Building the Perfect Beast
Building the Perfect Beast is the second solo studio album by Don Henley. The album was released on November 19, 1984, on the Geffen Records 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 whom 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 and was certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 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 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s". Critical reception. 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 "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." Reviewing retrospectively 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." 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. 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." Awards. Grammy Awards