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Old 10-26-2018, 03:18 PM
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bwboy bwboy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HejiraNYC View Post
RAL has come full circle for me. I loved it when it first came out and then I shunned it because of its dated production. Today I love it again because, of all her solo albums, it used a wide palette of sounds, traipsed through multiple genres, included original songs and songs written by/with others, etc. It's the album where Stevie really experimented with grooves that would not sound out of place on a Madonna album ("Sister Honey") or an Aretha Franklin album ("Some Become Strangers") or a Eurythmics album ("If I Were You"), as well as a Tom Petty album ("Imperial Hotel") or a Dolly Parton album ("I Sing for the Things"). It's like Stevie's own "Coat of Many Colors." Stevie, nearing middle age, was at the crossroads of her life, her health, her career... and it seemed like she was just throwing all caution to the wind. It's like that final brilliant sunset before the fog of self-doubt, tranquilizers and irrelevance set in.
I really enjoy reading your posts. As soon as you put I Sing For the Things and Dolly Parton in the same sentence, I found myself nodding- that song is not a favorite of mine by any means, but I could totally see Dolly singing this, and well. RAL is the one Stevie album I can pretty much listen to track by track without skipping any songs. Even Sister Honey, as odd as it is, is entertaining. The Wild Heart was kind of dark and somber, while RAL is all over the place- pop, rock, dance, ballad, all present and accounted for. When people say it sounds dated, I think "so what?" So do albums by Madonna, New Kids on the Block, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson. So who cares?
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