Building the Perfect Beast

Building the Perfect Beast
Studio album by Don Henley
Released	November 19, 1984 (1984-11-19)
Recorded	1984
Studio	Record One, Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles; Bill Schnee Studio, Universal City, C.A.; The Villa, North Hollywood, Los Angeles
Genre	Rock, pop rock, soft rock
Length	47:08 (CD and Cassette version)
Label	Geffen
Producer	Don Henley Danny Kortchmar Greg Ladanyi
Don Henley chronology
I Can't Stand Still (1982) Building the Perfect Beast (1984) The End of the Innocence (1989)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	(Positive)[2]
Robert Christgau	B[3]
iTunes	(Positive)[4]

Building the Perfect Beast is the second solo studio album by Don Henley. The album was released on November 19, 1984 on the Geffen label. A commercial and critical success, it is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of Henley's solo work.

For the album, Henley collaborated with members of the then line-up of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who contributed to the writing of the songs: guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench and drummer Stan Lynch, the last of which would later collaborate with Henley in composing the Eagles' song "Learn to Be Still", which was released on their live album Hell Freezes Over. The album also features contributions from Fleetwood Mac's guitarist, Lindsey Buckingham, The Go-Go's lead vocalist Belinda Carlisle, and features contributions from Randy Newman, Jim Keltner, Waddy Wachtel, Pino Palladino, Steve Porcaro, and Ian Wallace.

The album reached #13 on the Billboard 200^[5] and was certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[6] The album spawned four singles which all reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100, including "The Boys of Summer", which would become one of Henley's most popular songs and win him numerous awards, including a Grammy Award and four MTV Video Music Awards.

In 1989, the album was ranked No. 73 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s".

Critical reception

The album has consistently been praised by rock critics. Reviewing the album in Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder wrote that Building the Perfect Beast is a meticulously crafted and programmed set of songs about love and politics. The first side is given to personal reflections on love and loss, such as the wistful, gorgeous "Boys of Summer." Side two is more issue-oriented, tackling subjects from genetic engineering ("Building the Perfect Beast") to America's reckless foreign policy ("All She Wants to Do Is Dance"). The album's longest and most ambitious piece, "Sunset Grill," describes in disturbingly vivid images a character's sense of entrapment in an evil, convulsive metropolis: "You see a lot more meanness in the city/It's the kind that eats you up inside/Hard to come away with anything that feels like dignity."^[7]

Reviewing for AllMusic, critic Vik Iyengar has written of the album, "After experimenting with synthesizers and a pop sound on his solo debut, Don Henley hits the mark on his sophomore release, Building the Perfect Beast. This album established Henley as an artist in his own right after many successful years with the Eagles, as it spawned numerous hits."^[8]

Reviewers for iTunes have praised the track "Sunset Grill" as "the greatest track," and written of the album, "Listening to Building the Perfect Beast, a newcomer to Don Henley's work might never have imagined that, as part of the Eagles, he'd been a key player in making country-rock a part of the mainstream." They also added that "Henley made a "Hotel California" for the whole country, but still rooted in LA. In an era of great radio pop, it was a standout among standouts."^[9]

Release

Japanese reissue

The original mix of the album was reissued in Japan in a replica of the original Compact disc art work. The album was remastered, for this reissue using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) to transfer the digital files. The release was a limited edition in the SHM-CD format.^[10]

Track listing

Note: "A Month of Sundays" appeared on the cassette and compact disc versions of the album, but was not included on the LP format. On vinyl it was released as the B-side of the single "The Boys of Summer."

Personnel

• Don Henley – lead vocals (All tracks), percussion (tracks 5-6, 9), drums (2-4, 7), keyboards (5), chant voices (6), harmony vocals (2, 5, 7, 10), synthesizer (6)
• Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar – organ (track 4), synthesizer (1, 3, 6), bass (9), guitar (All tracks), percussion (tracks 6, 9-10), keyboards (9), synthesizer guitar solos (8), chant voices (6), omnichord (4), horns (3), horn solo (8)

Additional musicians

• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, backing vocals, harmony vocals (track 2)
• Mike Campbell – synthesizer, additional guitars, percussion (track 1)
• Charlie Sexton – guitar (track 3)
• Tim Drummond – bass guitar (tracks 4-5)
• Pino Palladino – bass guitar (tracks 2, 8, 10)
• Larry Klein – bass guitar (track 1)
• Jim Keltner – additional drums ("A Month of Sundays")
• Ian Wallace – drums (track 5)
• Kevin McCormick – African drums (track 6)
• Randy Newman – additional synthesizer ("A Month of Sundays")
• David Paich – synthesizer (track 7), All pianos (4), piano solo (8)
• Steve Porcaro – synthesizer (tracks 1, 4)
• Benmont Tench – synthesizer (track 8), piano ("A Month of Sundays"), keyboards (2, 5)
• Albhy Galuten – synthesizer, Synclavier (track 6)
• Michael Boddicker – synthesizer (track 8)
• Bill Cuomo – synthesizer, percussion (track 10)
• Belinda Carlisle – backing vocals, harmony vocals (track 3)
• Michael O'Donahue – backing vocals, chant voices (track 6)
• Patty Smyth – backing vocals, chant voices (track 6), harmony vocals (6-8, 10)
• Waddy Wachtel – backing vocals, chant voices (track 6)
• J. D. Souther – backing vocals, chant voices (track 6)
• Martha Davis – backing vocals, chant voices (track 6), harmony vocals (7)
• Marie-Pascale Elfman – backing vocals, the French Girls ensemble (track 9)
• Carla Olson – backing vocals, chant voices (track 6)
• Dominique Mancinelli – backing vocals, the French Girls ensemble (track 9)
• Sam Moore – harmony vocals (track 4)

Production

• Don Henley – producer (All tracks)
• Mike Campbell – producer (track 1)
• Danny Kortchmar – producer (All tracks)
• Greg Ladanyi – producer (All tracks)

Engineering

• Greg Ladanyi – recording engineer, audio mixing (All tracks)
• Niko Bolas – recording engineer, audio mixing (All tracks)
• Richard Bosworth – additional recording engineer, assistant recording engineer (All tracks)
• Tom Knox – additional recording engineer (All tracks)
• Allen Sides – horns recording engineer (track 8)
• Mark Ettel – assistant recording engineer- horns (track 8)
• Dan Garcia – assistant recording engineer (All tracks)
• David Schober – assistant recording engineer (All tracks)
• Duane Seykora – assistant recording engineer (All tracks)
• Mike Reese – mastering
• Doug Sax – mastering
• Michael Boddicker – music programming (track 6), music sequencing (6), synthesizer arrangements (8), E-mu Emulator (8)
• Steve Porcaro – music programming (track 7)
• Bill Cuomo – percussion programming (track 10)
• Danny Kortchmar – synthesizer arrangements (track 8), Percussion arrangement (10)
• Don Henley – synthesizer arrangements (track 8)
• Randy Newman – synthesizer arrangements (track 8)
• David Paich – synthesizer arrangements ("A Month of Sundays")
• Benmont Tench – synthesizer arrangements (track 8)
• Jerry Hey – horn arrangements (track 8)

Album artwork

• Jeri McManus – art direction, graphic coordinator
• Don Henley – art direction
• Maren Jensen – art direction
• Herb Ritts – photography

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

Awards

Grammy Awards

References

External links