Best Joni Mitchell album?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by alexpop, Nov 28, 2014.

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  1. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    This is madness, just one! HEJIRA!
     
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  2. waxworm

    waxworm Well-Known Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Surprised to hear so little about For the Roses, undoubtedly my favorite. Then come Hejira and Court & Spark.
     
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  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    tons of folks picked Hejira ... I know I did and I couldn't even find my post
     
  4. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    It’s a tricky one but if pushed, I would have to go for The Very Best of Joni Mitchell...
     
  5. telecode101

    telecode101 Forum Resident

    Location:
    null
    For me personally, it's believe it or not, Chalkmark In A Rainstorm . It's the only one I have repeatedly listened to since I first got it and I usually find myself getting into listening to it every few years.

    I think it's the songs, the instrumentation, Mike Landau, Manu Kache, Larry Clein , I just really dig that record.
     
  6. Socalguy

    Socalguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    CA
    There is no single "best" with Mitchell. It's like asking which month of the year is "best". She made at least a dozen stellar albums, all great in their own way.
     
  7. jlf

    jlf Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I don’t think that one exists yet
     
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  8. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    Joni once complained that the industry & public only give a musician about 5-6 years in the spotlight, before casting the artist aside. What a coincidence, that's about how long she had on top, before critics started to tear her down and call her new music self-indulgent, scattered, and short of the mark. But I'd have to confess that I also focus mostly on her 1970-76 period. Most fans do, too, I guess. (OK, not you, superfan. I'm sure that your love of Dog Eat Dog is pure.) I still have some trouble with The Hissing of Summer Lawns, but everything else in her heyday is easy to love. From her later years, I like Night Ride Home best. It sounds like the record that you would have expected to come after Hejira.
     
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  9. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Night Ride Home is easily her best post-Mingus record. But there are moments of brilliance scattered throughout all of those records which leave you wondering why she didn't cut more material like that and less material like "Man To Man" or other not-particularly memorable bits of datedly-produced dross. Like the haunting, techno-Hejira-esque "My Secret Place" off of Chalk Mark, or the smartly nostalgic "Yvette In English", co-written with Croz, on Indigo.
     
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  10. gkella

    gkella Glen Kellaway From The Basement

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    1/ Heijira
    2/ For The Roses
    3/ Hissing Of Summer Lawns
    4/ Blue
    5/ Ladies Of The Canyon
     
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  11. John Buchanan

    John Buchanan I'm just a headphone kind of fellow. Stax Sigma

    1. Shadows And Light - wotta band, superbly recorded and wonderfully performed. Get the 2cd set
    2. Hejira
    Ordered Hissing Of Summer Lawns and Blue - can’t wait.
     
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  12. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    Shadows and Light
     
  13. Christian Evans

    Christian Evans Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chile
    Hejira and Mingus for me. I have a problem with Blue, I love the songs but not when she goes to a high pitched voice.
     
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  14. chrisblower

    chrisblower Norfolk n'good

    Good to see this thread alive again. I flicked through it all, and just about every album gets a mention. I love virtually all of her recordings, but the one I want to listen to the most is Dog Eat Dog. Maybe it's the times we're living through.
     
  15. jlf

    jlf Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Shine has been on heavy rotation again. Returned to Miles Of Aisles this week, played through the new mix of Seagull, and even spun Chalk Mark. Four completely different albums. One genius.
     
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  16. morelikespace

    morelikespace Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    1/ The Hissing of Summer Lawns -- sublime piece of music that perfectly combines lyrical ambition with music adventurism.
    2/ Hejira -- Lyrically dense, nine individual stories set to music, like a book of short stories but with music that floats
    3/ Don Juan's Reckless Daughter -- musically quite minimalistic (with mostly two or three instruments) but Jaco's bass makes the sound huge and cavernous

    Also, ranking in the classic and brilliant category: Blue, Court and Spark, Dog Eat Dog

    And for my money, she released one of the best live albums of all time by a pop/rock act, Shadows and Light.
     
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  17. miinsane

    miinsane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Waco, TX
    As much as I love "Blue", I gotta go with "Ladies Of The Canyon". Currently spinning it in my car. Not a bad track on the album.
     
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