release date: Apr. 1970
format: vinyl (2023 reissue) (transparent green) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Joni Mitchell
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada
Track highlights: 1. "Morning Morgantown" - 3. "Conversation" - 4. "Ladies of the Canyon" - 7. "Rainy Night House" - 10. "Big Yellow Taxi" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "The Circle Game" (4 / 5)
3rd studio album by Joni Mitchell following one year after Clouds (May 1969) originally released on Reprise is another fine classic singer / songwriter and folk album characterized by lyrics focusing on environmental, social and political issues but most blantantly several songs sees Joni telling her recent personal experiences with men. Also, the album marks a change of sound more than a stylistic change. It's still held in the same folk and singer / songwriter style as her first two albums, but what really has changed are heard in the arrangements, which now feature strings and percussion both for amplifying and for a widening of the soundscape.
The album betters Clouds as well as her debut from '68, in so far this appears with more uptempo songs in between, and there's a touch of lightness and a more original sound. It's quite diverse and not really a as coherent as her follow-up, Blue. It's not quite folk rock but at times it surely hints to that but in essence this is Mitchell's so far best effort, imho.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
