>When did it become a crime to be middle aged? >What makes plodding rhythms, unadventurous melodies and cliched chord >sequences symptomatic of a middle aged artist? (Funny, I hear it more often >in younger performers who haven't yet hit their stride or found their voice.)
It certainly is not a crime to be middle aged! All I was pointing out is that I like Joni best when she is innovating, as she has done so often and so successfully in her career. I don't see NRH or TTT as particularly innovative works, for the reasons I gave in both original posts. I agree that much music that charts today is just as deserving, if not more so, of that criticism. >Next time you wonder why Joni is reluctant to write or record new music, >think about this comment -- and about what our youth-obsessed culture and the >music business are doing to so many people who are not at all ready to be put >out to pasture. I don't really see myself as a part of that culture, my tastes are eclectic and defined by what I believe is good, not what is new. The fact that I loved TI and BSN and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Circle Game (if that's what Joni ends up entitling it) clearly demonstrates that. The fact that I even got into Joni (and Nick Drake and Keith Jarrett and Stevie Wonder etc.) surely demonstrates that. >I'm sure beach tar hasn't touched her blessed feet in decades. Why should she >be writing or singing about feelings or experiences that have nothing to do >with her current situation which is, um, middle age? OK, maybe I shouldn't have used the phrase "middle aged music", I didn't mean to cause offence, I merely was saying that overall I personally find NRH and TTT lacking in the essence of what makes Joni's music great. Admittedly, what makes her great is not youthfulness, bur her pioneering spirit. I don't care whether she's singing about beach tar on her feet or pension schemes so long as she finds a new, interesting, Joni way to say it. If you guys think that NRH and TTT achieve that then that's fine, bur I find those two albums staid and unexciting. I can't help that, it's my personal opinion and I see no reason not to voice it! Owen
