Diamonds & Rust

This CD clearly shows a transition from the more folk based earlier CDs to one which is a little more contemporary in feel, with lusher and, yes, more commercial musical arrangements. There, I said it. Which is not to imply that it is bad. It is simply a change and a different direction than that which had been previously taken by Ms. Baez. Best of all, it works!

Clearly, she can make the transition to a wider audience in this fashion, and she deserves to be heard by as many people as is possible, such is her talent. This CD holds many pleasant surprises in store for the listener.


Masterpiece of moving love songs   November 30, 2002
 23 out of 26 found this review helpful

Masterpiece of moving love songs
This elegant album is a seamless blend of her own and others' literate but moving love songs and just a nod to her folk roots in the medley of I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy. She covers songs by Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, Dylan, John Prine and others, while contributing her beautiful own compositions like the title track, Children And All That Jazz, Winds Of The Old Days (reminiscent of Gulf Winds) and Dida. Her interpretation of Browne's Fountain Of Sorrow is particularly poignant, and so is Jesse, the Janis Ian song. Another classic is the reflective Winds Of The Old Days. Unlike some of her ventures into the art song in the 1980's, this album really works, as she sings with warmth and conviction and make the songs her own. Diamonds and Rust is a successful move away from her pure folk roots.


Joan Baez writes a really great song about her and Dylan   November 16, 2002
 38 out of 38 found this review helpful

I have been mulling over the idea that "Diamonds & Rust" is the best folk album of the Seventies, and it has made me realize that I am always going to think of Bob Dylan as being a folksinger even when his guitar is electric. So I would still give the nod to "Blood on the Tracks," especially since that is where Joan Baez's cover of "Simple Twist Of Fate" comes from. But I have no problem with the idea that this is the best Joan Baez album and no doubt whatsoever that "Diamonds & Rust" is her greatest accomplishment as a songwriter...
Of course the song is about Dylan "the unwashed phenomenon"; what else would make more perfect sense? More importantly, the elegance of the dichotomy offered by those two words is simple genius, which inspires instant recognition on the part of the listener. My biggest compliment that would be "Diamonds & Rust" is the best Dylan songs not written by Dylan. Baez has never sounded any better than she does on this album. In addition to the title song my other favorites are "Hello In There" and "Jesse." The argument can certainly be made by armchair psychologists that the title song was an important catharsis for Baez, which could explain the dramatic improvement in both her songwriting and singing. The latter is probably less obvious simply because Baez and Judy Collins were the standards by which all female folk singers were judged in the Sixties and Seventies. But I think it is obvious that her rich soprano voice with its distinctive vibrato never sounded better. Still, that title song is just so impressive. I would have to say it is one of the ten best songs of the Seventies.

Yes, "Tangled Up in Blue" would also be on that list on diamonds.