Okay I've had Travelougue for over a week now so I thought I'd give a little review!
On first listening I wasn't quite sure what to think but I knew it wasn't bad which surprised me because I was really expecting the worst after BSN which I still don't like (not her best moment). Her voice seems to have improved which was a shock because like Azeem I was expecting some kind of croak. So I think BSN is good in the way which it has prepared her for this album.She may have lost some high notes and some power but she still has so much style. This really does improve with more listens. When I first heard THOSL I dismissed it as a contrived failure. It is now probably my favourate album of all time and it took about 6 months to realise Hejira isn't rubbish at all but pure genious. Okay so Trav isn't new material but Joni can do this because her music doesn't date like most peoples. There is not a bad track here and I even prefer some of these versions than the originals (please don't shoot me)! Her delivery on 'The Dawntreader' is amazing and I never even used to like 'God Must Be A Boogie Man' but the real surprises are the songs from WTRF (still I do prefer the original of 'Chinese Cafe'). They always sounded dated to me but here they have been brought to life. I think this is how Joni itended them to be. 'You Dream Flat Tires' is sexy, 'Love' seems to hold greater meaning and Herbie's piano playing (I'm sure it's him) on 'Be Cool' is superb. Her more 'hushed' version of ' Woodstock' is really growing on me and the more I listen to 'For The Roses' the more I can here the melody coming through and the ending really is worth waiting for. The music really is used to express words which sounds odd at parts but I think it will sound more at ease with more listens. The tapping of nails sound really goes well on 'For The Roses'. Oh and lets not forget her art-work. Those paintings really send out thoughts. The real dissapointment apart from no new material is the fact she doesn't play an intrument on the album. On a whole though I think this could be one of her best recordings. Best listened to in the evening with the lights down low. Joni you've done it again. Steve N.P: 'Amelia' (Trav vers) ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 12:11 AM Subject: Travelogue - thumbs down I'm afraid > Oh dear! I was kind of dreading this. I finally bought it today and am > playing disc one as I type this. Her voice isn't in as bad shape as I'd > feared (then again I'd imagined a deathly croak, perhaps as an insurance > policy, knowing that it couldn't be quite that shot) - but I still find it > painful to listen to. Joni's voice sounds parched and exhausted, and I'm not > hearing this marvellously expressive instrument that others have been > hearing. It's like watching an old and frail person staggering along a > cliff, I'm almost holding my breath. And her variations on the melodies > remind me of Bowie's David Live album, where he sounded as if he was just > doodling around, singing any note that fit except the note used in the > original recording - but not, to my ears, in such a way as to add anything to > my understanding or experience of the songs. > > And the arrangements? Sorry dear friends, but I can't stand them! Slouching > Towards Bethlehem is playing now, and I find the arrangement pompous and > over-emphatic, almost too literal in places. Mr Mendoza is a master of > over-egging the pudding, something I'd clocked with BSN, but there things > were relatively restrained (I now realise!). He's really excelled himself > here, laying it all on with a trowel, filling all the gaps, everything > sounding too busy. Oh lordy, after this I will get out Don Juan's Reckless > Daughter and marvel at the exquisite orchestration on Paprika Plains... > > [Sire of Sorrow - never liked this anyway; arrangement not bad - until the > chorus - yuck!] > > I also have a problem with the collision of voice and arrangements: the > frailty of the former juxtaposed with the bombast of the latter results in > sheer bathos. I can only add my voice to those who have yearned for a > stripped-down Joni offering. I acknowledge that this is only a first > listening and all that (I wouldn't bet against it being my last either), but > my overwhelming sense is that this album will come to be seen as a folie de > grandeur of epic proportions. > > [For The Roses is excruciating - oh Joni!] > > If I could wave a Joni-only magic wand and make three wishes for the next > album, they would be: > > 1. Thank Mr Mendoza for his undoubted hard work, care and attention and > send him on his way, replacing him with a VERY small band. (And ask him if > he'd like to take the VG8 with him :-) > > 2. Get some help with those poor, ravaged vocal chords of yours - whether > or not that means (whisper it) g*ving *p sm*king. As someone on the list > very sensibly said, any singer, good or bad, old or young, trained or > untrained, can benefit from a singing coach. I would be so delighted to hear > evidence of the decline in her voice being arrested, perhaps even some > clawing back of ground lost in terms of power and flexibility. > > 3. Write some songs! > > Azeem in London, dismayed to find that my main reaction at the end of disc > one was relief that it was over. > > PS I just discovered, when I tried to send this without properly filling in > the addressee bit, that there doesn't appear to be anyone on AOL with the > username [EMAIL PROTECTED] - what are you waiting for??
