Randy Remote wrote:
> I still think WTRF is an excellent album-I like the electric
> guitars, I like the absence of cheesy synths, I vastly prefer it
> to NRH which to me seems kind of tuneless and bland.
> Hey, it's a lonely club.
Yeah, it must be.
NRH was like a breath of fresh air after Joni's "lost in the sounds" 80s
albums so I can't join in your little club. Listening to NRH for the first
time was an "ahhhh, I can HEAR her again!!" Joni was still speaking plainly
about loving her man, but she'd returned to being grounded in what she sees
instead of being overwhelmed with feelings as she was in WTRF. Plus there were
definite melodies and plenty of story songs again... so "normal" Joni was
back. Made me happy and enthusiastic about her work again.
(Chinese Cafe is more subdued and complex than any of the other songs but does
end with the "I need your love, Godspeed your love to me" lines, so in that
way it does lead (barely) into the rest of the cd. It seems like the precursor
to Come in from the Cold. And "Love" seems to be more like the songs on TTT
with its meandering melody and lyrics.)
I can't join the WTRF-bashing club either, however, since I like the energy of
that cd. It's not a favorite or one of her best but I think it's great that
Joni was so wildly in love that she was crazed (or maybe it was drugs... I
don't know... I much prefer the love idea... drugs don't always produce
euphoric feelings the way early love can). I think Joni somewhere said it's
much more difficult to write happy songs and WTRF shows that to be the case.
Why ponder relationships enough to write complex lyrics when life is so
completely enjoyable? Who wants to (or can) dissect that? So, stuck in the
middle of her collection of cds about romantic angst and melancholy and being
hypercritical is this aberration with lyrics so lightweight they're downright
silly sometimes. It does have some snappy tunes, though, and I can enjoy it
for that. Solid Love is one of my favorites because of the sheer joy of it and
the way the lyrics twist within the music, which is typical Joni.
I wonder what we'd all think of this album if it had been done by anyone other
than Joni. My guess is it would be more highly regarded, or at least
appreciated as a decent pop album.
Debra Shea
NP: the David Letterman Show... he may be very weird but I like him a lot.
His attitude-based humor makes me laugh much more than the one-liners of
supposedly good guy Jay Leno ever do.
