This is a DVD AUDIO release so don't make the mistake of expecting to see video footage like an earlier reviewer did. DVD Audio is all about the sound - much higher resolution than CD plus a choice between stereo or 5.1 surround. If you've got a DVD-Audio player and you're a Jackson Browne fan, consider this purchase essential. The 5.1 surround mix is like hearing the album for the first time. Consider the still images a bonus but buy it for the music.

Until Running on Empty, Jackson headlined in mid level arenas. For the Running on Empty Tour, with a tremendous assist from his opening act Karla Bonoff, Browne moved into the big sports arenas playing to 20000 a night. Running on Empty was his highlight from a financial standpoint.

An interesting concept at the time and some of the songs, like Running on Empty and the Load Out/Stay became big hits. Load Out/Stay is the mandatory end to a Jackson Browne concert, as it was when Bruce Springsteen and the E street band performed the song along with Jackson at the No Nukes concert in 1980.

You Love the Thunder, with Rosemary Butler as a tremendous backup voice, is a good song and Rosie, despite its unique subject matter, is a decent song that gets a lot of airtime still.

I could probably do without the song about big 18 wheelers but it fit the concept.

The album is only not great when compared to other Jackson Brown albums. Late for The Sky, Pretender and For Everyman are masterpieces and Running on Empty is a notch below that. I think the hard core Jackson Browne fan was glad when the Running on Empty frenzy died down and you could see Jackson in a concert hall, where he belongs.

Don McNay...

Running on Empty rocked the music world almost 30 years ago, both literally and figuratively: a live album of all new material, recorded on stage, backstage, on a bus and in hotel rooms! Now, with enhanced 5.1 sound (it sounds great!), two previously unreleased songs, and hundreds of moving, candid photographs by Joel Bernstein, this classic record has been masterfully revitalized. R&R Hall of Famer, Jackson Browne, never sounded better, surrounded by some of rock's best musicians from that classic era. To me, Russ Kunkel's drums always sounded "bigger" than anyone else's at the time, and David Lindley's virtuosity on anything with strings was never more evident. This release is a gift to Jackson Browne's abiding fans, and to those who will be!

For a recording artist, there is probably no trial of fire like taking the new music out on the road, and hearing fans' reactions to it. As a litmus test, a tour can make or break an artist, particularly one just starting out. Of course, when Browne released this album, he was already a grizzled veteran of playing stadiums; still, he felt compelled to lay down a permanent record of what road life was like. "Running on Empty" is a live recording, but unlike one ever made before. Some of the tracks were recorded backstage, away from the glare of the audience, some on tour buses...some even in hotels. It is as stark a view as one is able to get of the bumps in the road for a travelling band. The title track was a brand new song when it was played before an audience; it is still a radio classic. "The Road" is a song that specifically addresses the artist's concern about how his material will be treated by the fans, while maintaining one's sanity amidst the grueling touring schedule. The album is peppered with references to other realities familiar to the recording artist: groupies and drugs. "Cocaine" is an acoustic blues number featuring Glenn Frey of the Eagles. "Rosie" is a great double-entendre song about a groupie showing up backstage; Browne tries to pick her up, but the drummer sweeps "that girl away", leaving Browne to, ahem, take matters into his own hands, shall we say. "Love Needs a Heart" is a great ballad that demonstrates the singer-songwriter's virtuosity. "Nothing But Time" was recorded by Browne and Company on their tour bus after leaving a show in Portland, Maine, and shows Jackson in very lighthearted mood. "You Love the Thunder" is the outstanding rocker on the album, but the mood is mainly subtle throughout. Browne's images are extremely evocative, and he is at the peak of his career here. The album ends with the excellent FM classic, "The Load-Out/Stay", which the author reveals to a live audience he is just performing it for the first time. The live tracks played in front of crowds feature very little of the crowd response, almost like studio music accepted in first takes. "Load-Out" may be the only exception to the rule. Browne incorporates the Zodiacs' '50's song "Stay", featuring guitarist David Lindley's brilliant falsetto. This album is an essential for any rock enthuiast; each moment is thoroughly enjoyable. Do yourself a big favor, and definitely pick this one up.

There are some albums in your collection that have an amazing ability to create a mood or energy....they are timeless and when you go back to them you are always rewarded with a sound that can sweep you away !! Running on Empty is one of those albums. I like this one more for the songs that no one ever heard on the radio....songs like "The Road" which features some of the best acoustic guitar ever recorded, is an amazing snapshot of life on the road as a musician. Jackson is able to create vivid pictures of what its like....his images of the positives of being a big time rock star are juxtaposed well with the mind numbing time spent in between shows....and best of all the song is memorable and you can sing along with him as he goes thru it all !! Another classic is "Rosie" a song created from a sound technicians/roadie's perspective....you can't help feel the feelings of rejection this poor guy goes thru....he get's this girl great seats to a concert only to lose her to the drummer....but again the sadness is tempered with a little humor...."Rosie you're all right....you wear MY ring"...great stuff !!

"Cocaine" is a classic blues riff that captures a time in the American culture when the white stuff ruined many a musician...this is not the glorified "Cocaine" of Clapton...but a somber blues perspective of the highs and true lows of this little white powder.

And last but certainly not least...."The Load Out" which blends nicely into a memorialized version of "Stay" again offers vivid imagery of life on the road. Here the piano is the focal instrument and the "live" element here offers something magical you can't capture in the "retake" environment of a studio.....this is the best this song has ever sounded and they miraculously and fortuitiously caught it on tape.....the chord progressions bang into your soul and give you chills !!

This album can be picked up for very little cash...pick it up....put on some candles and listen to it with someone special...it is pure music magic !! Thank you Jackson Browne !!