Weekend Reviews : Pop : Browne Celebrates Rich Legacy at Amphitheatre

Few albums of the modern pop era remain as much a measure of excellence as “Late for the Sky,” the 1974 Jackson Browne collection that expressed romantic longing and need with such elegance and intimacy that it served as the shared diary of a generation.

As the not-always-kind pop fates would have it, no one has had to labor under the burdens of those expectations and standards as much as Browne, who opened a two-night stand Saturday at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Moving in the ‘80s from the poignant, folk-accented strains of the “Late” period to a slightly harder-edged rock and then strident social commentary, Browne lost much of his commercial and critical luster.

It wasn’t that the singer-songwriter failed to do anything more of worth, but that the consistency of his vision frequently gave way to songs that, while filled with urgency and passion, lacked the early poetic grace.

The Amphitheatre shows were part of a short tour designed to restore Browne to the front rank of pop-rock artists, and on Saturday he had a warm, enthusiastic crowd--including musical pals Bonnie Raitt and David Crosby in the audience--for support.

The heart of the show revolved around the new “I’m Alive” album, a dramatic return to the softer, confessional style of “Late for the Sky” but not, in the main, a return to form. Much of the album--from the hokey Caribbean beat of “Everywhere I Go” to the worn imagery of “Miles Away”--is mediocre by any standard, much less Browne’s.

If the unevenness of that material kept the show from being the total celebration desired, the generous survey of his classic work served as an endearing reminder of Browne’s rich pop-rock legacy.

Browne, whose singing has taken on added character and richness over the years, also used the best of the new songs to good advantage.

The melancholy “Too Many Angels”--which was performed with the vocal backing of the Story, the duo that opened the show with a set of smart, penetrating, feminist-edged tales about relationships and social roles--kicked off a liberating greatest-hits segment that included the early gems “For Everyman” and “The Pretender.”

And Browne turned wisely--and boldly--to another new number, “All Good Things,” to close the two-hour show on a tender, optimistic note.

There was certainly a wave of nostalgia in the room as Browne revived such tunes as “For Everyman” and “Late for the Sky,” but there is a sense of insight and craft in the best pop that makes the songs continue to be instructive and affecting, and Browne’s key songs, with their blend of social observation and personal revelation, have that enduring quality.