Cry Like A Rainstorm - Howl Like The Wind
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Album Summary
By 1989, Linda Ronstadt had already proven herself one of the most versatile voices in American popular music, and 'Cry Like A Rainstorm – Howl Like The Wind' found her settling into a lush, orchestrated sound tailor-made for the close of a decade that loved its big emotions. Released on Elektra Records, the album was produced by George Massenburg, whose meticulous ear for warmth and space gave the record a rich, enveloping quality that suited Ronstadt's voice like a velvet glove. Recorded with full orchestral arrangements and featuring notable vocal collaborations, the album leaned into adult contemporary balladry with real commitment, sitting comfortably at the intersection of soft rock, pop rock, AOR, and contemporary R&B — a sound that felt both timeless and very much of its moment.
Reception
- The album was a major commercial success, reaching high positions on the Billboard 200 and performing strongly on adult contemporary charts, affirming Ronstadt's crossover appeal well into the late 1980s.
- The duet 'Don't Know Much' became a landmark hit, earning widespread radio airplay and cementing the album's place in the pop consciousness of the era.
- Critics generally praised Ronstadt's vocal performances as among the most controlled and emotionally resonant of her career, with the orchestral production drawing favorable comparisons to classic pop craftsmanship.
Significance
- The album stands as one of the defining adult contemporary records of 1989, demonstrating that a rock-rooted artist could fully inhabit orchestrated pop balladry without sacrificing emotional authenticity.
- Its stylistic range — threading soft rock, AOR, pop rock, and contemporary R&B through a single cohesive listening experience — helped expand the sonic boundaries of what mainstream adult contemporary could sound like at the close of the 1980s.
- Ronstadt's vocal collaborations on the album brought a duet tradition back into the pop spotlight at a moment when solo stardom dominated the charts, influencing how producers approached male-female pairings in adult contemporary music going forward.
Tracklist
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A1 Still Within The Sound Of My Voice 79
4:31
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A2 Cry Like A Rainstorm 119
3:35
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A3 All My Life 74
3:30
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A4 I Need You 95
2:52
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A5 Don't Know Much 130
3:32
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A6 Adios 69
3:35
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B1 Trouble Again 119
3:17
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B2 I Keep It Hid 87
3:35
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B3 So Right, So Wrong 123
3:25
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B4 Shattered 65
2:53
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B5 When Something Is Wrong With My Baby 158
3:50
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B6 Goodbye My Friend 166
3:46
Artist Details
Linda Ronstadt is a stone-cold legend, a powerhouse vocalist out of Tucson, Arizona who burst onto the scene in the late 1960s and absolutely owned the 1970s with a sound that could slide effortlessly from country-rock to pop to straight-up blue-eyed soul — the kind of voice that made you pull your car over and just *listen*. She bridged the gap between the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene and mainstream radio gold, racking up hits like You're No Good and Blue Bayou while producing some of the best-selling albums of the entire decade, and in doing so she became one of the first women in rock to truly command the industry on her own terms. Her influence stretches wide and deep, paving the way for a generation of female artists who dared to be both commercially successful and artistically fearless, and her legacy stands as a testament to what happens when raw talent meets absolute determination.
