Joni Mitchell
Wild Things Run Fast

THE REVIEW

"Wild Things Run Fast," like the horses running trapped inside the cathode tube of a television in the painting that serves as the cover of the first studio LP of the '80s by the Canadian composer. "Mingus" of '79 was pure jazz rock with some fusion streaks, and definitely closes that chapter of Joni's work. In the early '80s, she is instead struck by the Caribbean sounds that start to increasingly contaminate FM rock. She becomes infatuated with it, and the idea for the new course is to inject that joyful and sensually charged energy into her songs to bring everything to a fresh level, also a bit more radio-friendly compared to her recent albums. Joni, after being impressed by the reggae-pop-jazz-rock instrumental abilities of the Police, wants to record the new album with them as the backing band. The new songs lend themselves very well to being performed by the English power trio, but in 1981 Copeland's band is torn apart by internal conflicts and does not seize 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 merging two musical worlds, is still put together using other luxury session men like the old flame John Guerin, the guitar of Steve Lukather, the drums of Vinnie Colaiuta, vocal contributions from Lionel Ritchie and James Taylor with the seal of Wayne Shorter on soprano sax. On bass, the new love Larry Klein with whom Joni will share the production of the albums until the early '90s. The result is a very fresh, fast, and enjoyable album. Very accessible, it sees the more unengaged moments in rhythmic pieces like the title track and "Solid Love", but what stays with the mind, what delights the mind, is the sinuous opening of "Chinese Café" which fades into a poignant "Unchained Melody" where Mitchell reminds everyone of the warm beauty of her voice.

Released in 1982, it is immediately a success, and Joni sets off for a world tour. The decade opens very well, but the subsequent episode, "Dog Eat Dog" from 1985, will lead her to an overly intrusive use of electronics, and the overall sound will be heavy and stifled, far from the genuine freshness of "Wild Things Run Fast."