Browne Showdown: Which Is Jackson Browne’s Finest Album?

His strengths as a songwriter refuse to allow Jackson Browne to release anything less than a solid album. But he has certainly gone above and beyond numerous times in his career with LPs that were among the best of their respective eras.

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We’ve chosen four albums from his catalog to battle it out for the title of Browne’s best album. After making a case for each, we’ll give our selection.

‘Jackson Browne’ (1972)

Rarely do you see debut albums so eloquent and assured. Don’t forget that Jackson Browne had already been writing songs for quite some time at that point, a few of which had been recorded by top-tier artists. He stumbled into an early hit single with “Doctor My Eyes”, but his stuff even then was a bit too nuanced for mass consumption. You can sit with songs like “Jamaica Say You Will” for days and find new nooks and crannies of meaning with each listen. His empathetic streak shows in “Song For Adam”. “Looking Into You” is a killer love song. And “My Opening Farewell” brings the heartache. Impeccable the first time out.

‘Late For The Sky’ (1974)

The singer-songwriter movement hit full saturation in 1974 and then seemed to drop off a bit after that. Maybe that’s because Late For The Sky set such a ridiculously high bar. Many other all-time artists hit the mother lode of inspiration on their third album. Jackson Browne joined that group. From the opening strains of the title track that leads off the album, you can sense him searching for answers, looking inside himself and outward at the world, usually in vain or too late. He tackles love (“Fountain Of Sorrow”), the environment (“Before The Deluge”), and even life and death (“For A Dancer”) with startling clarity.

‘The Pretender’ (1976)

The Pretender is the album you might not expect to see on this list of four contenders. Many critics called it a letdown at the time. Jon Landau’s production is maybe a shade too bright for Jackson Browne’s darkest set of songs. After all, you’ve got a track on here (“Sleep’s Dark And Silent Gate”) that deals with his wife’s suicide. But Browne dives right into the morass of life on songs like “The Fuse” and “Here Come Those Tears Again” with fearless candor. “Linda Paloma”, which lightens the mood a little, is achingly pretty. And the title track closes things out with a bitingly sarcastic look at consumerism.

‘Running On Empty’ (1977)

Jackson Browne probably figured out that his public image was skewing a bit morose. Running On Empty found a way to cut loose a little bit without betraying the core honesty of his songwriting. Even more impressive, Browne managed to render the life of a rock star on the road relevant to those who’d never even picked up an instrument. The title track should resonate with anyone feeling a little bit lost and run down in their lives. Love songs, both silly (“Rosie”) and earnest (“Love Needs A Heart”), effortlessly hit home. Even covers like “Cocaine”, “The Road”, and “Stay” feed seamlessly into the theme.

The Verdict

Is this ever a brutally difficult choice? The debut album suffers a bit because of the murkiness of the sound. Meanwhile, The Pretender might have the opposite problem in that it’s too chipper.

Running On Empty sticks pretty heavily to one topic throughout, even though it exhausts every bit of insight from it. For our money, you just can’t top Late For The Sky, a gorgeous, bittersweet triumph whose relevance and potency never seem to fade.

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