No. 389: The End of the Innocence

Band: Don Henley
Album: The End of the Innocence
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: N/A.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Don Henley, I believe, is the root of all evil. He's simply complaining about the world passing him by, which is ridiculous on, like, 500 levels. Seriously. Fuck that guy.
Best song: Nope. None.
Worst song: The song with Axl Rose, "I Will Not Go Quietly," is terrible.
Is it awesome?: A thousand times no.

There is bad music, there is terrible music and then, there's Don Henley.

"The End of the Innocence" is the flipside of Boomer bragging. As Robert Christgau says in his review of the album, "Bitch bitch bitch, bloat bloat bloat." It's self-indulgent in a way that few records are -- No, Don, we don't give a shit about your problems -- and uses simple, English 101 language (the title track's theme) or romantic blathering to back up his point.

Some records are bad because they are misguided fiascoes. For all that I dislike about "Bat Out Of Hell" -- and I dislike a lot about that album -- I can understand the decisions behind it. It's a large album and a large idea. I can't stand the record, but, I see the decision-making behind it. I don't like Springsteen, but I see why everyone likes him. It's not my style, but I see the reasons people like Springsteen.

But, I cannot fathom why anyone would like this album. It's like the diary of an English professor going through a midlife crisis. It's recorded in the melodramatic style of the time, with pianos dotting Henley's idiotic crooning.

Who thought this was a good idea?