Customer Reviews

We Ran

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Linda Ronstadt's 1998 release is a snugly wrapped package of well-chosen rootsy material--Dylan, Alan Toussaint, Doc Pomus, two by John Hiatt--well-sung by Linda, who shows no diminution of powers after all her musical peregrinations of the last 2 decades. This is simply the kind of music she sings best and producer Glyn Johns has expertly captured her in a no-frills setting. One might say with some justification that this is just another L.A. session, but at the same time this is Ronstadt's domain, and what impresses is the sympathetic, punchy support she receives from ace guitarists Bernie Leadon and especially Waddy Watchel, who even contributes two originals, "Damage" and the lovely "I Go To Pieces." This last is the album's highlight--a delicate, hushed performance of great musicality. WE RAN ends sweetly with the large Rondstadt clan singing and swaying together to the gentle Mexican strains of "Dreams Of The San Joaquin".

"We Ran" is not just a return to Linda Ronstadt's classic LA-flavored country-folk rock but a terrific album with great songs and superb musicianship centered around her brilliant vocals. Producer Glyn Johns - plus collaborators Waddy Wachtel, George Massenburg and Peter Asher - have wisely relied on great songwriters (John Hiatt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen) and a production which updates the "Heart Like A Wheel" sound (virtually copied by most Nashville female singers) but gives the disc a classic feel. The cream of LA musicians are on this album, including Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Don Grolnick, Carlos Vega, Waddy Wachtel (who contributes two wonderful songs), Bernie Leadon and Mike Campbell but the spotlight is on La Ronstadt. Its been a long time since her voice gave me goosebumps and made me run across the room to turn up the volume. But listen to how she holds her notes on the title track or the full-tilt gospel wail on "Ruler of! My Heart" (produced by Asher in the stytle of "Dark Side of the Street" from "Wheel") or the passionate heartbreak of "Cry "Til My Tears Run Dry." Although I skip over "Give Me A Reason" (too light for this otherwise first-rate collection) and she stumbles a bit over the thick syllables of "Tom Thumb's Blues" (but so does Dylan), this CD offers additional rewards on further playing (pay attention to the way her voice slides effortlessly to the top of her range, to the maturity in her phrasings or the shimmering acoustic guitar sounds) In the lovely final track, "Dreams of the San Joaquin," Ronstadt is backed up by (count 'em) six members of her family and family. It's obvious she's comfortable with her musical roots and with herself and "We Ran" is superb proof.

What can you say about a CD that has the best female voice for a rock ballad (Winger, Bon Jovi, and Whitesnake take note) paired with Tom Petty and Eagles band members and produced by Glyns Johns, whose produced The Who, Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks, etc.)

It is often said that Linda Ronstadt, whose mammoth popularity in the 70's and 80's made her a pop icon and put her up there as THE bestselling female artist of her time, took a musical detour in 1983 because the times were changing and her "Get Closer" album went gold but failed to go platinum, as her previous 8 albums had and her subsequent genre albums remarkably were able to do.

Let's face it. Linda Ronstadt has the best female voice for Rock & Roll. It goes so well with that sliding guitar, and drums. She was just restless. She could have gone the way of Pat Benatar or Debbie Harry in the early 80's, because she more than likely had the first choice to songs and musicians but she chose to remain true still restless she half heartedly put out "Mad Love" and "Get Closer" before moving to big band. It was not her time to go the way of the 80's rock chicks (been there done that) Time to move on.

This being said, I think that this "We Ran" album represents a "mature" rock singer moving on; singing about faded love, damage, addiction as opposed to a younger Linda Ronstadt singing about all these emotions in her ""Simple Dreams" album. It was about time Linda recorded this type of cd BUT IT WAS THE RIGHT TIME.

This cd contains very gritty rock-soul oriented songs with a dry almost garage band feel to it.

*Damage - a very contemporary song. Could play on radio.
*Ruler of My Heart - very good r&b sounding song.
*Tom Thumbs Blues - good cover of a dylan classic.
*Tears run Dry - One of my favorites. Harkens to the 60's motown sound. Aretha would be proud.
*We Ran - the opening song to the cd. it's not country nor folk sounding. Its Adult Rock.

This really is a good CD that has held up over time.

Two words describe it: Gritty and Hard.

WE RAN was virtually ignored by radio and the public when released in June 1998. This is a crime, in my opinion. Linda only happens to be one of the greatest singers in rock and roll history, and this album is proof of that. Her superlative huskiness on the John Hiatt-penned title track and "Cry 'Til My Tears Run Dry" is great to hear in a sea of Leann, Whitney, and Celine. Furthermore, look to songs like "Heartbreak Kind" and "Icy Blue Heart", which are Linda's nods to both modern and alternative country music; the former has her harmonizing with former Eagle Bernie Leadon in a very twangy way. Superb production from people like Glyn Johns, Peter Asher, and Linda herself makes WE RAN perhaps the most unfairly ignored album of her career, if not of the entire 1990s.

The brilliant release of "We Ran" confirms once and for all that singer Linda Ronstadt has not only the best female Rock n Roll voice, but can easily dominate in almost any genre. This album takes us through many different styles, areas that Linda seems to easily adapt to. The Country, R&B and Folk covers only accentuate this powerful ability.

We Ran takes the listener through an emotional Hiatt tour of emotions while her version of Dylan's Tom Thumb Blues must make Bob blush with its simple yet sophisticated expression of sincerity.

This disc is chock full of great tunes written by great songwriers and interpreted by the finest female voice ever recorded.

The brilliant release of "We Ran" confirms once and for all that singer Linda Ronstadt has not only the best female Rock n Roll voice, but can easily dominate in almost any genre. This album takes us through many different styles, areas that Linda seems to easily adapt to. The Country, R&B and Folk covers only accentuate this powerful ability.

We Ran takes the listener through an emotional Hiatt tour of emotions while her version of Dylan's Tom Thumb Blues must make Bob blush with its simple yet sophisticated expression of sincerity.

This disc is chock full of great tunes written by great songwriers and interpreted by the finest female voice ever recorded.

okay i love carly simon and linda ronstadt and their 70's
work is classic. carly was on elektra and linda on asylum.
i know linda ronstadt's best work and i own "Prisioner In
Disguise", "Hasten Down the Wind", "Simple Dreams", and
"Mad Love"--she was on a roll. I read alot of reviews on
"We Ran" and it is actually quite good. The material,her voice,
choice of songs are extraordinary. "When we ran" the opening
song is one of her best----now as for carly simon ---she
put out one great album after another in the 70's. Her
1981 "Torch" is classic

This album finds Ronstadt back to her folk/country field. If you like her previous "Feels Like Home," you will like this album alot. There are many numbers (such as the Paul Kennerley/Marty Stuart "Heartbreak Kind") that could easily ignite the country charts; then there are those like "Dreams of the San Joaguin" that are slow and reflective. This is a good album but Ronstadt kind of lacks the energy that is in her previous albums. Yes, she still holds her notes well but one gets the impression that the album is a little slow and lacks the energy of her earlier albums. Still a good album though.

In this little-known collection of traditional, folk, blues and pop tunes, Linda Ronstadt holds her powerful voice pretty much under firm control. Rather than dominating the material with dynamic, bombastic vocals, she subordinates her voice to the material and allows her interpretive skills to do the work, conveying feelings and ideas in a more restrained, subtle way than in most of her pop/rock work prior to this 1998 album.

The title track is a strong opener, a bluesy anthem of sorts, in which Linda reflects on what might have been. "If I Should Fall Behind" is a simple but achingly beautiful ballad about bittersweet regret over a relationship that should have worked out, but didn't. The art of whispering plays a part in two of the tracks, in very different ways. In "Give Me A Reason", Linda asks in a very audible, teasing, affected whisper, "Give me a reason why we fuss and fight...why I have to spend these lonely nights." But in "I Go To Pieces", her fragile, defeated whisper is totally sincere. There are three songs that are "torchy" to different degrees. "Ruler Of My Heart" was a hit by New Orleans blues queen Irma Thomas in the 60's; the mood is resigned but hopeful. "Cry Til My Tears Run Dry" is the one track in which Linda unleashes the "belting" power that we all know so well. And in "Damage", she is torn by conflicting emotions, trapped in a relationship that has ruined her. One minute she is determined and confident about leaving, the next minute in despair that she can't, until finally, she simply says: "Look at the damage you've done." Our chameleon-like singer even does justice to Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", a cover of the long and strange folk-rock classic that few artists would attempt. The album closes with a quietly uplifting song, "Dreams Of The San Joaquin".

I also want to mention that there is very good instrumentation throughout, notably the piano on "Ruler Of My Heart"; the guitar work on "We Ran", 'Tom Thumb's Blues" and ""Heartbreak Kind"; the sax on "Cry Til My Tears Run Dry" and "Ruler Of My Heart"; and the organ on several tracks. Even though, or maybe because, this album is underrated to the point of being practically unknown, and even though it was a commercial failure, I highly recommend that music lovers check it out.

I'm a great fan of Linda's, but was pretty disappointed in this album. My hopes were raised by the fact that she had returned to straightforward rock and roll, but I agree with other reviewers that there's a curiously lackluster feel to the album. Her heart just doesn't seem to be in it. The song selection is so-so: "Give Me A Reason" is embarassing, while others are just plain boring. The only one that sounds like classic Ronstadt to my ears is "Cry 'Til My Tears Run Dry", which is a sublime Doc Pomus song that has almost a Burt Bacharach feel here, and which Ronstadt delivers gorgeously. Wish they were all up to that level, and I also wish Linda would hook up with Peter Asher again to make more great albums! I know she's still capable of it.