As a former Tom Waits muse and talent hailed by Randy Newman, it’s not easy; Being hyped as the Joni Mitchell successor and being photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the cover of ROLLING STONE doesn’t make it any easier.
After her first two albums, Rickie Lee Jones was America’s biggest hope as a songwriter. Because she didn’t give in to the pressure of expectations, but followed her own musical vision, her records from the mid-eighties were no longer valid.
“The Magazine” was created during a difficult phase: Jones spent a few months in Paris, struggling with heroin addiction and alcohol problems. The instrumental “Prelude To Gravity” and the final “Rorschachs” medley testify to a somewhat pretentious journey of self-discovery.
But hidden in between are gems like the soul-pop “Juke Box Fury” and the pleading title track, the somnambulist “Deep Space” and the doo-wop-inspired “Runaround”. And “It Must Be Love” is one of Rickie Lee Jones’ most beautiful songs ever.