I had to de-lurk to chime in on this subject. First of all, bravo to all who dared to go against the tide and speak what they feel concerning our Joni.
It's personally hard for me to separate the artist from the person as far as Joni is concerned because I feel that the two are so integrated. She writes from such a personal level that for me, the two are very intertwined. I don't feel that Joni has crossed the line of arrogance because my little inner alarm hasn't gone off concerning the remarks I've heard her say in interviews. A part of me feels that she has earned the right to say some of the things she says because of her enormous contributions to both the music and the art world. However, I feel that there is a line of egomania that every artist can cross if they are not careful. For me, once they cross that line, I don't care how good their work is, I want nothing to do with them. The group Oasis has reached that saturation point with me and though I am sure they are great artists, I cannot stomach them. I personally love Turbulent Indigo, but was not too big a fan of Taming the Tiger. ( my husband on the other hand loved it, especially the song, "Best to You") To me, it seemed like all of the songs were in the same key, and from a personal standpoint, I needed a little more variety. I liked the song "Lead Balloon", but I felt it was unfinished. I felt that it could have evolved a little more. It just felt like her heart wasn't in it. I can definitely relate to that as I feel that I can also be a rather lazy writer as well. (no disrespect intended towards Joni's abilities) This CD was being recorded at the time she and Kilauren found each other again if I am not mistaken, so there may have been distractions. I miss the brutal self honesty from "Court and Spark" as well as "Heijera," and the keen third party observations of "Hissing". It is these type of musical contributions that endear me to her now and always. I agree with Kakki that there seems to be a self-esteem problem. How I wish we could all sit down with her and help her see what a lasting effect she's had on all of our lives. I wish she could find peace and contentment knowing that she has put out some pretty fantastic work and find happiness in it. If I could put out just one project with the musical superiority that is in her combined works, I would die happy. She has done this many times over. Sherelle
