1 Time The Conqueror
2 Off Of Wonderland
3 The Drums Of War
4 The Arms Of Night
5 Where Were You
6 Going Down To Cuba
7 Giving That Heaven Away
8 Live Nude Cabaret
9 Just Say Yeah
10 Far From The Arms Of Hunger

From Amazon.com

Time the Conqueror by Jackson Browne

 Album Rating: (2 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Did not like it. Listened to it once and put it aside. I was so hoping he would go back to doing his old love ballads instead of political ones. I've been a fan for 30 years. I'm trying to be objective, but it just was not at all what I expected and was disappointing. I ordered two. My husband did not even open his!

He wrote better music in High School

 Album Rating: (2 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Every artist that records in a studio ends up throwing out most of the songs they write. Evidently his new pals are telling Jackson that every single song he writes is worthy of being on a record. They aren't. No songwriter is that good.

So, we get a record filled mostly with those songs that should have been passed on, and not even enough of those. Too many suckups hanging around him, and too few of the old crowd...the guys and girls that got him to where he is.

As frustrating as the old record companies might have been, they did know how to tell an artist that the product wasn't good enough. Now with all these artists going to independent labels, or Walmart, they just have no one telling them the truth...that 80 percent of this record is crap.

I couldn't care less about the politics, as long as the music hooks me. None of this does. Listen to this cd and try to hum a single tune from it. It's not possible.

He needs to spend more time writing, and be honest with himself, and edit a group of songs down to what's really GOOD. Like he used to, when he answered to a record company exec. The Eagles had the same problem with their new record this year.

A song with dissonant melodies, and a whacky rhythm does not make a song deep or artistic. It often just makes it suck.

[...]

Time to give politics away

 Album Rating: (3 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: While it's true that no one does politics in song like JB, It can also be argued that he does love songs even better. Over the years Jackson has written some epic anti war and political songs - none better than 'Lives in the Balance' but hey enough is enough. George Dubya has almost run his race, why keep lamenting his actions right up to the bitter end. The sad thing is, that while Jackson is writing about his politics, we are missing out on the tender love songs and ballads which we know he can do so well. C'mon JB surely the creative juices haven't run out in that direction? Hopefully, when next you get back in the studio, we can hope for some more uplifting songs and a move away from the American political scene. Politics in song is so boring

Two notes of interest...

 Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: I do like JB's latest...after seeing him at the Universal Palace in NYC in 9/08, I got the CD and continued to enjoy the music.
I can't really add to what others have already written about the specifics...but two things stood out for me:
1) "Off of Wonderland" is off-key...I play along with my CDs, and the 2nd cut is off-key...it was most likely mixed badly...I didn't notice it with the other cuts
2) I miss David Lindley
Neither of the above should prevent any JB fans from listening to the CD...but they are both worth noting.

Imagination Rules

 Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: Browne's newest CD may have fewer classic hooks that made his songs so hard to get them out of your head. It does retain his lyrical supremacy to distill thought into a compact series of images that is both poetic and memorable. His voice retains its youthful vigor. "The Arms of Night" has one of the most distinctive melodies on the set, almost like a lullaby, "It's all you can do to let the angels find their own way home." "Live Nude Cabaret" contrasts a slow sad melody as Jackson seems to compare a cabaret dancer who hocks her wares with a musician who sells his, "I would give her money & I would give her jewels & lead her to the place my imagination rules & fashion from her nakedness the innocence that's gone; Gone as the time she's given the suffering of fools." One of the strongest political statements and one of the strongest songs is the ominous "The Drums of War" with backing vocals by Chavonne Morris & Alethea Mills, "Who gives the orders, order to torture? ... Who lies, then bombs, then calls it an error? Who makes a fortune from fighting terror?" For those who wonder if Browne's political songs wear well, you should hear Richie Havens' new recording of Browne's "Lives In the Balance" from Nobody Left to Crown. I heard Browne sing "Going Down to Cuba" on cable TV's "The Colbert Report." The song has grown into one of my favorites as Browne longs for openness with the island nation. "Off of Wonderland" has a strong chorus that questions the state of human relations after the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy & Martin Luther King Jr. "Time the Conqueror" is a very good effort by one of America's master musicians. Enjoy!