''Songs for a Dying Planet'' is the tenth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr B ...

. It was released in mid 1992, on the label

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

. Keen to re-establish himself after his ill-received 1991 album, ''

Ordinary Average Guy ''Ordinary Average Guy'' is the ninth solo studio album, and its title-track single (second on the playlist), by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in mid 1991 in music, 1991. It was Walsh's fi ...

'', Walsh enlisted his former producer

Bill Szymczyk William Frank Szymczyk (; born February 13, 1943) is an American music producer and technical engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of the 19 ...

. At the end of the track "Certain Situations," one can hear a Morse code message that says "Register and vote for me." The album was received negatively by the majority of music critics and it was also a commercial disappointment, missing the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic, which called an end to Walsh's solo career for 20 years before he released another solo album in 2012 called '' Analog Man.'' The song "Vote for Me" however was a minor success, peaking at number 10 on the

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart.

Critical reception

Reviewing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, critic Vincent Jeffries wrote that the album "fulfills

hose A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called ''pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally '' ...

expectations to a degree, but the songwriter's weakened comedic instincts and extreme sincerity make Songs for a Dying Planet a difficult recommendation."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by

except where otherwise indicated.

Personnel

– lead vocals, keyboards, guitars, percussion, trombone * Joe Vitale – keyboards, drums, percussion,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, backing vocals * Dale Peters – bass *

Rick Rosas Rick "Rick the Bass Player" Rosas (September 10, 1949 – November 6, 2014) was an American musician, and one of the most sought after studio session musicians in Los Angeles. Though largely known for his long collaboration with Neil Young, throu ...

– bass * Jim Brock – percussion *

Jimi Jamison Jimmy Wayne Jamison (August 23, 1951 – September 1, 2014) was an American singer. Best known as Jimi Jamison, he earned recognition as the frontman for the rock bands Target, Cobra, and Survivor from 1984 to 1989, performing the songs " Burn ...

– backing vocals

Production

* Scott MacLellan – executive producer * Bill Szymczyk – producer, engineer, mixing * Joe Vitale – co-producer * Mark Williams – co-engineer, mixing * Mark Herman – assistant engineer * Tracey Schroeder – assistant engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering * Dawn Patrol – art direction, design *

Assheton Gorton Assheton St George Gorton (10 July 1930 – 14 September 2014) was an English production designer. He was educated at Sedbergh School. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''The French Lieutena ...

– artwork ("Three Men in a Boat") *

David Spero David Spero was a rock-radio pioneer in the 1970s and is a high-profile music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd. Radio DJ At the age of 13, before beginning his career as a DJ at WXEN (now WHLK), WNCR (now ...

– management Studios * Recorded at Reflection Sound Studios (Charlotte, North Carolina). * Mixed at Kiva Recording Studio (Memphis, Tennessee). * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York).

Charts

Singles - Billboard (United States)

References