Search - Linda Ronstadt :: Very B.O.

Very well-chosen mix of Linda's biggest and best tracks

Jeff Pearlman | Lakeland, FL USA | 11/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first realized that the U.K. version of this disc had more tracks upon leafing through the latest issue of ICE magazine. The review above does not tell you that this version omits 2 songs on the U.S. version: "Love Is A Rose" and "Adios." The former is a Neil Young tune that reached #63 here as the flip side of "Heat Wave;" the latter is a beautiful cut from "Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind" featuring background vocals from Brian Wilson.What's here manages to blend all of Ronstadt's biggest hits with some excellent lesser hits and album tracks. "Love Has No Pride" and "Just One Look" did not do as well on the charts as, for example, "Get Closer" or her version of "Tumbling Dice," but they are clearly the superior records. Ronstadt has been both praised and vilified for her many remakes (almost all her Top Tens); on one hand she was the first to bring songwriters like Warren Zevon, Karla Bonoff, Kate and Anna McGarrigle to the masses. On the other hand, some of her remakes are thought to lack feeling. Dave Marsh, in the good version of the Rolling Stone Record Guide, called Ronstadt a "horrid interpreter of...rock and soul material, frequently missing the essence...and never cutting below the surface." Scathing, and possibly accurate regarding "Tumbling Dice" (probably why it's not included here) and "Back In The U.S.A." I would side with Linda, however, on the hypnotically-beautiful "Ooh Baby Baby" and the uptempo hits "When Will I Be Loved," "That'll Be The Day," and the #1 "You're No Good." Of course, the duets with Aaron Neville are stunning--welcome comebacks for both singers--and I have always liked both "Somewhere Out There" and James Ingram. Although the song, an omnipresent #2 pop radio staple in 1986, made most people I know very, very ill. I hope that Warner/Elektra/Asylum(?) issues a "Best of Volume 2," as they did with Rod Stewart (here, anyway). I'd still like to see a compilation of the remaining hits, even "Tumbling Dice," on disc, as well as the Nelson Riddle I-am-too-mature-for-rock-and-so-what-if-I-gain-a-few-pounds era songs "What's New" and "I've Got A Crush On You," and the gorgeous "Heartbeats Accelerating" from "Winter Light." In addition to "Get Closer," other fine singles from Ronstadt wanting to be anthologized include "I Knew You When," "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me," "Easy For You To Say," "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," "Alison" (yep, the Elvis Costello song, from "Back in the U.S.A."), "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," and "I Can't Let Go." O.K., one more: the non-single duet with James Taylor, "I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine" from "Get Closer."Regardless, this is the best collection ever likely to be assembled on one CD. Even a fussy completist like me recommends it highly."