I have been a Joni fan for over 30 years. I own all of her LPS/cassettes/CDS. There is no artist I think more highly of than Joni Mitchell. Travelogue, however, has been a major disappointment. It is definitely my least favorite CD of everything she has ever done. I've had it for a week now and listened to it every day since last Tuesday and several times in its entirety. I keep hoping something will kick in for me and I'll start liking it, but the last few listens have been painful. I have now retired it and filed it on my Joni shelf. Maybe I'll get it out and listen to it every now and again, but I really can't imagine why I would do that. I don't think there is a single song on Travelogue that is better than the original versions. The Travelogue versions aren't even interestingly different.
Travelogue reminds me of a 101 Strings version of Joni Mitchell. Do you remember those? 101 Strings of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, etc. Travelogue also reminds me of the times in the late 60s and 70s when older singers would try to perform some of the "hip" songs of the time. So you had Dinah Shore singing Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. But if some other singer, besides Joni, had made this album of Joni's songs she would be run out of town. Only Joni could get away with this, and get praised for it in some quarters. I know this is not a popular opinion on this list and at times I seriously have to wonder if I somehow got some kind of different version than the one everybody else is listening to. Maybe I got some kind of early demo version by mistake. The Emperor's New Clothes comes to mind.... Between the last two CDs and Joni's ranting in the press, my love for her is waning, and I can only hope that she will bounce back minus Larry Klein, and minus the orchestra, with some new material. Wouldn't it be nice to hear Joni in a studio with a guitar and a piano and some new songs? I'm not asking her to paint a starry night again. In fact, it seems like what she's attempted with Travelogue is to paint a starry night again, and it didn't work. Frank
