Well, yeah. Mister Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe did a fine review. He spoke with knowledge and affection for Joni's music and lyrics. I think he understood her intent perfectly. He made his points respectfully.
Me? I was raised up on the dance bands of the 40s, the bossa nova movement in Jazz, then the flowering that we now call Rock, that grew out of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. Later I discovered the drama of Aaron Copeland AND Stewart Copeland. I loved Progressive Rock which was a bombastic mix of synthesizers, strings, showy solos, melodramatic singing, apocalyptic stories, and drumming informed by Jazz. "TRAVELOGUE" smells like home to me. Thanks to Simon and some others, I've been listening to audience tapes of Vince Mendoza's rebirth of "Judgment of the Moon And Stars (Ludwig's Tune)" from the Both Sides Now tour in 2000. It makes perfect sense to me but I can't disagree with Matthew Gilbert assessment either. His is a valid perspective. It reminds me of my perception of "Dog Eat Dog" and "Turbulent Indigo" for their first two years in my life. I've played "Dog Eat Dog" through twice this afternoon and I feel very differently about it today. It's too bad he dismissed the sumptuous artwork of carefully ordered images and the exquisitely chosen text. They hold keys to appreciating "TRAVELOGUE" because they include current references that give the listener permission to hear "TRAVELOGUE" as a work that grapples with the September 11th attacks on the USA, and the futility of attempting to "win" in a spiritual battle. Joan didn't re-visit "The Three Great Stimulants" in "TRAVELOGUE" but it would fit right in. Joni wrote: > Fiction of obedience Fiction of rebellion Fiction of the goody-goody and the hellion Fiction of destroyers Fictpeace makerservers Fiction of peacemakers and shit disturbers <edited for continuity> Fiction of the moralist Fiction of the nihilist Fiction of the innovator and the stylist Fiction of the killjoy Fiction of the charmer Fiction of the clay feet and the shining armour Fiction of the declaimers Fiction of the rebukers Fiction of the pro and the no nukers Fiction of the gizmo Fiction of the data Fiction of the this is this and that is that ahh! > My opinion? The master lives on and has a great team. "TRAVELOGUE" has already given me new insight into why she hasn't written lately. After one has reduced all of the arguments to fiction, then goes one step beyond that, and even reject nihilism, what more is there to say? Lama http://www.boston.com/ dailyglobe2/323/living/ Joni_Mitchell_s_latest_reinvention_reaches_too_far +.shtml Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com
