Diamonds & Rust - JOAN BAEZ****

Diamonds & Rust/Fountain Of Sorrow/Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer/Children & All That Jazz/Simple Twist Of Fate/Blue Sky/Hello In There/Jesse/Winds Of The Old Days/Dida/I Dream Of Jeannie - Danny Boy

Joan Baez was one of the leading lights in the folk revival of the 1960s, since when her popularity had declined somewhat. Diamonds & Rust was her most successful album in the 1970s as she branched out from pure folk to embrace a more commercial direction. (US:11)

“By now Baez has long since moved from straight folk to adult-oriented studio rock. Her nose for a good song remains strong though, and here she turns in some excellent covers. Add a number of her own songs, including the title track and a duet with Joni Mitchell, and you've got the strongest album she'd done in years.”

“Some of the songs fall into rock & roll based pop with country-folk. So it's not so nice. Anyway, the highlight melodic, groovy and orchestral parts are progressive enough to keep this album worth a listen.”

“The title track may be the best thing Joan Baez ever recorded, a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece in writing and execution, making the personal poetic. Winds Of The Old Days is another stunning original, and the record has some excellent covers. This has some incredible moments, but its an erratic album which prevents me from returning to it as often as the title track merits it.”

“The title track is great but the rest of it just doesn't match up. There are a few keepers, but most of the songs sound like complete throwaways.”

“This is Joan Baez' most commercial album and it's one of her best, although there are some unwise cover choices. If someone was to ask to hear some Joan Baez, I don't think I would put this on, as it isn't representative of her best known style.”

“The Joan Baez on this album is most undeniably and characteristically different from her early work from the 1960s. Here she is more confident, more worldly, and quite noticeably less idealistic and more tolerant of other people's frailties and vulnerabilities, perhaps even of her own.”

“The title track, Diamonds & Rust, is such a stirring reflection of a love that didn't quite work. Nobody was evil, nothing horrendous happened, but it didn’t quite work out, and it hurt. It's hard to find a song that really expresses that phenomenon with the kind of heartfelt pain and whimsy as this one.”