In a message dated 11/24/2002 1:21:35 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> have you listened > to it in the dark, with no distractions, just letting yourself go where the > music takes you...because this record really takes me on a visual journey, > if i let it....it's cinematic... > Well, I've listened to it in the car on a late night drive through the flatness of central Ohio. I think listening to music while driving is one of life's great pleasures. But, IMHO, there's more cinematic-ness in Paprika Plains than in any part of Travelogue. I don't hate the music by any means and it has some beautiful moments, like when Joni sings in TLTISR "get my gorgeous wings and fly-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y away..." boy she just nails that! But what is good about Travelogue is what Joni originally wrote--the Mendoza additions do nothing for me. When the orchestra is playing themes contained in the music as Joni wrote it i.e. the harp in Refuge which copies note for note the guitar picking therein, it soars. But the musical ideas that Mendoza incorporates either muddy the composition or irritate. Has anyone been bothered by the fact that nearly every time a bird is mentioned in the lyrics, Mendoza had the trite idea to have a bunch of flutes make birdlike music? I just don't get the impression that the ideas of her cohorts are on the same level as her own. Think about how much Jaco brought to the compositions on Hejira--my God, Refuge of the Roads was a revelation with her voice interwoven with his sweeping bass lines. Very little of Travelogue works that well for me. I certainly do not hate this record, but I don't see myself listening to it straight through a great deal. Would I go see her do this stuff live, you bet! And, in the context of a live album performance (I do believe it was all recorded live, correct?) it is certainly impressive. Ken and I second Mark's nomination of Rickie Lee Jones as a poet
