Joni Mitchell
Wild Things Run Fast

THE REVIEW

"Wild Things Run Fast", like the horses running trapped inside the cathode ray tube of a television in the painting on the cover of the first studio LP of the '80s by the Canadian composer. "Mingus" from '79 was pure jazz rock with some fusion streaks, definitively closes that chapter of Joni's work. In the early '80s, she was instead struck by the Caribbean sounds that began to increasingly contaminate FM rock. She becomes infatuated with it, and the idea for the new direction is to infuse that joyful and sensually charged energy into her songs, elevating everything to a fresh level, even a bit more radio-friendly compared to her recent albums. Joni, after being impressed by the reggae-pop-jazz-rock instrumental capabilities of The Police, wants to record the new album with them as her backing band. The new songs lend themselves very well to being performed by the English power trio, but in 1981, Copeland's band was torn apart by internal conflicts and missed Joni Mitchell's invitation, a unique opportunity lost due to an unforgivable lack of judgment. Thus, an album that could have been something different, new, and exciting in blending two musical worlds is assembled instead using other luxury session men like old flame John Guerin, Steve Lukather's guitar, Vinnie Colaiuta's drums, vocal contributions from Lionel Richie and James Taylor, with Wayne Shorter's soprano sax seal. On bass, the new love Larry Klein with whom Joni would share album production until the early '90s. The result is a very fresh, fast, and enjoyable album. Very accessible, with rhythmic tracks like the title track and "Solid Love" marking the most unburdened moments, but lingering in the mind, bringing pleasure, is the sinuous opening of "Chinese Cafe" fading into a poignant "Unchained Melody" where Mitchell reminds everyone of the warm beauty of her voice.

Released in 1982, it's an immediate success, and Joni embarks on a world tour. The decade opens very well, but the subsequent episode, "Dog Eat Dog" in 1985, will lead her to an overly invasive use of electronics, with the overall sound heavy and stifled, far from the genuine freshness of "Wild Things Run Fast".