[sparky]

Originally Posted by The Tower

Sorry, I was at Diz-nee-land all last weekend and sick from the flu yesterday and today, so I'm just getting caught up on this delicious thread. Thank gawd Sparky was here to convey all the stuff I probably woulda said anyway. Here's my highlights:

Disneyland ? I am so sorry. How traumatic. Glad to stand in, buddy.

Then, holy hell, listen to anything from The Wild Heart! Her voice is completely breaking down. I love all the **** she does on that album. "Enchanted", "Wild Heart" (where she hits that high E flat), and "Nothing Ever Changes" are killer! But then slide into "Rock A Little" and it's all over. I don't think her voice ever recovered from that slide. Personally, I blame the cigarettes!!

Yup. That E flat is never happening again. Even though it was a little screechy, it was impressive. Let's not forget the coke - which is hellish for vocal cords, according to a physician I know.

This will be printed on my tombstone. Complacency sucks ass.

IN LIFE AS IN ART.

There is a difference for looking for beauty within things and striving and/or desiring for beauty to exist. Very rarely does anything live up to my expectations, but that does not mean that I'm going to stop trying to get them there.

Bingo.

I love it! I have always considered Stevie to be the greatest communicator of song emotion. The [I]greatest[/I

When the material is up to snuff, no doubt about it.

Not even close. Ann's range was more limited in the 70's than it is now. Her voice really came into it's own in the mid 80's and has pretty much stayed there ever sense. She doesn't shy away from ANYTHING. The F# killer note she still sings on "Alone" is higher than any note she sang on the first three Heart albums from the 70's.

And can we just ruminate on the high C in What About Love ? And the fact that it happens live. Wallowing in it. I listened to it three times today.

Actually, I think she does- they are just different animals. I believe Stevie is greatly respected. Her art is evocative emotion. Joni's is skillful imagery. Bob Dylan's is universal communication. They're all great, they just do different things.

I don't think the respect is the same, but I think Stevie is more passionately loved by her fans. The only reason I always dwell on this little fact is that she is SO about speaking of herself as if she is in that league.

Prior to joining FM, Stevie had quite a high-ish alto at 23 years of age. It only took her thirteen years to trash her voice and shave off that upper level. Female voices actually get better with age and are at their prime in the mid-forties. Stevie's voice was a shell of it's former self at forty.

Oh, man. I think she did it in 10.

I absolutely LOVE Hejira. It's my favorite Joni album.

Well, have you heard Travelogue ? The new versions of the old songs are better, IMO. I love her older voice.

When Loreena McKennitt runs out of stuff to write about, she goes on the Orient Express and hangs out in Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia to discover the journeys of her Celtic roots.

This would be feeding yourself and growing artistically, so OLD SCHOOL.

First of all, the song "Amelia" isn't about "aloof perfection". It's about loneliness and helplessness and fear of the unknown. Joni has expressed her flaws greater than any other songwriter out there, in my opinion. "Warmth" is subjective. Not all of Stevie's songs are "warm" (thank gawd). "Planets of the Universe" is just about as icy cold as you can get- but that song is fantastic.

True, true, and true.

PREACH IT SISTAH!!!! TESTIFY!!!!!!!!!

Sparky ain't a sister to nobody. But I am still tempted to ask you to marry me.