Jackson Browne
Lawyers in Love

"Tender is the night 
 When you hold your baby tight 
 Tender are the motions, tender is the night" 

The '80s were not the easiest for musician and subtle intellectual Browne. His music, composed of slow and refined acoustic melodies, found little space among the fast, synthetic sounds of the new decade. However, Jackson was ahead of the curve and in 1980 managed to place his "Hold Out" at the top of the charts with a sound that was catchy yet did not entirely renounce the typical tones of this adopted Californian, born and raised in West Germany.
In 1983, however, things changed a bit and with "Lawyers in Love", the style definitely shifts, an album composed exclusively of chart-friendly, highly catchy songs characterized by arrangements that highlight rhythm and prominently feature guitars. So, we have a very easy album which, despite its melodic lightness, is enjoyable. It's a bit of a classic album that can be listened to without too much effort but still doesn't leave a bitter taste since it's made by a great musician.
The album starts with the title track, an engaging, fast song that immediately opens with synths and sharp drum beats, a polished but airy American sound, a new and pleasant Browne. Little changes with the next track "On The Day" as it maintains the same sound levels as the previous songs, similar to "Cut It Away". "Downtown" describes the city's lively environment "Downtown people gotta work a little harder working downtown”, the music is once again a fast anthem with an extremely simple but very effective chorus opening; "Tender Is The Night" is the track that makes the album less commercial, a beautiful song with refined atmospheres not destroyed by the previously heard typically Californian arrangements, with a nice long tail built in the verses around the anaphora of the word "Tender". The rest of the LP, "Say it isn't True", "Knock On Any Door" and "For A Rocker" add little else, pleasant tracks but individually not very substantial.

In the end, "Lawyers In Love” does not have great ambitions, less beautiful and interesting than "Hold Out". It adds a significant commercial breeze to Browne's sound that does not, however, overwhelm the musician. An album suited for light listening and recommended for vacations, perhaps "On The Road".