Bonnie Raitt

Nick of Time, Bonnie Raitt's tenth album, is a strong if surprisingly conservative offering.
Amid a horde of female vocalists who've walked the tightrope between commercialism and
a more ambitious artistic intent since the Seventies, Raitt has consistently proven the most
talented and intelligent. Her ability to turn a phrase and invest lyrics with emotion ---
especially an unadorned sexuality --- makes her the valedictorian in a class that i... More >

"A lot of people were probably wondering when they heard about the pairing whether I was going to make a funk record like Was (Not Was)," Bonnie surmises. Right--loyalists were shaking in their boots, I was licking my lips, and now the suspense is over, unfortunately. She deserves respect, not the obeisance she gets from career sicko Don Was, who fashions an amazing simulation of the El Lay aesthetic she helped perfect and we all thought he hated. Bonnie being Bonnie, it sounds perfectly OK, but most of the songs are so subtly crafted they disappear under her tender loving ministrations, and though Was lets her play guitar for the whole first side, his studio pros could just as well be Peter Asher's. (Grade: B)