| Winter Light | ||||
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| Studio album by Linda Ronstadt | ||||
| Released | November 23, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1993, The Site, San Rafael, California; Skywalker ranch, California | |||
| Genre | Pop, New Age, Art Rock | |||
| Length | 45:47 | |||
| Label | Elektra/WEA | |||
| Producer | George Massenburg, Linda Ronstadt | |||
| Linda Ronstadt chronology | ||||
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Winter Light is an out of print New Age-styled album by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt, released in late 1993. Although it sold less than 300,000 copies in the US, it stands as one of Linda's most acclaimed albums.
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Winter Light was Ronstadt's first solo album since Don't Cry Now not produced by Peter Asher. She elected to produce it herself along with George Massenburg. The album marked Ronstadt's increased responsibilities and confidence behind the boards, this time achieving a multi-layered New Age-oriented sound, as in Anna McGarrigle's "Hearbeats Accelerating"—the album's first hit single—and Brian Wilson's "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)".
Other aspects of the album show Ronstadt paying tribute to great female vocalists of the 1960s with a combination of rock n roll, oldies, and rock ballads. Ronstadt selected classic compositions from various songwriters such as Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Jimmy Webb as well as contemporary ones such as Tish Hinojosa. The album also showcased Ronstadt the singer-songwriter and music arranger, introducing her own composition, "Winter Light," which was notably covered by Sarah Brightman on her 2001 album, Classics.
The title track was also prominently used in the Warner Bros. distributed 1993 film production The Secret Garden, but was not featured on the film's original soundtrack release.
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
| Los Angeles Times | [3] |
Considered one of Ronstadt's most underrated and highly acclaimed recordings. Rolling Stone magazine rated the album '4' (out of a possible '5') stars. Ironically, it was a rare commercial failure for Ronstadt and peaked at #92 on the Billboard album chart. The disc had disappointing sales, moving approximately 200,000 copies in the US, and as of 2008, was Ronstadt's only Elekra/Asylum release out of print. (In 2009 several more classic Ronstadt albums were deleted from her catalog.)
Allmusic critic Jose Promis praised the album and wrote "Winter Light could arguably be classified as Linda Ronstadt's best pop album of the 1990s... there is not a single dud on this impeccably produced album, which, in fact, gets better and better with each listening. This sadly overlooked album is nothing short of a shining gem, and an absolute must for fans of this amazing singer."[1]
The original 1993 USA release as Electra 61545-2 had the songs on the back of the tray card listed incorrectly. One can notice that there is no track number 8 listed. The listing order goes from track 7 to track 9. The glitch had gone unnoticed when it went into print. Although all the songs are listed there, it would give the impression that there are 12 tracks on the CD instead of eleven. The discrepancy would then be noticed when the CD was being played because the playback readout would truly show its 11 tracks.
Production notes:
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