There Goes the Neighborhood (album)

There Goes the Neighborhood is the fifth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh, sometime-guitarist for the Eagles. The album was released in May 1981,[1] on Asylum Records, three years after Walsh's album But Seriously, Folks.... A commercial and critical success, it is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of Walsh's solo work.

There Goes the Neighborhood
Studio album by
Joe Walsh
ReleasedMay 1981
Recorded1973, October – November 1980
Genre
Length35:37
LabelAsylum
Producer
Joe Walsh chronology
The Best of Joe Walsh
(1978)		 There Goes the Neighborhood
(1981)		 You Bought It – You Name It
(1983)

The album features contributions from two Eagles' members Don Felder and Timothy B. Schmit as well as session musicians including Russ Kunkel, David Lindley, Bob Mayo, and Victor Feldman.

The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. The album only spawned one single, "A Life of Illusion", which would become one of Walsh's most popular songs. The single also topped the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Cover artwork

The cover art for the album features Walsh leaning, while at the top of an American tank with rubble around him. Additionally, the single release of the song "A Life of Illusion" used the same image of Walsh. The promotional video for the track shows the coming to life of the album's cover.[2]

Background

"A Life of Illusion" was recorded in 1973 with Joe Walsh's first solo band Barnstorm but was not completed. The overdubs and final mixes were completed during the There Goes the Neighborhood sessions and released on the album. This song also appeared in the opening credits of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and appears as the first song on its soundtrack.

Another track "Rivers (Of the Hidden Funk)" was a track Walsh wrote for the Eagles' 1979 album The Long Run, but was left off. The track featured a guest appearance by Walsh's Eagles-mate Don Felder (who co-wrote the track) on talk box guitar.

The album's final track "You Never Know" is a song about rumors and hearsay, including not-so-veiled swipes at other members of the Eagles and their management with lines like "The Frontline grapevine jury's in a nasty mood / you might be guilty, honey, you never know." (Frontline Management was Irving Azoff's management firm at the time). Don Felder appears on guitar on this track performing rhythm and dual lead guitar solos with Walsh.

Eagles bandmate Timothy B. Schmit sang backing vocals on the opening track "Things".

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [3]
Rolling Stone [4]

Writing retrospectively for AllMusic, critic Ben Davies wrote of the album "Joe Walsh's long and varied career has had its ups and downs, to say the least. Here, you see Walsh in good old rock form... The rock legend's trademark sound is prominently featured throughout the album, and undoubtedly here he performs some of his finest solos. The only qualm that one can pick is that the whole album is in a much-similar vein."[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Joe Walsh, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Things" 5:40
2."Made Your Mind Up" 4:24
3."Down on the Farm" 3:10
4."Rivers (Of the Hidden Funk)"Walsh, Don Felder5:06
5."A Life of Illusion"Kenny Passarelli, Walsh3:30
6."Bones" 4:32
7."Rockets" 3:55
8."You Never Know" 5:20

Personnel

Production

Charts
Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 63
US Billboard 200[6] 20

See also

References
  1. "Talent Talk". Billboard. May 5, 1981. p. 32.
  2. A Life of Illusion, retrieved 6 November 2014
  3. Davies, Ben. "There Goes the Neighborhood > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  4. "There Goes the Neighborhood > Review". Rolling Stone.
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 332. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. "Joe Walsh Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
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