 |  | Long Time Waiting for this |  |
This album is the result of a tribute to Joni hosted by TNT Network almost 5 years ago. While some find this missing a few cuts or some of her most popular songs, it is nonetheless a wonderful album. What's unfortunate is that many who buy may not have seen the actual broadcast that was touching and very well produced. It's a shame that TNT didn't release the video of the broadcast. I've been listening to kd Langs version of help me for almost five years from my saved tape; it was the most memorable performance for me during the concert and she did it barefoot; we can always count on kd to buck tradition!
February 14, 2008I just got "Shine" and absolutely love it. Joni is coming into her own again. This tribute album is just so so. Lots of different interpretations, but it doesn't work for me. Kind of boring, like the Leonard Cohen tribute album "Tower of Song." The originals are better, why bother with this one.
February 13, 2008| | | Why you are making a huge mistake to pass this up.... | |
I was comparing this album and Herbie Hancocks new release "River The Joni Letters". Both are uniformly excellent but the difference is that in the Hancock album you have Herbie unifying the entire experience. This album is very uneven in the listening. There is a vast textural disparity from the smoothness of James Taylor's version of "River" to Bjork's "Boho Dance" cover. So I think the first impulse of many listeners would be to dismiss this album. What a huge mistake that is. The common thread in this album is the incredible dedication of the various performers to honor Joni in their own style. Each performer had a personal relationship with the song they selected to cover and the listening is not easily accessible at first. But each time I play this recording I am fascinated by the depth of the music and arrangements and emotions displayed. It is really a great tribute.
The standouts for me were Emmylou Harris doing Magdeline Laundries. (you really should Google the true story behind this song it is heartbreaking). When Emmylou sings this song you feel every ounce of emptiness these woman felt in their forced servitude. Prince laid it all out vocally in "A Case of You" Elvis Costello did a great ballady arrangement of "Edith and The Kingpin". James Taylor's "River" was spot on. Cassandra Wilson did a haunting jazzy version of "For The Roses" On and on the performances weave a tapestry of interpertive talents that if you take the time to absorb will be a rich and rewarding musical experience.
January 17, 2008 | | VERY few can accurately portray the mood and emotion of Joni's songs | |
These 'new' interpretations of Joni's songs just don't do it for me. Sorry, but I felt embarrassed for Joni as I listened to these modern renditions of some of her truly unique masterpieces. The artists either perform the songs with phony, over dramatic emotion; or lifeless, out of tune phrasing. Some of the artists performed songs that their singing style is CLEARLY not suited for (Bjork, Costello, etc.) The only tunes I felt were worth listening to again were the ones performed by artists
who knew how to accurately capture the 'mood' of the song without overdoing it...James T & Sarah M, for example, because their own styles are somewhat similar. James and Sarah also used some interesting chord changes that fit nicely into their own versions without changing the 'atmosphere' of the original arrangements. k.d. lang does do a pretty version of Help Me, but she has an Amazing voice (and Help Me is NOT an easy song to perform!). All the other interpretations are just too Ho-Hum for me, or way too 'experimental' for me to understand.
November 7, 2007This cd was very much a surprise to me. It contains some thrilling and very daring arrangements of Joni Mitchells songs. You have to hear this!
October 25, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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