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Mad Love

Linda Ronstadt - Mad Love Audio CD

A fair review of the Linda Ronstadt "Mad Love" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Linda Ronstadt reviews here, or go back to the Linda Ronstadt tabs.

Band: Linda Ronstadt
Title: Mad Love
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mad Love 2: Party Girl 3: How Do I Make You 4: I Can't Let Go 5: Hurt So Bad 6: Look Out for My Love 7: Cost of Love 8: Justine 9: Girls Talk 10: Talking in the Dark

Fits Right In

What helps "Mad Love" stand the test of time, other than Linda's incredible voice and the great songs she chose to sing, are the amazing musicians behind her, and the sparkling production--it still sound fresh and energetic today, and producer Peter Asher definitely had his ear to the ground for current sounds. I recently pulled a bunch of my albums out that were released in 1980, and "Mad Love" surprisingly fits right in to what was happening in rock at the time (upbeat new wave/punk/pop--disco was in its throes) and still holds its own against the others in my 1980 library: "Argy Bargy" (Squeeze), "Get Happy" (Elvis Costello), "The Pretenders" (The Pretenders), "Boy" (U2), "Panorama" (The Cars), "Sound Affects" (The Jam), "The Kings are Here" (The Kings), "Zenyatta Mondatta" (The Police), "Scary Monsters" (David Bowie), "The Game" (Queen), "Crimes of Passion" (Pat Benatar), "Glass Houses" (Billy Joel), "Empty Glass" (Pete Townshend), "Emotional Rescue" (Rolling Stones), etc. A wonderful, consistent album built to last.

By the way, I just looked at the list of albums I wrote above. . . what would you give for that much great music to be released in a single year again? I didn't even include "Back in Black" (AC/DC), "Women and Children First" (Van Halen), "Animal Magnetism" (Scorpions), "Heaven and Hell" (Black Sabbath), "British Steel" (Judas Priest), "Against the Wind" (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band), "Hi-Infidelity" (REO Speedwagon), "Permanent Waves" (Rush), "Gaucho" (Steely Dan), "Duke" (Genesis). . . on and on.

What an amazing year to be a music fan--so many talented artists doing some of their best work all at the same time. No wonder I used to spend most of my hours listening to albums back then! .

Linda's Gone Mad
The term New Wave was so rad and alternative and put Linda next to Devo and all the other "new waver" bands. I remember when this Lp came out, all us Linda fans were thinking, My god what has she done, she's gonna have safety pins through her clothes and shave her head, wear all leather and drive a moped. Listening to it now, this is just a good pop rock LP. I would love to have Green Day or Cheap Trick do a cover of "How do I Make You. Great song to PoGo too!.

Girls talk and they say it's not allowed.
There are some things you can't cover up with lipstick and powder. Full moon tonight, delighted to see my shadow. I'll review this one now since I'm wearing my 'new wave' outfit ~ pleated black miniskirt, b/w horizonal stripe top, black Converses. I thought I heard you mention my name, can't you talk any louder? The sound is all business, every note is braille. Don't come any closer, don't come any nearer, my vision of you can't get any clearer. Scoff if you dare through those last two "no"'s on "Hurts So Bad. " Throughout, drums miked like a knock at the door. That does sound like an understatement. I can't say the words you want to hear, I suppose you're going to have to play it by ear. I Utubed "You're No Good," first LR then VH, laughed out loud and I loved the sound I made. Now it's your turn. .

Ronstadt records the hard rocking album of my dreams!
It's now 28 years later, and my 45 year-old heart has not slowed down a bit!

This is my very favorite Linda album. The moment I heard the drum roll that kicks of HOW DO I MAKE YOU, my heart began to beat a bit faster. It seems that some folks do not agree with me. That's OK, I know I am right.

For those of you who lost touch w/Linda's music:

Do yourself a favor- revisit her classic stuff and explore her criminally overlooked newer material. Goosebumps will arrive exponentially!

.

Good but not great......
While some accused Ronstadt of "jumping on the new wave" bandwagon, the fact is Ronstadt had been moving toward more rock oriented music and distancing herself from her folk/country roots before Mad Love. Mad Love was released in early 1980, recorded in late 1979 and while criticized by the rock critic elite, it's a fine little rock and roll album. For example, 1978's Living in the USA basically has no country on it and it along with the previous Simple Dreams both featured stripped down arrangements, a typical ingredient of rock and roll. The label "new wave" while once having some meaning, is basically meaningless today and even then, was mostly a return to early roots rock and roll. Something Ronstadt often recorded - Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, etc.

Mad Love starts with it's title track, which is a good song/arrangement for Ronstadt to belt out. Elvis Costello's excellent tune Party Girl is next. Ronstadt does a fine job with it, and while the arrangement is a bit lacking if you ask me, it still works. The radio hit How Do I Make You is next and shows that new wave at it's best was very much a back to basics excursion in rock and roll; it seamlessly ties Buddy Holly to Elvis Costello in more ways than just eye-glasses. The old Hollies tune I Can't Let Go is next and Ronstadt and company do a very nice job with it; energetic and fun. The old Little Anthony and the Imperials classic Hurt So Bad ends side one (when albums used to have sides!). It's given a new (for 1980) sound, has a nice "atmospheric mood" and was the biggest hit single from the album.

Side two starts with Look Out For My Love - a sort of mid-tempo, hypnotic song, sung in a plaintive voice that's nevertheless effective. Cost of Love is next and is perhaps the weakest song in the set; a kind of "by the numbers" new wave-ish tune that while not terrible, is my least favorite. Justine follows next and is much better, a good vocal, some nice bass work and an emotional wallop. Costello's Girls Talk kicks off next. Not her best work, not her worst, Ronstadt and company should have made it into a hit single but ultimately, it's lacking just a bit. Perhaps not as rocking as Dave Edmund and Rockpile's version, which features lots of rhythm guitar, it's given a sort of playful tone and none the less is a fun song by singer and band and is interesting from the female point of view. EC's Talking in the Dark finishes the album - a so-so song which sounds like one of Costello's b-side throw-a-ways, Linda gives it an emotional "oomph" with accompanying synthesizer singing harmony with her on the chorus.

Curiously, back twenty-five to thirty years ago, pop music critics carried much more weight than they do today, perhaps like mainstream news organizations, who once had a lock on shaping public opinion, today there are many more points of view and outlets for opinion from expert to laymen alike. While a few big critics hit Ronstadt hard on this album, many more critics of lesser renown gave it good reviews. Elvis Costello himself cracked back when the album came out that he hated Ronstadt versions of his songs, but he also tore into her for her 1978 recording of his tune Alison - which most critics, unlike EC, liked. Ronstadt shrugged it off by remarking that Elvis was just being a brat.

All in all, I would give Mad Love a grade of "B". A final note: Strangely, I like the sound of this album much better when I listen to it with headphones and less so when I listen to it in conventional speakers. Perhaps, I have too much bass in the sound of my speakers, which has the effect of distorting/slowing the tempo of the songs. Maybe the album needs to be remixed. I find the volume on most of Ronstadt's recordings to be much too low when compared to other recordings.
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You can see a complete list of all Linda Ronstadt discography, or go back to the Linda Ronstadt tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.