Hasten Down the Wind

Linda Ronstadt Aaron Neville, Linda Ronstadt

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Asylum Records
• ASIN: B000002GY7
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,755 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
After the critical and commercial smash Heart Like a Wheel, Linda Ronstadt could have had her pick of material from the day's top songwriters. Instead, she chose the wares of a couple of young artists on the rise, Warren Zevon and Karla Bonoff. Each provided her with first-rate material for Hasten Down the Wind: Zevon wrote the title track and Bonoff supplied "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me," "Lose Again," and "If He's Ever Near." Ronstadt also bravely covers songs already done definitively by others--Patsy Cline's "Crazy," Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day," and Tracy Nelson's "Down So Low"--and emerges not merely unscathed, but triumphant. She also presages the turn toward Spanish material her career took in the '80s with "Lo Siento Mi Vida." It's easy to see why the public went wild for Hasten, Ronstadt's first platinum album. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Linda Roars Like A Windstorm!, July 28, 2003

By	Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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. She shows here just how versatile and eclectic her approach to some interesting material could be. From a raucous hit song like Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" to a sweet and soulful interpretation of Karla Bonhoff's plaintive "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me", Linda pulls out all of the stops, and although the album was panned critically, it was also her first album to go platinum. Well, so much for them pesky critic fellas!

Her fans knew what they liked, and they sure seemed to like this terrific collection of so many different genres gathered under a single tent. The title tune, written by songwriter and performing wildman Warren Zevon, "Hasten down The Wind", is a haunting, powerfully performed song. Then too, Patsy Cline's "Crazy" is powerfully interpreted. "Tattler" and "Try Me Again" are sizzling, as is a well-arranged version of Bonhoff's "Lose Again". She soars with an interpretation of the traditional "Rivers Of Babylon", and a lovely effort at blue-eyed soul with "Give One Heart". My personal favorite here is Tracey nelson's "Down So Low", and of course, "Hasten Down the Wind", a song so reminiscent of the soulful songs on previous albums like "Prisoner In Disguise" and Long, Long. Time". All in all, this is a terrific album and one that is really a showcase for Linda at her very best. Enjoy!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eclectic mix, but fun nevertheless, November 8, 2002

By	S. Sittig "Divawatch" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

Although this may not be most people's favorite Linda Ronstadt album, I have a particular fondness for it, mostly because it was the first entire Linda album I ever listened to from start to finish in one sitting.

Her vocal range is stunning and the song choices on this disc seem hell-bent on stretching that range as much as possible. Linda sings everything from country-rock to pop to soul to reggae with admitedly mixed results. She even tries (not entirely successfully) to cover Buddy Holly ("That'll Be The Day") and Patsy Cline ("Crazy").

The flaws are never in her vocal work, but rather, in her inability to emotionally connect with some of the material. As eclectic as she tries to be, she seems to produce her best work when she is singing something simple and original. The highlight is easily the wonderful "Lose Again" written by Karla Bonoff. Ronstadt injects just the right amount of pathos and heartbreak into the track and gives it a nice simplicity mixed with moments of extreme vocal power. Close seconds are her plaintiff "Try Me Again"(one of my favs to sing in the shower, what a great hook in the bridge!), the powerfully sad "Down So Low" and the touching "Lo Siento Mi Vida".

Then there is a wonderful a capella moment with "Rivers of Babylon" that totally comes from left field, but completely works.

With this album it's easy to sense that Ronstadt is growing restless and tired of singing just rock-pop and is acheing to venture into more complex musical territories. With the advantage of hindsight, it's easy to see this album is really the precursor to her later famous forays into Mexican folk music, classic jaz/pop standards and an overall more eclectic vocal mix.

The cover is also perhaps her most teasingly sexual, an indication that by now she was perhaps starting to become more well known as a sex symbol than a serious artist by the general public.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WELL ROUNDED ALBUM, June 6, 2003

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This is probably Linda Ronstadt's most accomplished and beautiful album in its refreshing variety of styles and well chosen material. Her version of the gospel-reggae classic Rivers Of Babylon is closer to that of The Melodians than Boney M and she does a stunning cover of Buddy Holly's That'll Be The Day. The buoyant pop song Give One Heart has an addictive hook and is performed with gusto, while the Spanish ballad Lo Siento Mi Vida is soulful and moving, the perfect vehicle for bringing out the tender side of her voice. Other beautiful ballads include the title track, Someone To Lay Down Beside Me and If He's Ever Near. Ronstadt's flexible voice blends perfectly with all of these styles to ensure a cohesive sound and a very enjoyable listening experience after all these years. Anyone who appreciates crossover country, contemporary folk or pop-rock will enjoy this classic album of melodic songs. I discovered Ronstadt, Rita Coolidge and Emmylou Harris at the same time in the 1970s and have remained a fan ever since. It's a pity Coolidge and Ronstadt have not been as consistently prolific as Harris.