hey folks........
Anyone can say what they want about Joni's "weird" or experimental works of
the seventies.....BUT one thing critics never applaud is the strength of her
vision..........Her output (at least up until the "Wild Things"/"Dog Eat Dog"
period) is all Joni.........there are no disco sounds to be found on her late
seventies albums............Had she followed the crowd, DJRD would have heavy
synths and funk bass and "Dreamland" would be "Discoland" instead. I can
listen to the majority of "Hejira", "DJRD", and "Mingus" and not be able to
tell that those were 70's albums........This is largely due to the fact that
she was working with Jazz musicians, who use real instruments and don't rely
on dazzling/state-of-the art production. Her 70's output (for the most part)
can truly be considered "timeless"...........something that many of her
seventies counterparts cannot say.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about her 80's output, and that
factor alone can turn away some listeners (I'm included)......It's hard to
not focus on those awful synths on "Dog" and "Chalk Mark" or that cheezy
metal guitar on "Wild Things"..............
When I listened to the "Hits" cd for the first time, I realized something
had gone wrong when "Chinese Cafe" came on.........I was cringing at the
production (not the song mind you, it's a personal fav) and how it sounded so
dated and so unlike the "Joni" that was leading up to it. So it is evident
even to new Joni listeners that her "taste in production" had shifted gears
(in the wrong direction) at the time of "Wild Things"...........Now, can we
attribute that to her involvement with Larry Klein?? I don't believe so.
So, Joni decided to experiment with some of the "hot new sounds" of the era
and it didn't work for her........we should give her credit for all the
albums that she didn't fall victim to the temptation.
