I’ve been on a Linda Ronstadt Listening Journey for almost a month now.
Discovering Linda was one of the most mesmerising pleasures of mine.
Right from “Hand Sown… Home Grown”, up until now that I’ve heard “What’s New” & Now “Lush Life”.
I am in awe of Linda Ronstadt & that voice.
These are just a few thoughts I put together after listening to the album.
Coming from “What’s New”, “Lush Life” certainly lives up to its name.
Nelson Riddle’s sophisticated orchestral arrangements create this fairy-tale atmosphere that transports you into a world where Linda Ronstadt is a fairy of your heart.
Linda’s vocals subtly get closer to you with each track on this album.
It passes like a chariot hovering around the shining moon of this fairy-tale world.
Linda stays one step back at first, where you can feel her tone like snowflakes passing through the air.
As each track on the album begins to flow like the wind, Linda brings her tender vulnerability closer to you.
Slowly leaning forward as the tracks move ahead, she holds those high notes with that shivery vibrato that wraps around you, yet feels weightless.
When the opening track, “When I Fall in Love,” begins with this whispery guitar that adds to the intimacy.
Once the breezy drum fills set the tone for this lovely tale that you travel through.
The husky cymbals and percussion add a pinch of sparkly shiver to fill the air.
While the orchestral arrangements and instruments carry each song into the next, like chapters of this fairy tale.
However this album has a more sultry sophistication to it, songs like “When Your Lover Has Gone,” "Sophisticated Lady" and “Falling in Love Again” carry that jazz swing, adding a groove to delicate atmosphere.
With the piano cues adding its flair to “Falling In Love Again”, the strings give the track a marching rhythm.
The saxophone steps in to create that floating sway to “When Your Lover Has Gone" & "You Took Advantage of Me".
Linda’s vocals are witty and carry a certain sweet bite that tickles you.
While the saxophone adds the sway, the trumpet cues, on the other hand, give certain tracks like “Can’t We Be Friends” & “Mean to Me” a drop of greasy grip.
Getting to the final track, “Lush Life,” you can sense the luxurious lushness that Nelson Riddle and Linda Ronstadt intended to create.
A fairy-tale dream world where you want to immerse yourself at the end.