----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Holliston" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, June 07, 2002 1:06 AM Subject: through the wall (njc)
> I feel a bit uncomfortable emerging from lurkdom with such a confrontational > post. But only a bit, so here goes. > First up, I'm not a fan of Neil Young. After The Gold Rush bores me and "My I think what Neil is trying to say is you got to "break rules" in order to sing or write from the soul. Granted early Neil Young is not lyrically complicated compared to his more recent recordings. but nonetheless, I owned most of Neil's recordings. Why? Because there is a bit of honesty and soul when I listen to him. I know this guys sings off key, but I'm mesmerized by his performances. Don't tell me you were bored w/ Neil's "Ohio", "Down By the River", "Cowgirl in the Sand", "Long May You Run", "The Needle and the Damage Done", and when he plays with Crazy Horse------he really rocks. That's soul------from the heart. "As for Joni, she gives me a royal pain in the ass with her fetish for "originality" and her self-importance. I love her work because during the 1970s she really excelled in matching words to music. Even Mingus is a work of genius. But in terms of harmony, there is nothing in Joni's music that would have seemed strange in the 16th century. The 14th century would have found her music very conservative. After Shadows and Light, try as I have since I joined the list, I find her albums tiresome and strained, with the partial exception of Night Ride Home (three cuts) and Turbulent Indigo (two)." As far as your remark about Joni after Shadows and Light-----------You and Joni took a fork in the road. Sure she could keep on doing the same old stuff that got her following, but she had to keep on growing artistically in a different direction. Sorta like your friends in college are probably not the same friends you have now because your goals and their goals are different. My life has grown so that I can relate to just about every album she has done. Maybe because we are about the same age might have something to do with it. IMHO Joni and Neil are all about "breaking the wall (rules)" so that they do sound different. Isn't that the problem w/ music today? Everything sounds the same--------same music, same lyrical topic, same looking groups. Homogenized!!!!!!!!! later gene
