pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

(Like this other current review, which basically seems to say the music is generic emo-punk, nuff said.)

Anyway, there's a lot of black-and-white going on here

I think album reviews should talk about what the music sounds like, I like when the reviewer is able to pick up on genre-synapses to posit where the music's lineage is from. If the music demands it then I would hope the reviewer would be able to make note of certain functional aspects of what it is doing, even if it's just an intuitive reading. If it doesn't, there's no real need to speak on "oh what an interesting first chord of "Thank U, Next"" because it is interesting but not worth commenting on.

If the music has lyrics then they requires comment. I prefer the reviewer to isolate a couple of lyrics to describe why they think the lyrics "succeed" or "fail" and to preferably do so in a literate and entertaining way. I do not like when a c+p lyric is summarily dismissed as "trite" or praised with an "we've all been there, amirite" kind of non-engagement.

I do not like much biography written into a contemporary review, I prefer intersections between work-and-biography to be explored critically, later, if warranted. I do not like a critic to summarize recent events, whether internal or external, leading up to the making of the album unless it plays a major role in the work itself.

I do like solipsistic personal anecdotes about the critic and their own life, I like when they describe the situation that they first encountered the music of the artist, I like extreme digression and tangents that are unrelated to the album at hand, in short, I like it when the critic is putting their own style on the line. That said, I do not like it when a review opens with a personal anecdote, or an extended commentary on current events as a metaphor for the album itself. I like when a record review beings with "The first thing you hear is..." and then a description of what you hear when you put on the record. I like it when critics talk about music succeeding and/or failing, I do not like it when critics talk about music being good or bad, unless they do so hilariously and overuse their superlatives.

first one that comes to mind, at the risk of sounding like a stan, is throwing muses' purgatory/paradise, an album that comes with a book of lyrics and essays accompanying every song, that says in the introduction, "All of the stories on this record are true." it is safe to say that the lyrics to this album are both important and easier than usual to interpret. but this is not borne out in the reviews. I hate picking on this one in particular, because it's not bad per se, but it mentions exactly two lyrics, at least one misinterpreted. https://www.popmatters.com/176319-throwing-muses-purgatory-paradise-2495710130.html

LOL @ really trying to make Linda Ronstadt a hipster icon

Ronstadt's version of "Willin'" is one of the most egregious mismatches of singer and material ever

and this is such a shallow reading of the original

The latter song is possibly the greatest example of Ronstadt’s artistic talent in those halcyon days. The Little Feat version of “Willin’” sounds like a sloppy celebration, but Ronstadt found the yearning in it, the loneliness of a job built on back roads and amphetamines

actually, strike shallow. It's just totally wrong!

really trying to make Linda Ronstadt a hipster icon

have you seen the jeans women are wearing lately

it's a good record!!

*checks watch* feels like we're due for 'nuther bit of banter in 5, 4, 3....

It has been long overdue, to be honest

Although reading how good these pieces are they were definitely worth the wait

shout out to Brad, i feel like getting to review RED after 7 years of listening is kind of a dream gig (but also a lot of pressure)

thanks! i had a rough time

i think maura’s review of the s/t is pretty perfect

That Heart Like a Wheel appraisal was pretty good, actually.

this feels like part of P4K's 12 step program

Are people reacting to the idea of Linda Ronstadt or do you guys really not like Heart Like a Wheel?

I don't particularly like it. Like the majority of her solo work there's no arguing that she's got insane vocal chops, but it's often deployed in the service of boring and pedestrian material. It feels like Pfork is trying to make her into some revisionist boomer feminist version of Elvis or Sinatra but I don't think there's all that much to that tbh. Her albums remind me of when Sam Cooke would take a crack at pop material, trying to be all things to all people, but not necessarily doing what he was best suited for, just kinda doing whatever to check a lot of boxes/appeal to as broad an audience as possible.

that being said the last time I listened to her run of solo albums was when my mother-in-law gave us her LP collection about 10 years ago

(also included: several Pat Benatar records, and all the good Joni ones)

She does not have insane vocal chops (save that for, like, I dunno, Sheryl Crow or something), but I will give you that she has found some smart ways to circumvent or make the most of her limitations.

... ronstadt? she's a tremendous singer

fine, can we agree that she has a great voice then

xp

I mean yeah she isn't Kate Bush with the 5 octave range or whatever

What is the weird bizarro world where Linda Ronstadt isn't a good singer?

Sheryl Crow has insaner vocal chops than Ronstadt? WHAT

I mean, Sheryl Crow is also a good singer

I think it might stfu-o'clock for this thread

I don't particularly like it. Like the majority of her solo work there's no arguing that she's got insane vocal chops, but it's often deployed in the service of boring and pedestrian material.

I'll concede the latter half ("Heat Wave," "Living in the U.SA.") but HLAW is one of her few end-to-end wonderful records (others: Simple Dreams, Hasten Down the Wind, Canciones de Mi Padre, Winter Light

xpost Oh, I thought we were talking about Taylor Swift having insane chops, my bad!

helps to read the thread

hahahahahahaha okay

xpost I did! At one point I thought it was about Taylor Swift. But I think it might have been overlapping Swift and Ronstadt (who has an awesome voice).

I think I was confusing the Swift on Pitchfork thread with this one, ha.

I was surprised the Ronstadt reappraisal got more discussion than the Swift reviews.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61m33IYii0L._SX342_.jpg

Like the majority of her solo work there's no arguing that she's got insane vocal chops, but it's often deployed in the service of boring and pedestrian material.

Agree with this. It makes perfect sense that she worked with the Eagles, because just like them she's far better served by a greatest hits album than any individual album. I remember a ton of her hits from the late 70s and early 80s because the radio station my mom listened to played her stuff all the time - it really is astonishing how popular she was in her prime - but I tried to listen to Heart Like a Wheel after reading that review and even at 32 minutes or whatever, it dragged.

When did her prime end? Prominent placement on Graceland and then the Trio album came out ...

When did her prime end? Prominent placement on Graceland and then the Trio album came out ...

Probably about 1990. Her 1989 album went triple platinum, apparently, but her next release was her second album of Mexican songs and didn't do very well. Then she did another one, then a New Age album, and then she just kind of drifted away.

I'm kind of interested to hear her 1998 album We Ran, where she used the Heartbreakers as her backing band.

Her pop run ended in 1982. Then she released the first of her Nelson Riddle albums, a surprise smash tha would've gone #1 if Thriller hadn't been around. She scored a #2 duet with James Ingram, then, as Phil said, got another surprise pop smash with Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. Most of her Spanish genre experiments hold up well. I grew up with Canciones de Mi Padre and to a lesser extent Frenesi.

Trio just got a sterling remastering and I recommend it without reservations.

yeah Trio is a good album

Linda Rostadt is good! Will her used records suddenly be priced at $10 a piece, though? You should be able to get the entire 1970s run for less than $20.

There's also a Ronstadt doc coming out soon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Ronstadt:_The_Sound_of_My_Voice

I don't mind Ronstadt. She has some nice records

Just bristled at the idea that she found some hitherto untapped vein of melancholy in the Little Feat song. I don't find her version at all convincing, and the underlying sadness is all there in the original anyway

This kills me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKYfESMWfQE

Brad, this is a ridiculously good Red review!

She does not have insane vocal chops (save that for, like, I dunno, Sheryl Crow or something), but I will give you that she has found some smart ways to circumvent or make the most of her limitations.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, August 19, 2019 12:07 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

please watch the film version of the pirates of penzance and get back to us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmVivOLmsbs

otm