Joni Mitchell

Down at the Chinese Cafe, we'd be dreaming on our dimes/We'd be playing 'Oh my love, my
darling' one more time," sings Joni Mitchell of the old times. The way Mitchell threads lyrics
from the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" through her own "Chinese Cafe" signifies
the passing of time that is central to Wild Things Run Fast. "Caught in the middle, Carol,
we're middle-class," she sings in that opening cut. "We're middle-aged/We were... More >

This is good Joni, for the first time since the mid-'70s, and I suspect it comes too late, because good Joni simply means old Joni, and old Joni is better. I mean, if she'd put "Solid Love" at the very end I still wouldn't believe her, but at least I'd think she'd learned something. Instead she proves her maturity with a climactic hymn to St. Paul's kind of love which is much the worst of the three covers--because to be honest the Al Hibbler and Elvis Presley songs are what kept me listening. (Grade: B)