At 02:21 PM 1/22/2003 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>> And further to that, was WTRF Joni's (misguided)
>> attempt to climb back up the charts?
Don't know that I'd call it "misguided", but I think that the answer is an obvious yes.
*If* Joni was ever thinking about mining a formula for mainstream commercial success, I'd have to believe it was on this album (WTRF). But I have always thought that the album was more an examination or a celebration of falling in love and being in love. If her then-budding relationship with Klein resulted in a more pop-friendly musical presentation then it was secondary.
As Bob states, she had indeed been raked over the coals for "Mingus" and judging from the radical differences between "Minugs" and WTRF it is obvious she was going for a major change of style. If you look at each of her albums, starting with STAS, there is a natural progression...a growth in her songwriting...and an increasing complexity coupled with experimentation. Starting with FTR all the way through Minus you can hear jazz becoming a bigger and bigger influence. With WTRF she discarded many of the jazz phrasings and colors (except for "Moon at the Window" which to my ear makes to illusions as to its jazzy structure).
I would not call it "misguided" either. But I do feel the album was an abrupt change of direction for Joni. And I think it was a combination of things which all contributed to the finished product...her newly-found love (Klein), a move away from the critics and more toward a broader audience than what she found in the jazz world, and the collaboration itself with Larry...*his* input no doubt had a lot to do with how this album turned out.
Scott
