Building the Perfect Beast

Reviewing the album in Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder wrote that "Building the Perfect Beast is a meticulously crafted and programmed set of songs about love and politics. The first side is given to personal reflections on love and loss, such as the wistful "Boys of Summer." Side two is more issue-oriented, tackling subjects from genetic engineering ("Building the Perfect Beast") to America's reckless foreign policy ("All She Wants to Do Is Dance"). The album's longest and most ambitious piece, "Sunset Grill," describes in disturbingly vivid images a character's sense of entrapment in an evil, convulsive metropolis: "You see a lot more meanness in the city/It's the kind that eats you up inside/Hard to come away with anything that feels like dignity."[12]

Reviewing retrospectively for AllMusic, critic Vik Iyengar has written of the album, "After experimenting with synthesizers and a pop sound on his solo debut, Don Henley hits the mark on his sophomore release, Building the Perfect Beast. This album established Henley as an artist in his own right after many successful years with the Eagles, as it spawned numerous hits."[13]

Note: "A Month of Sundays" appeared on the cassette and compact disc versions of the album, but was not included on the LP format. On vinyl it was released as the B-side of the single "The Boys of Summer."

• Don Henley – lead vocals, harmony vocals (2, 5, 7, 11) drums (2, 3, 4, 7, 8), keyboards (5), percussion (5, 6, 10), synthesizers (6), chant voices (6), synthesizer arrangements (9)
• Danny Kortchmar – synthesizers (1, 3, 6), guitar (1-7, 9, 10, 11), horns (3), organ (4), omnichord (4) percussion (6, 10, 11), chant voices (6), guitar synthesizer solo (9), horn solo (9), synthesizer arrangements (9), keyboards (10), bass (10), arrangements (11)
• Mike Campbell – synthesizers (1), guitar (1), percussion (1)
• Steve Porcaro – synthesizers (1, 4), programming (7)
• Benmont Tench – keyboards (2, 5), acoustic piano (8), synthesizers (9), synthesizer arrangements (9)
• David Paich – acoustic piano (4), synthesizers (7, 8), synthesizer arrangements (8), acoustic piano solo (9)
• Michael Boddicker – programming (6), sequencing (6), synthesizers (8, 9), E-mu Emulator (9), synthesizer arrangements (9)
• Albhy Galuten – Synclavier (6)
• Randy Newman – synthesizers (8), synthesizer arrangements (8, 9)
• Bill Cuomo – synthesizers (11), programming (11), percussion (11)
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar (2), harmony vocals (2)
• Charlie Sexton – guitar (3)
• Larry Klein – bass (1)
• Pino Palladino – bass (2, 9, 11)
• Tim Drummond – bass (4, 5)
• Ian Wallace – drums (5)
• Kevin McCormick – African drums (6)
• Jim Keltner – additional drums (8)
• Maren Jensen – intro and interlude composer (8)
• Jerry Hey – horn arrangements (9)
• Belinda Carlisle – harmony vocals (3)
• Sam Moore – harmony vocals (4)
• Martha Davis – chant voices (6), harmony vocals (7)
• Michael O'Donahue – chant voices (6)
• Carla Olson – chant voices (6)
• Patty Smyth – chant voices (6), harmony vocals (6, 7, 9, 11)
• J. D. Souther – chant voices (6)
• Waddy Wachtel – chant voices (6)
• Marie-Pascale Elfman – the French Girls ensemble (10)
• Dominique Mancinelli – the French Girls ensemble (10)

• Producers – Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi (all tracks); Mike Campbell (Track 1).
• Recorded and Mixed by Niko Bolas and Greg Ladanyi
• Additional Engineers – Niko Bolas, Richard Bosworth and Tom Knox.
• Assistant Engineers – Richard Bosworth, Dan Garcia, David Schober and Duane Seykora.
• Horns on Track 10 recorded by Allen Sides, assisted by Mark Ettel.
• Mastered by Mike Reese and Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA).
• Graphic Coordinator – Jeri McManus
• Art Direction – Don Henley, Maren Jensen and Jeri McManus.
• Photography – Herb Ritts
• Management – Front Line Management

Grammy Awards