pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

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

Katherine, as Brad would say, read the thread. ;)

thank you morrisp! xp

if they're gonna go for critically reviled but incredibly popular women to rehabilitate as feminist icons they should do Cher next

I don't think Ronstadt was reviled so much as overlooked and unexamined for years (I can think only of that John Rockwell essay in Stranded]).

Linda Ronstadt was critically reviled?

She was reviled for playing Sun City.

original rolling Stone review is v positive

https://www-rollingstone-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/heart-like-a-wheel-103633/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQEKAFwAQ%3D%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-album-reviews%2Fheart-like-a-wheel-103633%2F

Christgau:

Silk Purse [Capitol, 1970] B
Linda Ronstadt [Capitol, 1972] B-
Don't Cry Now [Asylum, 1973] C+
Different Drum [Capitol, 1974] B-
Heart Like a Wheel [Capitol, 1974] A-
Prisoner in Disguise [Asylum, 1975] B
Hasten Down the Wind [Asylum, 1976] B-
Greatest Hits [Asylum, 1976] B+
A Retrospective [Capitol, 1977] B+
Simple Dreams [Asylum, 1977] B+
Living in the U.S.A. [Asylum, 1978] B
Mad Love [Asylum, 1980] B-
Get Closer [Asylum, 1982] C+
What's New [Asylum, 1983] C-

overlooked and unexamined

sure, that works

IIRC, Elvis Costello didn't like Ronstadt's covers of his songs

he was a huge asshole back then tbf

he's repented:

https://vimeo.com/162309257

Ronstadt's "Alison" >>>>>>>>>>> EC's

Her Costello covers on Mad Love define meh, though.

I stayed at the ZicZoc Rock Hotel in Zurich once, in the cheapest room which was the Joe Cocker room. There was a large picture of Linda Ronstadt on the wall as the main decoration. It was confusing.

Hmm, I was just thinking that Costello must've heard "Sorrow Lives Here" before recording "Shot with His Own Gun."

my aim is amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQEKAFwAQ%3D%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-album-reviews%2Fheart-like-a-wheel-103633%2F

You and me both.

sic I'm posting from my phone gimme A break!

xxp -- I did read the thread but no one brought up penzance specifically, and while yes obviously she's not at the level of a professional lyric coloratura (and while it's transposed down), it is still very good for someone who was not trained as an opera singer

I'd completely forgotten about that Penzance performance

We watched Penzance with our kid recently and he both really enjoyed the music and humor and also afterwards was asking us what the hell was going on in that story.

xpost to Katherine, Me (as quoted by you) seemingly dissing Ronstadt as a singer was actually me dissing Taylor Swift, I just got my threads mixed up.

the 'controversy' around p4k not reviewing 1989 has always kinda cracked me up. mainly cause i was asked to do it & said no cause i didn't want the internet to yell at me all week. had i only known the ~cultural implications~...

— Fire Marshal Meaghan (@meaghan_garvey) August 19, 2019

I don’t understand any part of that tweet(!)

Pitchfork didn't review a Taylor Swift album until Reputation, but they did review Ryan Adams' cover album of 1989, which some people see as kind of fucked. Yesterday was penance for that I guess.

The Ryan Adams example is kind of a funny one, because we should have reviewed “1989.” It’s kind of a long story. I really wanted to review that. But a writer fell through, and then it was going to be late. It was this series of errors, why that didn’t end up happening. And we hadn’t reviewed Taylor Swift previously. Whatever her next record is, we’re definitely going to review it. And then I’m sure people will write about it and say, “They’re reviewing Taylor Swift now.”

from an interview with mark richardson from a few years ago

Thx, didn’t know any of that backstory.

god dammit Brad, what's up with making me interested in listening to a Taylor Swift album, what the hell

she's not at the level of a professional lyric coloratura (and while it's transposed down), it is still very good for someone who was not trained as an opera singer

uh, she actually did have professional training at points in time.

don't worry omar, it will pass within 30 seconds of hearing a note of it

xp

but she is a great singer -- G&S is a bit closer to musical theater than "opera" when it comes to performance aesthetics (ime) -- so it's kinda a weird statement to make in the context of a G&S play.

god dammit Brad, what's up with making me interested in listening to a Taylor Swift album, what the hell

― omar little, Tuesday, August 20, 2019 9:40 AM (thirty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it's what i was born to do

"What's New" was one of three tapes my parents had in the car when I was a kid and we would go on road trips, so I am very fond of it.

these days i'm kind of a fan of Taylor Swift the person, having come around on her a bit due to her catching a lot of undue flak and also her being hassled by deeply terrible celebrities. i haven't really liked the hits but then again lots of cuts fall into context for me when i listen to an album.

Phew I'm relieved that we got the late review of 1989 that we did instead of whatever Meghan Garvey refused to write.

And yeah Brad your write-up on "Red" is terrific, it's my favourite of her albums-- not the Max Martin-produced 1989-anticipating singles, not the weird misfires by guest producers, but the core eight Nathan Chapman-produced tracks on it that perfectly hybridize modern country music with "The Joshua Tree". "State Of Grace" is one of the best opening tracks I've ever heard.

i didn't know she turned in 20 chapman produced songs for red and now i need to fast forward 20 years to the box set

Ya I didn't know that either and same

not the weird misfires by guest producers

Which traxx do you consider to fall in this category? Just curious