Building the Perfect Beast by Don Henley

Building the Perfect Beast, Don Henley's second solo album, came out on Geffen on November 19, 1984, four years after the Eagles came apart, and it's where his solo sound locked into place: smooth, grown-up and polished to a high sheen, with Greg Ladanyi in the producer credits. As on I Can't Stand Still, Danny Kortchmar was his main partner, and three of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Stan Lynch, helped write the songs. The guest list runs long: Lindsey Buckingham, Belinda Carlisle, Patty Smyth, Sam Moore, JD Souther, Randy Newman, Toto's Steve Porcaro and David Paich, and more.

"The Boys of Summer" is the heart of it, all shimmer and yearning, and it won Henley a Grammy and four MTV Video Music Awards, while "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" and "Sunset Grill" show off the record's sly, glossy groove. All four of its singles made the Top 40.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.