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Lives in the Balance

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Template:Use mdy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Lawyers in Love1983World in Motion1989AlbumLives in the BalanceJackson Browne - Lives in the Balance.jpgJackson BrowneFebruary 18, 1986Late summer to late fall 1985* Sunset Sound Factory (Hollywood, California)

Lives in the Balance is the eighth album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1986. It reached number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. The title track as well as "For America" and "In the Shape of a Heart" were released as singles. The album was ranked number 88 on Rolling Stone's list of the best 100 albums of the 1980s.<ref name="RSE">Rolling Stone. 100 Best Albums of the Eighties: #88 Jackson Browne – Lives in the Balance. November 16, 1989.</ref> The album reached number 2 in Sweden.<ref>Swedishcharts.com. Lives in the Balance</ref>

HistoryEdit

Lives in the Balance was the first album by Browne where overtly political and socially critical songs dominated (three of which were about president Ronald Reagan), although it also included one of his best remembered songs about relationships, the tragic "In the Shape of a Heart", inspired by his relationship with his first wife. The radio play garnered by "For America" and "In the Shape of a Heart", and the use of "Lives in the Balance" in the show Miami Vice, gained him many new fans who later went back and discovered Browne's earlier works.

The lesser commercial success of the album, according to a Rolling Stone November 1989 article, hardly mattered to Browne: "I like this album as much as any I've ever done," Browne said. "And there's a certain comfort, a security that I have, talking about something that I feel this strongly about. And whether or not an album succeeds wildly or not, that's intact."<ref name="RSE" />

The album was certified as a gold record in 1986 by the RIAA.<ref>RIAA Gold and Platinum award. Template:Webarchive Retrieved July 20, 2010</ref>

ReceptionEdit

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Critical press focused on the political direction of Lives in the Balance. Music critic William Rulhmann wrote retrospectively "...if Browne sounded more involved in his music than he had in some time, the specificity of its approach inevitably limited its appeal and its long-term significance."<ref name="AM" />

Critic Robert Christgau also commented in a similar vein: "The difference is that Browne shouldn't be doing this... he's a pop star who's stretching his audience and endangering his market share merely by making such a statement in 1986. And he's thought hard getting here—not only does his way with words render these lyrics somewhat deeper than Holly Near's, but his moralistic put-downs have that edge of righteous anger nobody's yet found the formula for."<ref name="RC" /> The Rolling Stone Record Guide wrote that "the title track is a cutting slice of social observation, but the remainder of the album is muddled. For the first time, Browne seems unsure of himself."<ref name="RS" />

However, the original 1986 Rolling Stone review by Jimmy Guterman praised the album over-all in part because of Browne's "new-found ability to link the personal to the political," which "breathes life" into the songs and "prevents them from becoming too didactic. Browne's not just writing about the headlines; he's trying to tell the stories of the people they affect."<ref>Guterman, Jimmy. Rolling Stone, Review of Lives in the Balance. April 10, 1986. Accessed July 13, 2012.</ref>

Track listingEdit

All tracks composed by Browne except where noted.<ref name="Lives in the Balance, overview at AllMusic">{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000189334{{ 

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PersonnelEdit

The list of contributors is as follows.<ref name="Lives in the Balance, credits at AllMusic">{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000189334{{ 

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ProductionEdit

  • Jackson Browne – producer
  • James Geddes – engineer, mixing
  • Greg Ladanyi – mixing
  • Tchad Blake – assistant engineer
  • Bill Jackson – assistant engineer
  • Coke Johnson – assistant engineer
  • Ed Wong – technical engineer
  • Murray Dvorkin – mix assistant
  • Sharon Rice – mix assistant
  • Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
  • Steven Landsberg – production assistant
  • Dawn Patrol – art direction
  • Jimmy Wachtel – art direction
  • Richard Duardo – cover artwork
  • Basia Kenton – back cover photography

ChartsEdit

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Weekly chartsEdit

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart
Chart (1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref> 37

Year-end chartsEdit

Chart (1986) Position
US Billboard 200<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

68

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Singles – Billboard (United States)

Year Single Chart Position
1986 "For America" Mainstream Rock Tracks 3
1986 "For America" The Billboard Hot 100 30
1986 "In the Shape of a Heart" Adult Contemporary 10
1986 "In the Shape of a Heart" Mainstream Rock Tracks 15
1986 "In the Shape of a Heart" The Billboard Hot 100 70
1986 "Lives in the Balance" Mainstream Rock Tracks 33

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See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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Template:Jackson Browne

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