In the world of rock & roll, Jackson Browne holds a special place. His music - tender and contemplative, sometimes dark and morose - was a vanguard of the "mellow" Southern California style that cast a long shadow throughout the 1970's. Compadres like Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles sold lots of records by taking his style (and sometimes his songs) and translating it into a more cheerful idiom. Frustratrated by the limitations of the genre and, my guess is, bored with himself, Browne later tried to break out of his shell - both personal and musical - and went to great lengths to have a positive impact on the world outside. But, his forte has always been exploring and exposing his own psyche for the benefit of us all.

Jackson Browne (sometimes known as Saturate Before Using - those words appear on the cover) was an auspicious debut, containing "Rock Me On The Water" and "Doctor My Eyes" - both of them hit singles - but it was merely a potent of things to come. The follow-up, For Everyman, was even better, mixing raucous, David Lindley-fueled tunes like "Redneck Friend," "Take It Easy" (cowritten with Glen Frey), and the amusing "Ready Or Not" with navel-gazers like "These Days" and the title song. The third album, Late For The Sky, was his darkest - and best - yet. Introspective and morbid (the best songs were about death), critics loved it. Life imitated art, though, when Browne's wife committed suicide; his next album, The Pretender, was a moving statement of love, loss, and rebirth, as well as a harrowing look at life among the (not so) beautiful people of Los Angeles. "The Fuse," "Here Come Those Tears Again," "Your Bright Baby Blues," "Sleep's Dark & Silent Gate" and the title cut are among Browne's most fully realized songs, as thrilling in performance as they are in message. To my ears, The Pretender is Jackson Browne's masterwork.

After looking inward for so long, Jackson Browne valiently tried to transform himself and address the world-at-large. His first tentative step was wildly successful, artistically and commercially. A concept album performed partly in concert, Running On Empty (1977), was packed with enjoyable, hummable odes to the road. Record buyers responded in kind, for once, with the critics who, with ample reason, declared Running On Empty one of the best live albums ever. Browne failed to maintain that altitude, though, as his next records - Hold Out (1980) and, especially, Lawyers In Love (1983) - became forced and self-conscious. Dissatisfied with the "sensitive" label he was yoked, Browne began to ape the populist rock of Bruce Springsteen and the calculated cynicism of Warren Zevon. While Browne sounded he like was having immense fun, songs like "For A Rocker" were stiff and unwieldly - surely not the vibe he sought.

Subsequent records found him dabbling in world music and moving even farther outside himself, into the political arena; Lives In The Balance (1986) and World In Motion (1989) yielded mixed results, but they felt more natural and sincere than Browne's preceding albums. Beginning with I'm Alive (1993), though, Jackson Browne returned to the role that he, more than anyone but Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, helped establish - that of singer/songwriter. His later work has been consistent and familiar, if not spectacular.

Jackson Browne's first-ever retrospective was the half-hearted The Next Voice You Hear: The Best Of Jackson Browne (1997), an album that essentially pleased no one - casual fans or serious collectors. First of all, the track selection is shoddy, even within the limitations of a single disc. Out of its 15 tracks, The Next Voice You Hear collects only 6 of Browne's 17 charted singles. Second, Browne's work simply doesn't lend itself to this kind of listening. Frankly, there is no way one CD could hold "the best" of Jackson Browne, and even if it could, his considerable musical and spiritual evolution over the past 30 years would make for some jarring transitions. His first five records are the definitive Jackson Browne; I recommend you get them and see where they lead.

On the other hand... The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (2004), compiled by Rhino Records, almost does the trick. While its two CD's don't allow for everything (for instance, "Ready or Not," "The Fuse," and "Hold Out, Hold On" are omitted), the set samples from Browne's every album and picks up "Somebody's Baby," his amiable single from the movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High. The Very Best Of Jackson Browne does an admirable job of presenting a coherent picture of this important artist's sometimes shambolic long journey home. Again, I cannot express too strongly the importance of his first decade's work, but The Very Best Of Jackson Browne will be an enjoyable, worthwhile purchase for most consumers.