Jackson Browne: The Naked Ride Home

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * )

Sorry, aside from his exceptional album The Pretender about three decades ago - because I heard it and thought the guy had been reading my diary - I never got much Jackson Browne. He always struck me as the Eagles afflicted withmiserableness, and with a polite and polished musicality that sounded studied and bloodless. That much hasn't changed: guitars cut out and he sings over just a ticking drumbeat for emotional effect; the gentle, quietly duelling guitar codas that take you to the fade; the lyrics which are often slightly melancholy and reflective ... Yes, Jackson certainly has a distinctive aural fingerprint, and here he embarks on the obligatory thoughtful political statement (the probing Casino Nation), the appropriated cod-reggae riddum that just breathes LA MOR radio (For Taking the Trouble) and so on.

If you like Jackson Browne, he's just made another album. For you. He irritated the hell out of me after a while.

Label: Elektra