This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Personnel: Jackson Browne (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, Fender Rhodes piano); Greg Leisz (acoustic & electric guitars, pedal steel guitar); Val McCallum (acoustic & electric guitars); Kevin McCormick (electric guitar, bass); Mark Goldenberg (electric guitar); Keb'Mo (National guitar);

Fernando Pullum (trumpet); Jeff Young (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer, background vocals); Mauricio Lewak (drums, cajon); Luis Conte (percussion); Marc Cohn, Alethea Mills, Chavonne Morris, Jimmy Burney, Kipp Lennon, Jennifer Gross, Jeff Young (background vocals).

Recorded at Groove Masters Studios, Santa Monica, California.

Japanese edition adds an extra song.

CD contains 1 bonus track.

For the most part, The Naked Ride Home devotes itself to Jackson Browne's two favorite themes -- the slightly melancholy recollections of relationships either failed or failing which dominated albums like The Pretender and Late for the Sky, and socio-political observations of an increasingly chaotic world in the manner of Lives in the Balance and World in Motion. The craft of Browne's songwriting is still strong, and his performances are pin-sharp and passionate. It's clear he still takes the arts of songwriting and recording very seriously. ~ Mark Deming

Jackson Browne was so much the archetypical L.A. singer/songwriter of the 1970s that it's tempting to view him as a man out of time on his 2002 album The Naked Ride Home, but while some will dismiss him as a fossil from the days when the Mellow Mafia ruled, that's not really where Browne's first album of the 21st century goes wrong. For the most part, The Naked Ride Home devotes itself to Browne's two favorite themes -- the slightly melancholy recollections of relationships either failed or failing which dominated albums like The Pretender and Late for the Sky, and socio-political observations of an increasingly chaotic world in the manner of Lives in the Balance and World in Motion. But the problem is that Browne hasn't come up with any stories about his personal battle of the sexes that sound especially fresh or compelling on The Naked Ride Home, and while his songs about post-Y2K America are stronger (particularly "Casino Nation"), most of the time he doesn't appear to have a specific axe to grind or causes to speak either for or against beyond the growing ugliness of our culture. The craft of Browne's songwriting is still strong, and his performances are pin-sharp and passionate, but unfortunately the very real strengths of The Naked Ride Home only make its flaws all the more glaring -- namely, that Browne's muse hasn't taken him anyplace new and interesting in some time, and even though it's clear he still takes the arts of songwriting and recording very seriously, the results lack the depth or the impact of his earlier work. Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Joni Mitchell have all proven it's possible for a veteran songwriter to gain a second wind and remain fresh and relevant; one can only hope the same will be true of Jackson Browne someday, but that new breeze did not arrive in time for The Naked Ride Home. ~ Mark Deming

The title of Jackson Browne's 13th album refers to a state of emotional vulnerability. Still walking the tightrope between the personal and the political, (although Browne would probably argue they share fairly close quarters), this gifted singer-songwriter leans more towards the former on this particular outing. When Browne isn't quietly mooning over his companion (the '70s-ish "My Stunning Mystery Companion") or alluding to Judgement Day with the help of Marc Cohn (an atmospheric "Don't You Want To Be There"), he's casting a critical eye on past choices (the wistful "About My Imagination").

Although most of these songs are given a light touch, the one exception is "The Night Inside Me," a chugging rocker punctuated by former Cretone Mark Goldenberg's twangy riffs. Tapping into his activist core, Browne delivers "Casino Nation," a broad swipe at how tabloid-driven mentalities are soiling different facets or our societal fabric. Coupled with "Sergio Leone," a tribute to the father of the spaghetti western that incorporates part of Giuseppe Verdi's "La Forza Del Destino," THE NAKED RIDE HOME finds Jackson Browne returning to the fine form of albums like LATE FOR THE SKY and THE PRETENDER.

Rolling Stone (10/02, p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[The album] turns richer and more resonant upon re-listenings..."

Entertainment Weekly (10/4/02, p.154) - "...This CD succeeds when Browne sticks to [the] earlier style he excelled at..." - Rating: B

Q (12/02, p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Immediate, striking and personal....Tasteful and crafted..."

Uncut (1/03, p.96) - Ranked #49 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"

Uncut (11/02, p.129) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...The voice sounds a little more world-weary and the musical accompaniment harsher - or at least more muscular...The sound of a maturer Jackson Browne...razor-sharp insight into the human condition."

Mojo (Publisher) (11/02, p.96) - "...For those who still think it's possible that love might be the answer to at least some of our problems...this could be the album of the year."