Bonnie Raitt had delivered three stellar albums, but chart success wasn't forthcoming, even if good reviews and a cult following were. So, she teamed with producer
Jerry Ragovoy for
Streetlights and attempted to make the crossover record that Warner so desperately wished she'd release. Over the years, the concessions that she made here -- particularly the middle-of-the road arrangements (as opposed to the appealingly laid-back sounds of her previous records), the occasional use of strings, but also some of the song selections -- have consigned
Streetlights to noble failure status. There's no denying that's essentially what
Streetlights is, but that makes it out to seem worse than it really is. It winds up paling to the wonderful ease and warm sensuality of her first three albums -- she only occasionally hits that balance -- but it's still undeniably pleasant, and there are moments here where she really pulls off some terrific work, including the opening cover of
Joni Mitchell's "That Song About the Midway," a good version of
John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery," and the much-touted take on
Allen Toussaint's "What Is Success." It may be easy to lament the suppression of the laid-back sexiness and organic feel of
Raitt's earlier records, but there's still enough here in that spirit to make this worthwhile. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine