Made-up minds rate? Interesting idea…
[Video][Website]
[6.67]
Alfred Soto: The Bros. Landreth’s jam gets a simmering interpretation, with Bonnie Raitt once again showing the depth of an adult, fully engaged sexuality. Her band greases up a melody “like a rainstorm tin roof symphony.” Almost boring.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: So solid and sturdy, just like much of Raitt’s 50-year career, “Made Up Mind” is the sound of a woman who knows what she needs and what she wants, and what she’s gonna share with you. There’s so much assurance in her vocal; younger generations should be taking copious notes.
[7]
Harlan Talib Ockey: This is a pitch-shifted version of the Bros. Landreth original. Several of the licks are the same, several of the vocal nuances are the same, and the backing vocals and keyboards are not only near-identical in their parts, but also in their timbre. The solo is technically different, but it’s still slide guitar working through the same scale over the same chord changes in the same single-note style. The only truly notable difference in the arrangements is that Raitt has added arpeggiated chords to the chorus. I’m not sure how to grade this; how about [5] for the Bros. Landreth’s songwriting, minus [2] for Raitt’s lack of creativity?
[3]
Nortey Dowuona: When the Bros. Landreth created “Made Up Mind” with producer Jonathan Singleton, they did not know that they would one day be covered by a seemingly ageless Bonnie Raitt. She coasts smoothly on Glenn Patscha’s plush electric piano and gently welds on the rippling slide guitar, lifted up by Glenn and Ricky Fataar’s firm, bouncy kick pattern.
[9]
Jeffrey Brister: Everything I like about this song — sleek, professional, no-frills, performed with tasteful restraint — makes it sound boring, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s something so appealing about a song so at ease with itself, making it look so pitifully easy. That’s a mark of mastery of craft. The worst I can say about it is that it’s perfectly average, but even that isn’t much, considering the skill on display.
[8]
Ian Mathers: It’s outright astounding that Raitt’s voice and guitar appear not to have lost so much as a step since I was a kid and my parents were playing her records. Sure, the first word that pops into mind about the actual song is the dreaded “tasteful” (kind of praising with faint damns there), but in the kind of way where I definitely don’t mind it as it plays. There are many, many worse things than still making the music my parents like.
[6]