Linda Ronstadt Album: “What's New [Enhanced]”

Back in 1983, the so-called "Great American Songbook" was largely left on the shelf. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and others who could really sing 'em and swing 'em were not as big as they used to be, and a generation of record buyers was growing up without much exposure to The Gershwins, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and other great writers of the first half of the century. Then Linda, a country/folk/rock artist, hooked up with elder statesman bandleader and arranger Nelson Riddle for this album of standards. It sold well, leading to two more collaborations, each of them just about equal to "What's New". (In fact, I might like "Lush Life' just a hair better.) The product proved that Riddle still could deliver the quality he became famous for in the '50's during collaborations with the greatest singers of that era. And to me, already a Linda fan, it proved that she, in many ways, could wear the title "great singer." These nine tracks are mostly mellow, even melancholy, lyrics about lost love, longing for love, and the loneliness of unrequited love. Well done all around.

I was very proud to have worked on all three("What's New","Lush Life",and"For Sentimental Reason's"with my late father.The last album"For Sentimental Reasons"wasn't released until the year following his death(1986).My Father and Linda were very fond of each other.My father would say that she(Linda)has a wonderful instrument.He helped her to get the most out of her"Wonderful Instrument"!C.R.Riddle

C'mon people! In it's initial run, WHAT'S NEW, peaked at #3 on the Billboard Album Charts and sold well over three million copies in vinyl alone here in the USA! Her videos from the album were played on MTV & VH-1 BOTH. A popular "IN CONCERT" HBO video was issued commercially, as well as a featurette on ABC's 20/20. To top all that off, LINDA RONSTADT & NELSON RIDDLE, more than any other artists in musical history, bridged the wide musical gap between Rock And Roll and the very wide ranging classic American Standards Songbook of the pre-rock era, with ONE ALBUM. Linda may have lost a few fans during this period, but she gained millions of new fans, both in her parents & grand parents age brackets as well as younger fans. Linda Ronstadt longed to explore the music before her birth, and she chose the finest orchestra leader-arranger-musician to guide her, NELSON RIDDLE. The phenomenal success of WHAT'S NEW led to a 2nd album, LUSH LIFE(another platinum seller)and to a third, FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS, during whose recording sessions, Nelson Riddle passed away. All three albums are also included completely in the double cd pacakage: 'ROUND MIDNIGHT - LINDA RONSTADT & NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA. The music chosen by Ronstadt & Riddle is timeless and appeals to every generation of music fans. Ronstadt's three Nelson Riddle collaborations are a tribute to his musical legacy and showcase the master arranger-musician in his prime, decades after his commercial peak and much celebrated recordings with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fizgerald, Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher,and many more singers of the post WWII era, as well as his own Nelson Riddle Orchestra best sellers. Thank you NELSON, for the great music you made with my favorite girl singer...she must be very proud. These were Nelson's final encores.

This was an interesting change of pace in Linda Ronstadt's career. Instead of competing with everyone else, she decided to do an album of old standards with Nelson Riddle. She did three albums like this, and this is by far my favorite. She would have benefitted from not following this up with two others, which are not as cohesive or strong as WHAT'S NEW is. Nevertheless, I think vocally she sounds great on these tracks, and she makes them her own.

I think this must have been one of the first DVD-Audio discs that Warner released with the advent of this new format.

It was a smart choice, as the sumptuous sound of Nelson Riddle's orchestrations and Linda Ronstadt's vocals sound incredible in surround sound. The original engineer and mixer, George Massenburg, remixed the original 1983 master tapes to prefection, and I have to say it is the best sounding DVD-Audio I have heard. I think Warner's put everything they had into making this sound sensational. Compare it to the original standard stereo CD issue and you will be amazed. With a good surround system you will feel like you are present at the recording sessions.

Sadly the format suffered from it's name : people expected to get a 'DVD' with film clips etc, which is not the case. It also suffered from the cheap technology offered on low-end DVD players that say they support the DVD-A format. This they do, but unless you have a player that is more up-market you are not going to get the benefit of the Advanced Resolution Surround Sound.

My suggestion is simple. If you have a high-end surround sound system with a 'good' DVD player that really can encode the ARS layer of this disc, grab one before there are no more left !

A must have.