| Lawyers in Love | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Jackson Browne |
| Cover: | Jackson Browne - Lawyers in Love.jpg |
| Released: | August 2, 1983 |
| Recorded: | 1983 |
| Studio: | A warehouse, Downtown Los Angeles |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Length: | 35:30 |
| Label: | Asylum |
| Producer: | Jackson Browne, Greg Ladanyi |
| Prev Title: | Hold Out |
| Prev Year: | 1980 |
| Next Title: | Lives in the Balance |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
Lawyers in Love is the seventh album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1983 by Asylum Records. It was Browne's fourth straight Top 10 album and stayed on the charts for 33 weeks, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. Out of eight tracks, four were released as singles. The title song reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100[1] and was accompanied by one of Browne's first music videos released on MTV.
In the intervening years between 1980's Hold Out and Lawyers in Love, Browne had released the single "Somebody's Baby", which became his biggest commercial hit to date, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Lawyers in Love was the first Browne album since his 1972 self-titled debut not to feature guitarist David Lindley. Replacing Lindley were guitarists Rick Vito and Danny Kortchmar.
Co-producer and engineer Greg Ladanyi explained the album's unusual recording sessions: "For this record, Jackson wanted to be downtown, where the people were. So we found a warehouse in downtown L.A., and just turned it into a studio. We set it up so that the band could play without the distractions of a normal studio because, for the most part, Jackson was writing the songs – in terms of the key changes and chord changes – based on what he was hearing when the band was playing. There was no 'Okay, it's take one or take two.' We kept the tape rolling just about all the time. And there are very few overdubs."[3]
On the track "Downtown", Browne ad-libs a line to the melody of the Petula Clark song of the same name at the end of the song.
Critic Robert Christgau called the album "a satire on, celebration of, and lament for the upper-middle classmates an Orange County liberal knows like he knows his neighbor's backyard". Rolling Stone critic Christopher Connelly felt that the record was "a more nervy, intelligent LP than its predecessor" and "a welcome widening of perspective that allows Browne to escape, once and for all, the L.A. albatross that has hung around his neck." However, he despised the "wretched" 5:20 of "antinuke agitprop" that is "Say It Isn't True" for displaying the worst traits of the album: "No quarrel here with the sentiments he's expressing, but to gravely intone, 'There always has been and always will be war,' over a 'Kum BaYa'-like coo of 'Say it isn't true' — surely, you say to yourself, he can't be that stupid."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann referred to Browne's often overlooked songcrafting, but wrote "the craft, and the familiar tightness of Browne's veteran studio/live band, couldn't hide the essentially retread nature of much of this material."
Lawyers in Love reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200.[4] The album was certified as a gold record in 1983 and platinum in 2001 by the RIAA.[5]
All tracks composed by Jackson Browne, except where noted.
Side one
Side two
Musicians
Technical
Album – Billboard (United States)
Singles – Billboard (United States)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | "Cut It Away" | Mainstream Rock | 37 |
| 1983 | "For A Rocker" | Mainstream Rock | 7 |
| 1983 | "Lawyers in Love" | Adult Contemporary | 24 |
| 1983 | "Lawyers In Love" | Mainstream Rock | 4 |
| 1983 | "Lawyers In Love" | Billboard Hot 100 | 13 |
| 1983 | "Tender Is the Night" | Adult Contemporary | 24 |
| 1983 | "Tender Is the Night" | Mainstream Rock | 18 |
| 1983 | "Tender Is the Night" | Pop Singles | 25 |
| 1983 | "Tender Is the Night" | Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
| 1984 | "For a Rocker" | Billboard Hot 100 | 45 |