Personnel: Jackson Browne (vocals, acoustic, slide, baritone & resi-phonic guitars, piano); Kevin Dukes, Yves Ndjock (guitar); David Lindley (acoustic & lap steel guitars); Scott Thurston (keyboards, bass, background vocals); Ray Lema (keyboards, background vocals); Craig Doerge (keyboards); Bob Glaub, Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Michael Jochum, Walfredo Reyes, Sly Dunbar (drums); Alex Acuna, Brice Wouassy (percussion); Russ Kunkel (programming); Bonnie Raitt, Doug Haywood, Lori B. Williams, Djene Doumbouya, Brinsley Forde, Tony Gad, Drummie Zeb (background vocals).

Principally recorded at Groovemasters, Santa Monica, California.

Jackson Browne continued amassing a repertoire best suited to an Amnesty International benefit on his second highly politicized album, World in Motion. War, homelessness, and Oliver North (though not by name) were condemned; freedom, truth, and Nelson Mandela were praised. Now and then, Browne drew parallels between the personal and the political, notably in the double-edged "Anything Can Happen," but for the most part he sermonized, frequently adopting the generalized terms and reasoning that sermons usually employ. Except for the gloomy viewpoint, it was hard to recognize the Jackson Browne of his first few albums amid all the commentary, and even if you agreed with his overall political stance, that was disappointing. ~ William Ruhlmann

This is Jackson Browne's most political album. At times, it seems less like a collection of songs than an aural neon sign flashing "I am outraged!" In "The Word Justice," for example, Browne paints a devastating portrait of Oliver North's appearance before Congress, and later devotes a verse to the CIA's alleged drug smuggling activities. Elsewhere, the title tune warns of America's decline while "How Long" rails against defense spending at the expense of hungry children.

All is not doom and gloom, however. On a more optimistic note, "When the Stone Begins to Turn" (which boasts a reggae groove courtesy of guest stars Sly and Robbie) suggests that South Africa's Nelson Mandela would someday be freed, and some of the songs--in particular "My Personal Revenge" and "Lights and Virtues"--have an almost inspirational tone. Musically, the album is a slicked up version of the L.A. studio pop familiar from most of Browne's '80s albums; there is, however, some sort of irony in the fact that his main collaborator here, multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston, originally played with the RAW POWER-era Stooges (he can be heard, sort of, on METALLIC KO, the notorious bootleg of the last ever Stooges concert).