The radio play garnered by "For America" and "In the Shape of a Heart", and the use of "Lives in the Balance" in the show Miami Vice, gained him many new fans who later went back and discovered Browne's earlier works.

"[4] Critic Robert Christgau also commented in a similar vein: "The difference is that Browne shouldn't be doing this... he's a pop star who's stretching his audience and endangering his market share merely by making such a statement in 1986.

And he's thought hard getting here—not only does his way with words render these lyrics somewhat deeper than Holly Near's, but his moralistic put-downs have that edge of righteous anger nobody's yet found the formula for.

"[5] The Rolling Stone Record Guide wrote that "the title track is a cutting slice of social observation, but the remainder of the album is muddled.

"[6] However, the original 1986 Rolling Stone review by Jimmy Guterman praised the album over-all in part because of Browne's "new-found ability to link the personal to the political," which "breathes life" into the songs and "prevents them from becoming too didactic.