Winter Light

Linda Ronstadt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 1993)
• Original Release Date: November 23, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002HE8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,504 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She's the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, March 4, 2004

By 

John Stodder "a.k.a. Juan La Princi" (livin' just enough) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Light (Audio CD)

This is one of Linda Ronstadt's greatest albums, even though it is probably the least well-known of her career. It came out in 1993, long after pop fans had figured she'd given up slumming in the rock/pop world and had moved into a joint appointment as the Ethno-musicology chair at a major university and the curator of the Nelson Riddle Museum.

But while I love this album, it illustrates what can drive you crazy about her. Linda Ronstadt is a promiscuous lover of great songs. When she finds a song she falls in love with, she wraps it in her world class voice, and makes love to that song with romantic intensity. What she DOESN'T do, usually, is INTERPRET the song. Instead, to show her loyalty and love for the song, she performs a version that is almost a replica of the original. That's no big deal on great songs like "Heartbeats Accelerating" or "Do What You Gotta Do," which were new to me when I heard this disk. But on incredibly familiar songs like "Anyone Who Had a Heart" or "Don't Talk, Put Your Head on My Shoulder" she presents an arrangement that is very much like the original--in the case of "...Heart" almost an exact duplicate. She sings it at the same tempo, to the same beat. She imitates some of the features of the original singer's interpretation--Dionne Warwick, especially, although their voices are so different. She did that during her heighth of popularity, sometimes to absurd effect, in songs like "Heat Wave" and "Tumbling Dice" that were just wrong for her. But we all know promiscuous people who hook up with the wrong person...that's Linda!

Do I have a problem with this? This is the guilty part of the guilty pleasure...I don't! Her voice is so good, and most of her song choices (especially on this album) so tasty, my feeling is, if she wants to be a jukebox, she's an awfully good one, so I just give in to it. This is a great album, and if you get it, you won't hate yourself in the morning.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why has Linda been ignored lately?, July 9, 2001

By 

Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Winter Light (Audio CD)

Maybe it's because it may not have been such a bright idea to follow a great album like "Cry Like A Rainstorm" with two more Spanish-language albums, neither one of which sold too well.

But that doesn't mean Linda stopped making great music. "Winter Light" is such a fine album that its dismissal by record buyers and critics alike seems grossly unfair. Linda really puts her heart into songs like "Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself", both of which were made into standards by Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield in the 1960s. Her take on the Beach Boys' "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" is ethereal and dream-like, as is her self-penned title track.

For me, though, the highlight is "A River For Him", which takes her back into poignant, country-influenced territory. She takes a song written by her longtime pal Emmylou Harris and really makes it into her own, full of tears and heartbreak.

If you're a big Linda Ronstadt fan, don't let this album pass you by.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Are Missing Out!, August 15, 2000

By 

sherri j. thorne (brooklyn, new york United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Light (Audio CD)

There is no doubt in my mind that "Winter Light" is Linda Ronstadt's most underrated CD's to date. Sad. She has done an excellent job with the re -makes: "I just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "Oh No, Not My Baby," and "It's Too Soon To Know." "Heartbeats Accelerating" again shows off both her power and range, as well as her interpretative gifts. She even has time to give women everywhere some really good advise in: "You Can't Treat The Wrong Man Right! " If you haven't heard this CD, you are really missing out!