Happy 30th: Jackson Browne, Lives in the Balance

30 years ago today, Jackson Browne released his eighth studio album, an endeavor which found him getting a little more political than usual while still managing to come up with three substantial hits on the Mainstream Rock chart.

The title track of Lives in the Balance found its profile lifted considerably when it was used on an episode of Miami Vice, thereby introducing the song to an audience that might not otherwise have been keeping their ears open for the latest Jackson Browne track. In addition, Browne secured a top-40 hit with the album's first single, “For America,” and although the follow-up single, “In the Shape of a Heart,” wasn't quite as successful on the Hot 100 (it only made it to #70), it went top-10 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Looking back at the album in 2013, Browne described it as a turning point in his career as well as his songwriting.

“Everybody accepted the status quo version of America that was ludicrous; Lives In The Balance was an attempt to write clearly on subjects that you shouldn't be oblique about,” Browne told Uncut. “My favorite album of the day was Little Steven's Voice Of America, and if I was emulating anyone, it was his outspokenness. The record company didn't like the record or know what to do with it, but I never took it as meaning you shouldn't sing about politics. The past 20 or 30 years bears me out.”