Great post, Mr. S...since I'm name-checked all over the place here, I probably should respond...actually I'm DYING to respond, just haven't had time.
> OK. But you'll still have to deal with Bob S (for Senseofhumour). I like > Shiny Toys a lot. And I like Dancin Clown. Here I am bucking the two macho > icons of the JMDL (Paz and Bob Muller over). I like Joni's playful side (I > like the side on the inside of the FTR album jacket, too ;-)). > Just remember...Michael is the official "Lord of Masculinity" (after all, have you seen the calves on that guy?) *I* am merely an apprentice! ;~) > The 80's Albums > > I am on record as reversing Bob Muller's ratings on the 80's albums (I > prefer CMIAR, then DED, the WTRF). You are welcome to like them as you will...this does not affect their quality. :~) Maybe I don't like when Joni's having fun > with some other guy. And how can love be really solid in a year or two ? What are you saying here? That a "solid love" cannot last even a year? It surely shifts around and re-manifests itself in different ways, but I'll be there are lots of folks who would argue that their "solid love" is going strong. > I think Lucky Girl (more individually personal) would have made a better > closing cut to WTRF, and Love (more universal - the antidote to society's > darker side ?) a better closing cut to DED. (I realize that chronology > probably dictated against that). Still - what do you all think ? While Lucky Girl fits the 'theme' of WTRF, I've always thought of "Love" as the perfect closer. Through all the troubles of Flat Tires, Man to Man, etc...love remains the goal, and how better to express such a classic thought than to adapt text that has been around for centuries! > Tin Angel - too much like I Had a King (which was a fine "here I am" for > album 1), and not inviting enough. Still, with 5 "relationship" songs, how > does one space them out ? Tin Angel, Chelsea Morning, I Don't Know Where I > Stand, Midway, The Gallery. Is this 5 different guys - on one album ? Maybe > she should have opened with a cover of I Get Around ....;-) I agree that "Tin Angel" is a weak opener, and indeed may be what turns so many off to this record. Better to open with "Chelsea Morning" I think... > > Banquet - Feels wrong as an opener to me. Not me. I think her sequencing on FTR is perfect...even lyrically, Joni is ringing the "dinner gong" and calling us to what is a very tasty meal indeed. And of course "Judgement" is one of the better closers on ANY album. > Twisted - needs a killer before it (I think Down to You). Trouble Child ain't enough of a killer? Again, C&S is another record where the sequencing is flawless...Twisted & TC are bookends anyway; they belong together - 2 takes on the same subject, one comical and one serious. > > A Bird That Whistles - really needs a big song in front of it. > No...needs about 9! ;~) > TTT - I have a feeling I would have opened differently - perhaps with the > title song - but I find this album so homogeneous that it hardly matters. > I must be in the minority...HiH is SO strong, it really gets TTT off on the right track. Plus, again lyrically Joni is motioning us in (like on Banquet) so that part works too. Fascinating stuff as always, Mr. Sartorius! Thanks for the post - I didn't do justice to it in my reply but it was killing me there to have it hanging and waiting for me to say SOMETHING! :~) Bob NP: Tony Joe White, "Willie & Laura Mae Jones"
