The Pretender (album)


The Pretender is the fourth album by the American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1976. It peaked at No. 5 on Billboard's album chart. The singles from the album were "Here Come Those Tears Again", which reached No. 23, and "The Pretender", which peaked at No. 58.

Background

The Pretender was released after the suicide of Browne's first wife, Phyllis Major, and one of the album's songs "Here Come Those Tears Again" is dedicated to her. The album has production by Jon Landau and a mixture of styles.
The back cover of The Pretender shows Pablo Neruda's poem "Brown and Agile Child", translated by Kenneth Rexroth, in its entirety.

Reception

Record World said that "Browne's tender concerns are as insightfully expressed as has become the norm, Jon Landau's production adding a subtle broadening of the rock base" and said that "'The Fuse,' 'The Pretender,' 'Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate' and 'The Only Child' are particularly moving and beautifully arranged."
In his review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann was equivocal about the album, stating Browne "took a step back from the precipice so well defined on his first three albums, but doing so didn't seem to make him feel any better... The man who had delved so deeply into life's abyss on his earlier albums was in search of escape this time around."
In The [Rolling Stone Album Guide], Marc Coleman wrote, "...even when his songwriting is sharp, the mellowing trend in his music dulls the impact. Browne eerily predicts the rise of the yuppie on The Pretenders title track, only to have his point undercut by a creeping string section." Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B grade, but explained, "This is an impressive record, but a lot of the time I hate it; my grade is an average, not a judgment" and "The shallowness of his kitschy doomsaying and sentimental sexism is well-known, but I'm disappointed as well in his depth of craft." In 2012, the album was ranked number 391 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of Rolling Stone's [500 Greatest Albums of All Time|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll says, "Its sense of despair is derived in part from the suicide of his first wife, Phyllis, in 1976, two and a half years after the birth of their son, Ethan." The single "Here Come Those Tears Again" was credited as co-written with Nancy Farnsworth, Phyllis Major's mother.
Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated three songs from the album as being among Browne's ten greatest songs – "The Fuse", "Here Come Those Tears Again" and the title track – and said that "just about every song from the album could have made this list."
The title track was used in the 1995 film Mr. Holland's Opus.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jackson Browne except where noted.
Side 1
  1. "The Fuse" – 5:50
  2. "Your Bright Baby Blues" – 6:05
  3. "Linda Paloma" – 4:06
  4. "Here Come Those Tears Again" – 3:37
Side 2
  1. "The Only Child" – 3:43
  2. "Daddy's Tune" – 3:35
  3. "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate" – 2:37
  4. "The Pretender" – 5:53

    Personnel

harmony vocals:

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles – Billboard
YearSingleChartPosition
1977"Here Come Those Tears Again"Pop Singles23
1977"The Pretender"Pop Singles58

Certifications

The album was certified as a gold record in 1976 and platinum in 1977 by the Recording [Industry Association of America|RIAA]. It reached multi-platinum in 1997 and 2006.