Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark

After the still restrainedly instrumented title song, which with its melancholic mood melancholic mood would fit well on one of the earlier albums, "Help Me" is so smoothly catchy that it's hard to get it out of your head. "People's Parties" and even more so the light-footed "Twisted" then point the way towards later jazz outings. "Raised On Robbery" really rocks out. The highlight of the album is certainly the driving "Car On The Hill," probably the closest Joni Mitchell has ever come to the ideal of the perfect pop song

The themes remain classic Mitchell territory: all the complexity that happens between two people that happens between two people. Her voice, as always, tells these stories in a very personal and touching way. As such, this album hovers between the radical intimacy of "Blue" and the spacious sparseness of "Hejira." A timeless classic that sounds so young and unspent, harking back to a time when you could still capture people with a melody and a voice that had something to say. The album went on to reach #2 in the US Top 100 and even went #1 in her native Canada.

If Joni Mitchell is considered one of the most important artists of the last century, and this album is furthermore praised as one of her best (next to "Blue" and "Hejira"), what superlative is left for this work? Masterpiece, milestone, stroke of genius??? Well, J. Mitchell surprised here with a poppy and accessible appeal without really going mainstream or selling her ideals. No wonder this album also became her biggest success commercially. The stripped-down folk here gives way to a very confident and full-throated, more rock-oriented production. Their trademark, astute and multi-layered lyrics, the fun of intricate song structures that flirt in the direction of jazz shimmer despite shine through in every corner, despite the stylistic shift

After the still restrainedly instrumented title song, which with its melancholic mood melancholic mood would fit well on one of the earlier albums, "Help Me" is so smoothly catchy that it's hard to get it out of your head. "People's Parties" and even more so the light-footed "Twisted" then point the way towards later jazz outings. "Raised On Robbery" really rocks out. Highlight of the album is certainly the driving "Car On The Hill", Joni Mitchell has probably never come closer to the ideal of the perfect pop song

The themes remain classic Mitchell territory: all the complexity that happens between two people that happens between two people. Her voice, as always, tells these stories in a very personal and touching way. As such, this album hovers between the radical intimacy of "Blue" and the spacious sparseness of "Hejira." A timeless classic that sounds so young and unspent, harking back to a time when you could still capture people with a melody and a voice that had something to say. The album went on to reach #2 in the US Top 100 and even went #1 in her native Canada.

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