Prisoner in Disguise

Linda Ronstadt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Asylum Records
• ASIN: B000002GY0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,558 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: RONSTADT,LINDA
Title: PRISONER IN DISGUISE
Street Release Date: 07/07/1987
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I miss this voice on the radio, March 31, 2004

By 

Rollie Anderson (Forney, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prisoner in Disguise (Audio CD)

After watching yet another installment of American Idol I happened to revisit this great album and realized that none of the contestants are within a solar system of Linda's voice. When an artist has had as many hits and accolades as she has in her career it's easy to forget what an incredible stylist she was. And this album shows it all. She can go from haunting on the title cut, to heartbreaking on "Hey Mister," to spiritual on "Many Rivers," and to from-the-gut power on the end of "Heat Wave" effortlessly. It's hard to name another female vocalist as versatile as Ms. Ronstadt.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Linda Ronstadt Rolling High And Easy....., July 14, 2002

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prisoner in Disguise (Audio CD)

This is a classic Ronstadt album, recorded when she was really in her prime, busy cranking out the volume of hits and those seemingly effortless and sometimes facile interpretations of other people's songs, showing just how original an artist she was. Like the legendary Johnny Rivers, who always seemed to have a magical touch for turning other people's work into brilliant covers and best-selling albums, Ronstadt here does a star turn with other people's songs.

The title tune, written by friend and collaborator JD Souther, "Prisoner In Disguise" is a haunting, powerfully performed song. Then too, James Taylor's "Hey Mister, That's Me Up On The Jukebox," is powerfully interpreted. "Heat Wave" and "Tracks of My Tears" are sizzling, as is a banjo-strumming version of Neil Young's "Love Is a Rose". She soars with an interpretation of Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross," and a lovely effort at blue-eyed soul with Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". I personally preferred this version of the song, which is quite beautiful without the vocal histrionics of the Whitney Houston recording, which I think ruin the song as a vehicle. All in all, this is a terrific album and one that is really a showcase for Linda at her very best. Enjoy!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have country-rock classic, June 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoner in Disguise (Audio CD)

Along with The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, and the Byrds, Linda Ronstadt pioneered the fusion and integration of country music and rock music. Seemingly forgotten by contemporary radio and music fans, her influence can be heard on nearly every radio station in the country. Ronstadt's impressive career ranged from Afro-Cuban to mariachi to pop standards to rock & roll to blues to country and everything in between. One needs only listen to contemporary country singers Terri Clark (who turned out an exact duplicate of Ronstadt's hit "It's So Easy" recently) or Trisha Yearwood, the Dixie Chicks or Martina McBride to hear the legacy of Linda Ronstadt. Her innovation and genre-hopping vocal skills influenced countless numbers of today's performers. So if you want to hear Trisha and Martina's lineage, check out "Prisoner in Disguise," and you will realize how pale a shadow they cast in relation to Linda's. "Prisoner in Disguise" is a genre-bending, radio-defying, gutsy romp that picks you up, carries you along, and never lets you down. Ronstadt -- at the peak of her long and successful career at the time of this recording -- doesn't miss so much as a note on this album. Fans of all kinds of music with all kinds of sensibilities will find absolute perfection here. Her song choices, her phrasing, her inflection, her raw vocal abilities are all on spectacular display, under the sure-handed leaderhip of producer Peter Asher. From the anthemic opener, Neil Young's "Love is a Rose," to the gospel-laced "Many Rivers to Cross," from the hard rocking Rolling Stones-cover "Roll Um Easy," to the sensitive, gently touching version of James Tayor's "Jukebox," Ronstadt thumbs her nose at the conventional wisdom that to be successful a singer must do one thing and do it well. Linda does all things better than anybody.