release date: Apr. 1970
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,45]
producer: Joni Mitchell
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada
Track highlights: 1. "Morning Morgantown" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Conversation" - 4. "Ladies of the Canyon" - 7. "Rainy Night House" - 9. "Blue Boy" - 10. "Big Yellow Taxi" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "The Circle Game" (4 / 5)
3rd studio album by Joni Mitchell originally released on Reprise Records is another fine classic singer / songwriter and folk album characterized by lyrics focusing on environmental, social and political issues - stories about peace love and understanding. Also, the album is change of sound more than a stylistic change. It's the same folk music as on her first two albums, but what really has changed are the arrangements now featuring strings and percussion both for amplifying and a widening of the soundscape. The album is clearly bettering Clouds from '69, and her debut album from '68, in so far this is more uptempo, lighter, and with a more positive sound. It's not folk rock but it surely hints to that, but in essence it's her so far best album, imho.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
