Thanks for getting back to Travelogue, Bob. My copy of it is now safely tucked away in the lower cabinet of my shelving unit. It's run its course with me.
I'm not sure if Joni thinks she is all used up. Sometimes the muse abandons you (a fallow period) and yet the call of music is still intriguing so you do what you can to fufill your yearning to be musical, even if it means reworking old material. I think Travelogue is a valliant effort but I also think that, somewhere, Joni knew that it would be met with a lot of skepticism and criticism. I think she is probably proud of it but knows it's not one of her best efforts. I think the main problem is that it's too ambitious a project - too bloated and heavy. No one I know would ever go out and buy this album unless they were a fan of Joni's. Its audience is limited and even within this pool of fans there are detractors who think it's horrendous. If there were 10 or 12 songs it would be a bit more easy to take but when I think about sitting down to listen to the entire album I get daunted, like sitting down to read Chaucer or Milton. It feels like work to me. So I pluck the songs I like from it and leave the rest for others to enjoy. I'm glad I've got Be Cool, Flat Tires, Hejira, Refuge and Otis and Marlena, after all. The really big, epic songs like Sire of Sorrow and Slouching are too much. I expect a new album of fresh material from Joni will be on its way to us in due time. -Andrew --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I really joined in again to see what the die-hards > all > thought, but things have been eerily silent on the > subject. > > > 'Cuz our Mama's taught us - "if you can't say > something nice about something, > don't say anything at all" ;~) > > OK, not totally true about the lackluster (to me) > T'log. Firstly, it's > disappointing to me that Joni must consider herself > 'used up' to continue to > recycle her old material. By doing so, she's just > playing into the hands of > the biz that says that when a performer hits 6-0 or > thereabouts they're good > for revues and that's about it. Personally I think > Joni is capable of her > best work yet, so I wish she would push herself > harder than she's doing, > working with the same songs, the same players, and > adding Mendoza's > predictable & mostly tiresome arrangements to some > of her best work. > > On the upside, I LOVE what she does with "Flat > Tires", she should have > employed Billy Preston's organ-playing more than she > does, and I also love > her expansion of the audio colors on "Dawntreader". > Both of these tracks hint > at what a creative expression Travelogue COULD HAVE > been, instead of the > tedium that it actually is. > > Of course, lots of folks here love every nanosecond > of it, and I couldn't be > happier for them. > > Bob > > NP: Jackson Browne, "These Days", live '73 Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com
