Post by alyn on Sept 10, 2018 4:21:45 GMT -5
After terminal hesitation I decided to buy The Document CD (Laserlight) despite the one star reviews telling me I shouldn't, but I was intrigued by what the interview might be... so it came, and here's my review on Amazon...I gave it three stars but on reflection 2 would have been more accurate.
Alyn Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly awful but...
10 September 2018
Format: Audio CD
Well, some very short and precise reviews giving this one star and I can see exactly what they mean. It is shabby, very random, variable quality to the extreme from okay to dire. It's the same 'label' that issued the Blue Bayou 1977 dvd which is similarly random in that the tracks from the same show were jumbled up in no order at all. It is quite bizarre, they seem to specialise in mixing things up for no reason. As another review said here, it's like the audio tracks were lifted from Youtube, Tumbling Dice from FM here, Willin' from the Lowell George radio session there (and immediately after Linda's own live version..), even Por Un Amor slotted in taken from the (excellent) live show that came out on official dvd. I would certainly say that any one wanting to 'discover' Linda should give this a wide berth... buy Hasten Down The Wind, Mad Love or What's New to get started. However... there is a slightly redeeming quality to this CD and that is the interview which is a very good one - bizarrely, again, a New Yorker interviewing Linda from Australia, time delays and all! The interview comes from the time when What's New was released but the best part is Linda really passionately talking about all the wrongs in the music business, the music press and Rupert Murdoch! It's a good interview to listen to, whether a Linda Ronstadt fan would consider that enough to buy the CD is another thing. Actually, the tracks they have chosen results in quite a nice compilation and some of my favourite live Linda songs, it's just done in such a patchwork format with quality so wildly variable... oh and the cover artwork is cheapskate too. For me, 3 stars is about right, but it's an odd one to rate.
10 September 2018
Format: Audio CD
Well, some very short and precise reviews giving this one star and I can see exactly what they mean. It is shabby, very random, variable quality to the extreme from okay to dire. It's the same 'label' that issued the Blue Bayou 1977 dvd which is similarly random in that the tracks from the same show were jumbled up in no order at all. It is quite bizarre, they seem to specialise in mixing things up for no reason. As another review said here, it's like the audio tracks were lifted from Youtube, Tumbling Dice from FM here, Willin' from the Lowell George radio session there (and immediately after Linda's own live version..), even Por Un Amor slotted in taken from the (excellent) live show that came out on official dvd. I would certainly say that any one wanting to 'discover' Linda should give this a wide berth... buy Hasten Down The Wind, Mad Love or What's New to get started. However... there is a slightly redeeming quality to this CD and that is the interview which is a very good one - bizarrely, again, a New Yorker interviewing Linda from Australia, time delays and all! The interview comes from the time when What's New was released but the best part is Linda really passionately talking about all the wrongs in the music business, the music press and Rupert Murdoch! It's a good interview to listen to, whether a Linda Ronstadt fan would consider that enough to buy the CD is another thing. Actually, the tracks they have chosen results in quite a nice compilation and some of my favourite live Linda songs, it's just done in such a patchwork format with quality so wildly variable... oh and the cover artwork is cheapskate too. For me, 3 stars is about right, but it's an odd one to rate.
