After The Boys Of Summer...

Don Henley is, of course, better known to many of us as the front man and the voice behind The Eagles. After a ‘Long Run’ of Country rock hits throughout the seventies, the need to spread their individual wings by 1980 had become to great for most of the band. Henley was the most successful of the bunch although a fleeting brush with the law came his way before he could actually get any solo efforts of the ground. A young girl was found drugged in his home in California. He was fined, rather heavily and took some rehab to please the judge. Noticeably, it was a stumbling block in the shape of a thirteen foot brick wall and any solo releases were put on hold until the following year.

Henley was one of five of the members of The Eagles who went on to make solo records. His collaboration with Stevie Nicks with her single, ‘Leather And Lace,’ proved to be somewhat of a trampoline for him. Already well known, he had enough experience behind him to create one of the most successful solo careers from such a big, world wide rock band.

‘Building The Perfect Beast,’ was only his second album release. Reaching an average number 13 in the album charts in February 1985, it appeared that because it had included the biggest hit, ever for him, ‘The Boys Of Summer,’ that it was likely that Henley could have followed this album with something even better. The truth was, that this was about as good as it was going to get for the solo artist and that a reunion with the rest of The Eagles, eventually, was bound.

As it was ‘The Boys Of Summer’ with it’s credited drum machine intro and atmospheric synthesizer on top of traditional modern pop rock managed the same scoring in the singles charts (number 12 in December 1984) as another ex Eagle, Glenn Frey’s ‘The Heat Is On,’ only a month after in January 1985. Frey had produced, in his single, all the optimism and forward thinking that Henley’s hit had very much lacked. There was something rather sombre within ‘The Boys Of Summer.’ It’s desperate theme of man chasing after woman who has had her eyes looking afar all Summer long, is wearing and very much haunting to the listener. The video that accompanied the track was also a little disturbing. It showed a video film clip of a young couple dancing around on a sandy beach while someone watches on a big screen. With it’s effect rather like swooping vultures and knee shaking heights from the tops of mountains, it stays in the mind with an unhealthily image. Obsessive and morose, this track is excellent in its true form and has become one of those classic themed anthems for every year between now and September. The verses tell of the singer watching ‘you,’ and noticing the things you are doing and the clothes you are wearing. In any other situation, it is something that one could be arrested for, yet in a Don Henley track, it is about full on, hurting love and all very one sided. You want to shout at the record player and yell, ‘Don’t bother! She’s not worth it!’

Perfectly edited that this mean song would be the first track of the album. The cover can be seen as a little unsettling as well. A sepia effect photograph shows our man, with arms folded staring straight at the listen with firm, deep seated eyes. Looking older, and not so countrified since his days as a long haired cowboy in The Eagles. He had brought to his solo career and grittiness in his voice and a dirtiness in his songs. This album is harder and more defiant than anything I ever heard by The Eagles. It will entrance you and probably turn you away from The Eagles Greatest Hits. Anything before will just not sound the same. Usually, when a front man leaves a band, he takes the fundamental elements of that band with him. With Don Henley, we hear nothing of The Eagles within his own music. Like The band had just been a dream, we have a man standing before us, presenting us with something that you wonder may have been suppressed for that decade of Country dirge.

Since we have settled back comfortably from the first daring track and perhaps turned the front cover of the record away, we can try now to digest the true meaning behind the words, Don Henley. This next track speaks in a different tone altogether. What we do hear is a little on the shoowop shoowop side. Leaving behind the genre that put The Eagles into the same category as Bob Dylan and Poco. Henley now gives us a touch gentler and more romantic than the desperation of ‘The Boys Of Summer.’ A nice low guitar riff sets that optimistic feel that we so urgently needed. Tuneful and dated in today’s standards, we now get the impression quite firmly on our minds of how old this album actually is. He is now giving us an insight into his own experiences of how to go about romancing a young lady. The usual do’s and don’ts of life. The backing track of ’You Can’t Make Love’s’ ooo’s lightens us and we sway to this delightful rock love song.

Take your partner’s please for this next 80’s fusion of fast rock and roll. ‘Working on the Highway’ by The Boss springs to mind here. Henley strains his voice to octaves that Aled Jones would have proud of. This catchy, furiously swinging track is foot tappingly fun. Jive or Line dance you way around the room, just please remove anything breakable from the room first, like the dining table… ‘Man With A Mission,’ transports us back to that desperate to find love theme again, but in this high in the sky feel, we have to let him off…

Bringing us back down from the ceiling with an almighty bump, we now drag ourselves through the statutory ballad that artist just can’t do without on a standard rock album. ‘You’re Not Drinking Enough,’ will undoubtedly, lead you to drinking heavily just to get through the track. We had ‘Desperado,’ Thanks Don, we don’t need any reminding…. Perhaps he should have given this track to Bon Jovi if you really wanted to do some damage. Even I think Aerosmith stuck their noses in the air at this one. That strangled, Steven Tyler vocal doesn’t suit our Henley boy here. The Stones could have retired on this track, although, I feel ‘Wild Horses,’ was probably the best ballad to drink to for just the enjoyment. This track will just leave you with a hangover before hitting the bottle.

The title of this next track is something we would all agree with. ‘Not Enough Love In The World,’ is the sort of statement one would come out with after drinking too much to frown the sorrows of the previous track. The mood is taken up a notch and we can dry our eyes now for a brief moment. A middle of the road feel to this rock track, that really isn’t the way we would normally perceive as rock. Released as a single in July 1985, the Americans were less than impressed with this flat track. Any Don Henley fan would appreciated it. Other mortals will be bored with it almost immediately.

‘Building The Perfect Beast,’ was obviously a title that Henley was rather impressed with. As the title track of the album and at the same time, it managed to appear no less than twice as a B side to other tracks, he must have felt that it just wasn’t making the grade enough to be a single all by itself. It’s Lord Of The Rings feel to its intro escapes quickly into a hard rock riff. We are suitably impressed until someone decided to plug in that synthesizer and we are left with something that reminds us heavily of Thomas Dolby. The backing vocals, deep and whispered, we get the impression of a factory trying to build a large metal object with lost of heavy stuff and steam. Not a memorable track, even as a B side. Henley’s vocal takes on that successful Glenn Frey theme that worked for him, but not for Henley. The break fills us with dread with those sectioned trumpets and silly vocal sounds. We wonder if Henley had actually thought about this track before recording it. It is distorted and makes hardly any sense. Best to skip this one I think and put on ‘The Reflex’ by Duran Duran instead. The only artist/band ever to make something worth listening to on the same theme was Pink Floyd, which, still didn’t make any sense, but I believe that was the point.

On the same vein, we are now subjected to ‘All She Wants To Do Is Dance,’ but in all honesty, I wonder what sort of dance the ‘she’ is supposed to be doing to this track. Slowish, and heavy going like trying to run through sand, the young lady in question is going to find the funky chicken abit of a handful, which doesn’t leave her with much of an option. Released in the same month as the album, it was probably a poor mistake on Henley’s part. It held no sparkle to be a hit. It failed to do anything in the U.S. Apart from ‘The Boys Of Summer,’ which also managed number 12 over here. None of the other releases from this album failed to make a dent in our charts in the U.K.

‘Sunset Grill,’ sounds rather like an order in a Little Chef. Perhaps it should have been as this track is poor at the first, yet the bridge of the verses doesn’t sound too bad. Henley has been at the depression pills again, well, he has already said it himself, ‘You’re Not Drinking Enough…’ At a staggering six minutes and 22 seconds long, it becomes painful and we are not just talking about those notes that are just too high for the aging vocals of Mr Henley.

‘Driving With Your Eye’s Closed,’ is not something I suggest you ever try, although turning your lights off at night driving through the lonesome lanes of Surrey is somewhat scary. Speaking of scary, this track will not fill you with any promise either. I do believe that there is little to the album that is actually worth the effort. If you adored ‘The Boys Of Summer,’ as a single and never got around to actually buying the single and have always hated yourself for it, then I suggest that this album is a good buy. However, if you just liked the track as an average thing but were curious as to what an album by Henley would be like, then I suggest you try listening to something else. I would recommend, if I may, ‘Inside Job,’ that was released in June 2000, or perhaps, best stick with any old Eagles albums…

‘Land Of The Living,’ is what we will be desperate for when listening to the final track of this album. At least our lovely young girls as backing singers give us a little light relief. However, Henley tries his hand at a touch of reggae which doesn’t fill our ears with too much dread. It’s listenable but not on a UB40 level. The instrumental track is soft and this gives the idea of an acapella theme at the break. Probably the most down to Earth track of the album. Short in length, it would have been better if the whole album had been perhaps on this theme throughout.

In conclusion, I must add that I was a little disappointed with this album as a whole. Henley should be, on our minds, some rock God in his own right, however, with a small collection of Eagles records within arms reach, I feel that I should have stuck these on instead. Henley, may have had a successful career and be better known for his work than the other four who left for solo careers from the band, he hasn’t lived up to his famous name with this album. I guess there is a moral to this album. When having such an explosive hit as ‘The Boys Of Summer,’ then if would have been wise to stick with that old title of One Hit Wonder.

Then, at least you would get a mention throughout the rest of time on Channel Four documentaries…


We breathed a sigh of relief when The Eagles reformed in 1994, quickly releasing the very impressive ‘Hell Freezes Over.’

They , after reuniting, promptly released everything they had ever recorded from the early days.


Building The Perfect Beast 1984
Words and Music by Don Henley, Stan Lynch, Danny Kortchmar, J.D Souther, Mike Campbell and Ben Tench.
Produced by Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi
Greffen Records
Mike Campbell - guitars/synth/perc.
Steve Porcaro - synth.
Danny Kortchmar - synth/guitar
Larry Klein - bass
Don Henley - drums
Guests appearances from Lindsay Buckingham and Patty Smyth.
Bought originally for seven pounds, Woolworths, 1985
Now available in CD shops for around the five/ten pound mark.


Also on dooyoo 2006
©m.duffy (sam1942) 2006