Album of the Day

No one has worn more musical costumes than Linda Ronstadt; over the years, she has mastered pop standards, Latin, folk-rock, country and other styles. MAD LOVE was Ronstadt's “new wave album,” and while the Asylum release may have seemed out of left field at the time, in hindsight the spunky energy of the music is perfectly suited to her singing style – Linda loves to belt 'em out (and earned a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy nomination for this set) While its singles included oldies like “I Can’t Let Go” and “Hurt So Bad” (which hit the Top 10, along with “How Do I Make You”), the album earns its alternative stripes with covers of three Elvis Costello songs and three from L.A.-based power-poppers The Cretones. Nothing else in the Ronstadt catalog rocks quite as insistently as MAD LOVE, which remains infectiously listenable.