest songs in Don's solo catalog in Land of the Living, Man on a Mission, and ill-conceived title track.

[Houston Debutante]

All of the songs on the album aren't up to the level of The Boys Of Summer but I like all of them. Man With A Mission is funny and energetic. Land Of The Living has a good message.

The song Building The Perfect Beast has got some weird parts, ok a lot of weird parts (haha), but the lyrics are very intelligent. I really admire Don's intelligence and concern about social issues, it's part of why I'm a big fan. Building The Perfect Beast is original and smart and I think a brave departure for Don from what people would expect.