Going to the (rain) dogs

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 10

Going to the (rain) dogs

tubd

nevin topp

JONI MITCHELL “Dog Eat Dog” (Geffen GH524074). American singers appear to be taking over concerns about man’s best friend. Undoubtedly someone will write a thesis about the movement from cartoon characters like Pluto and the Mutt from the K-9 Corp in “Sad Sack,” to the “Rain Dogs” album by Tom Waits and now Joni Mitchell’s “Dog Eat Dog.” Perhaps, that is just being a bit doggone, dogmatic. But, Mitchell is certainly not being dogged as she has switched from the more personal “Wild Things Run Fast,” to some of the more impersonal themes that have shown up in her songs in the past. The personal element of her last album probably reflected her marriage to the bass guitarist, Larry Klein, but interestingly enough “Dog Eat Dog” opens with “Good Friends,” about changing relationships, as

the superb music and chorus whistle around the ears, recalling Bruce Cockburn’s recent work. Real FM stuff, this!

The remaining tracks are not as forward as “Good Friends,” but with the help of co-producer and keyboards player, Thomas Dolby, Don Henley (ex Eagles), Wayne Shorter (sax), James Taylor, and actor, Rod Steiger, (plus Mitchell’s band, which includes Klein), there are wider themes to explore.

The music is not as jazzy as on “Wild Things Run Fast,” in spite of the

likes of Shorter being featured on some tracks, and don’t be put off by the listing of a Fairlight synthesizer — it works. Take "Tax Free,” for example. Another superb track, about religion and politics running hand-in-hand in the United States, with Rod Steiger as a mad evangelist, preaching hate as love, and Mitchell singing "You get witch-hunts and wars/“When church and state hold hands.” This idea is followed up on side two with the title track, the cynicism of a dog eat dog world.

“Fiction” looks at the inability to make decisions, of sorting out truth from fiction, carried by the contrasting male and female vocals. Occasionally, Mitchell gets too tied down, too preachy, as on “The Three Great Stimulants,” for her own good, but she can also be inspirational as on “Shiny Toys,” the latest trend.

One of the top tracks is “Ethiopia,” a haunting song that recalls something of the theme of Mitchell’s biggest hit, “Big Yellow Taxi.” Done in a solemn style, she sings “your top soil flies away — Ethiopia/“We pump ours full of poison spray.” “Impossible Dreamer,” may be a song about John Lennon, but even if it isn’t it still connects well with the previous track, “Ethiopia.” The final song, “Lucky Girl,” switches back to the personal element. A typical Mitchell song in the vocals, soaring and dipping, with a nice snatch of Shorter’s sax. “Dog Eat Dog” is quite complex musically and lyrically, but it has the hallmarks of someone coming to grips with 80s themes in a first class way. “Dog Eat Dog” is the kind of album that grows each time it is played. — NEVIN TOPP.