Rickie Lee Jones - "Pirates" (1981)

On second thought, perhaps I was a bit too hasty. After originally consigning this record to the blue bin, I then read some glowing reviews from sources that I generally trust. I like to tell myself that I'm enough of my own man not to assume that other people's opinions are superior to mine, but if music critics I trust are giving a record five stars and I'm saying it's not even good enough to keep, that's a pretty wide chasm to cross. So I did the honorable thing and listened to the record again, and indeed I changed my mind, at least enough to say that I will keep it.

I still wouldn't give the record anything close to five stars, but am willing to admit that there is some melody, just obscured by Jones' vocal phrasing, and that there are definitely instrumental hooks and mood shifts that keep things interesting. I erred in my judgment of the record, because although I absolutely didn't enjoy it on first listen, I probably should have guessed that it was one of those albums that demands more time to absorb, especially being unfamiliar with Jones' jazzy, meandering style which is way less accessible than Joni Mitchell's. The second listen was definitely more rewarding and I understood the music better, even if it is still not exactly my new favorite record. For the sake of posterity, my original, now redacted review is still included below:

This record is a great example of why I am always suspicious of singer-songwriters. Obviously, there are plenty of examples of astounding solo performers who can dazzle with just an acoustic guitar. But for every Bob Dylan, there are ten James Taylors who commit the greatest musical sin of all: being boring. On Pirates, Rickie Lee Jones actually has a full backing band behind her and does try her hand at some complex song structures. The problem is that the emphasis is solely on her lyrics and vocal delivery, and melody is all but forgotten. It's not that her lyrics are bad, although her storytelling style with constant references to Eddies and Louies and Joeys is a bit contrived. It's just that I am of the opinion that with rare exceptions, rock lyrics will do no more than raise or lower an album's score by half a point (again: the obvious exception being Dylan). If the music is boring, I'm not going to take the time to delve into the lyrical themes of the record. And this music is most definitely boring.