Court And Spark

What a beautiful album. Again, this is another album I haven't heard before, but I am so glad that I've been able to experience it now. Joni Mitchell's voice is superb, right off the bat I was blown away by her performance and lyricism. The soft piano ballads and jazzy pop tunes are perfectly crafted and emotionally moving. I listened to this album twice, which is something I hadn't done with the previous albums. The song structures remind me of Joanna Newsome, but I think Mitchell does it much better. I felt connected to each story told in the songs, and the way they flowed together made the whole experience engrossing. Favorite track: all of them Least favorite track: none

Well, it's better than her later albums, I guess. But she's a much better poet than she is a singer. And a better singer than she is a melody-writer. I don't know why she seems to hate writing choruses so much. Most of the songs are just unstructured messes that never go anywhere. There's a story that Mitchell herself tells about Bob Dylan falling asleep when she played the album for him. It's funny but it's also understandable. It's a boring slog of an album. I would much rather have read these songs as poems than be forced to listen to Mitchell's wandering warble for an hour.

Interesting grunge dive. Can’t help but feel they aped nirvana a bit.

Sorry lady, not interested in the slides from your trip to Paris.

I do not understand the praise Joni Mitchell gets.

Before listening: I always imagined Joni Mitchell's audience as the Emma Thompson's character from Love Actually. Tragic, hopeless, alone.../ I started it for the second time and starting to like it at "Help me"/ The more folkish a song is the less I like it./ "Help me" and "Raised on Robbery" keeps pulling me back (even tough the second one is pretty folkish, but has good vibes, so I don't care)/ This is definitely not the Joni Mitchel I was expecting, and when reading a bit about her it seems that I could like her later stuff, when she ventured to jazzier stuff, seems like this was kind of a starting point.

My mom's favorite Joni album. Mine as well. Straight down the middle folk rock Joni. The trademark floating and swirling Joni melodies but this time with more energy Joni. More direct, incisive lyrics from Joni. More compelling jazz Joni. Incredible Joni production in surprising places (end of People's Parties, middle of Car on a Hill). I'd give it an easy 5 but the cringey final scat scat, so instead it's a labored 5. A+

This album was so BORING. It wasn't actively *bad*, but I just didn't care about it.

Finally! A female artist, and it's the legend herself. I really love Joni Mitchell, I find myself torn between thinking she or Bob Dylan is the better songwriter. Hard to argue it's Bob in the face of "Both Sides Now." I haven't listened to this album before, but it's great. It only has one song that I already knew ("Help Me"), but there's plenty of heat here. I really like the exploration of different genres--Joni dips into jazz on some tracks, then more rock/pop on others. It doesn't always suit her, but her voice cuts through anything. It's a great experience overall and held my attention throughout. I'm looking forward to getting more Joni Mitchell albums, especially Blue. Also, if this list listened to my plea for female artists, maybe it will hear me ask to honor Black History Month...maybe some Jimi Hendrix? Aretha Franklin? We'll see what's in store. Favorite tracks: Help Me, People's Parties, Down to You, Twisted. Album art: Simple and sweet. I like the textured look. Nothing too special, but it looks like Joni herself may have painted that picture. That's extremely cool. 4.5/5

Such overrated artist... maybe she should have been just a poet?

Rating: 10/10 A classic album. Joni Mitchell sounds fantastic, beautiful vocals and great lyrics. This album is absolutely gorgeous. Lush, detailed instrumentation and pristine production. Loved everything about this album, honestly wish some of the songs were longer but that speaks to how amazing this album is. Favorite tracks: Pretty much the whole album but highlights were Court and Speak, Help Me, Car on a Hill, Raised on Robbery, Troubled Child. Least Favorite song: Down to You, a bit too long but still great though.

I love Joni’s voice in the same vein of Chris’s love for Adele. She has such total command over her voice as an instrument, not just in maintaining pitch, but in volume, delivery, especially cadence. I could listen to her sing the verses of Help Me a million times and never get tired of it. On top of her second-to-none vocal talent, the music is interesting enough. This album, IIRC, is about when she begins a pretty full dive into more jazz. Extra star for real guitar, drums, and tasteful horns, but it won’t let me add a 6th star.

Joni Mitchell's voice is such an elixir for the ears. Very expressive and dynamic, with the perfect mix of vulnerability and cool aloofness. I could listen to her sing a shopping list. But the songs here are mostly elaborate monologues of experience and emotion. It's pretty hard to make those kinds of song work, but her voice brings them alive. The music is good, with interesting jazzy additions to the folk palette - but really it's all a backdrop for the voice. The final track is impeccable vocal jazz performance, and I would love to hear a whole album of that. Overall, this album doesn't quite reach the soaring heights of Blue, and I don't really like how it takes a sharp turn in sound for the last three tracks (though they are still good tracks!) so I have to give it a 4*.

Easily the most accessible Joni album I've heard. I prefer her jazzier albums with Jaco but that takes nothing away from this one. Really enjoyable listening.

Legendary singer/songwriter, beautiful music, absolute masterpiece.

How can you not love Joni

I was gonna give this only 4 stars but I don't think my mom would ever forgive me if she found out, so I'm rounding up.

Joni Mitchell? More like moany shitshow.

I could listen to this every day.

Incredible melodies and lyrics. Not typical pop music at all. Interesting jazz influences and flourishes. Joni Mitchell is a genius. Every song is an interesting adventure.

It’s a testament to how great Joni Mitchell that this can be a perfect album and still not my favorite by her

Folk, guitar moving into some jazzy flourishes. She knocks it out the park again. Best Tracks: Court and Spark, Raised on Robbery, Twisted

Another high note in a very specific genre (that basically has a one woman sub genre in this particular performer). About perfect, if you like this kind of thing (which I do)

It's like a well-executed, yet unflavored custard. Pleasant enough but there's no point in eating it.

Like a lot of Joni Mitchell's music, I choose to like this album. She doesn't always make it easy for me to like it and in other hands a lot of these sounds and pretensions would seriously irritate me. A lot of these songs have parts I really like and parts I really don't like, often right after one another. I share a home with one or more people who seriously hate her music. So I have to be strategic about when and where I listen to it. In fairness to my housemates, Joni Mitchell's a bit of a musician's musician, I think, and that you'll hear a lot of people like Jimmy Page waxing poetic about her amazing guitar playing, but not a lot of non-musicians waxing about her. I think that's part of why she largely been forgotten over the last 20 or so years. Free Man In Paris is supposedly about David Geffen, who was her manager at the time and during a trip to France together was bitching to her about having put up with random calls from temperamental artists at all hours but in Paris where no one could reach him he was finally free and could relax a little. That's one tune I like all the way through without any major irritations. But my favorite story about Joni Mitchell and David Geffen was the time when he drove her to Woodstock and they got stuck in traffic and ended up just camping out in a motel room and watching the festival on TV where she wrote her song Woodstock that her boyfriend Graham Nash made famous with CSN a year or two later.

This is the second Joni Mitchell album in about a week. They're also not on Spotify cause she "stuck it to the man". So I'm honouring her wishes and not listening - the only time I'll do so in this project (because fuck mean spirited "hippie" boomer cunts like her and Neil Young). Thankfully I know how much her music sucks anyway. So here's a 1/5 and I hope this sets a lovely precedent where I never have to hear her awful wailing again.

at its best its female madman-era elton john written by a 14 yo girl who just went through her first breakup standing in for taupin. at its worst it sounds like joni mitchell. boring, repetitive instrumentation. trite, on-the-nose lyrics. i actively hate it. closing track was particularly insulting

I’m sorry…why haven’t I been listening to Joni Mitchell? Her albums on this list, so far, have been *excellent*. On Court and Spark, her voice, as always, is beautiful and unique, the instrumentation is varied, lively and engaging. Her blend of folk and jazz manages to be both soothing and invigorating, with flourishes of ambitious sonic textures and experimentation. What an excellent album.

Easy 5 even with the awful last track (that I since discovered is not by Joni at all!). Her voice sounds "softest" here compared to the other '70s classics although the songs are far from "pop". Great album

Gorgeous, Side B is a bit weak though.

Another neglected purchase on my hard drive, I may have skimmed off the opening, Broadway-esque piano chords, not in the mood. Silly me, this is very good, and I'm finding it hard to sum up why. Am tired and a blizzard arrives tomorrow, and I imagine this record would be good, conversational company for it. The instrumentation is superficially super normal and actually deeply weird. Free Man in Paris's Paris is a little Emily in Paris; it is still a good song.

I’d say it’s up there with her best pieces of work (I prefer The Hissing of Summer Lawns more though)

It's a good full-listen, but my aversion to singing that speeds up and slows down makes it hard to fall in love with most tracks.

I sense the talent but it's just on the verge of tipping me over into really liking it

Joni Mitchell is overrated. She is a good poet, but not really a musical artist. I don't know why she seems to hate writing choruses so much. Most of the songs are just unstructured messes that never go anywhere. 2⭐️

Can be tough-going Joni. When she's great she's super-brilliant, eg River, Both Sides Now, but the jazz-folk fusion can be a bit grating. This album, for me, was more of the latter.

not available on Spotify?

I didn't realize I hated Joni Mitchell so much. It's one of those names I've heard a bunch but never listened to.

A five for me. Help Me is beautiful. In a younger time when having such preferences seemed to matter… People’s Parties contains my favourite chord. It still hits. Raised on Robbery is the real jewel in this crown.

Beautiful. Love this. I’ve never really listened to Joni Mitchell before. Why has nobody ever sat me down and said “Mike, you need to listen to Joni Mitchell.”

It is staggering the level of musicality that is held within the 3m2s of Car on a Hill. I have generally favored Hejira but relistening to this after many years away - it's tough to beat. Choruses are on short supply. Melodies extend beyond simple pop convention. She feels fully liberated here. An artist. Like a relationship - if you open yourself up it hits the head and the heart.

Wow. Simply beautiful. "Help Me" will always be a favourite of mine, but the whole album is a work of art. Joni seems to have a knack for writing the most beautiful and poignant lyrics that I so often don't understand a lick of, while dancing them around clothed in meandering melodies that just make you want to get lost in them. A stunning album.

Court and Spark Although I know some of the songs in here, I've not listened to this album before. The opening bars of the title track, although I don’t think I’ve heard it before, are immediately warm and enveloping and comforting, she really does have the knack of making songs feel immediately familiar, as you’ve always known them. I do already know Help Me, but it also has that same feeling of always having existed, and being immediately comforting, like a kind of nostalgic warmth for something I’ve never experienced, even if the lyrics are more emotionally ambivalent by the end of the song. The brilliance of those two songs continues on the rest of side 1, with the excellent Free Man in Paris, the pen portrait People’s Parties and brilliant piano-led The Same Situation with some lovely steel guitar sounds. The 2nd side very slightly doesn’t quite match the quality of side 1, purely because the cover of Twisted doesn’t really do it for me, it has just a little too much forced jazz hands showtune energy for my taste. Outside that though the rest of the songs are again excellent. The soft rock adjacent Car on a Hill, with its spacey middle section, is great and Down To You is a fantastic song, the meandering piano line evoking the weariness in the words. Just Like This Train is another lovely track and although I wasn’t initially as keen on Raised on Robbery I came to very much like its shot of bluesy pop-rock. And Trouble Child is great, it has a nice Steely Dan-ness to it, and I presume the title and opening riff is an evocation of Trouble Man by Marvin Gaye? Even with Twisted, it’s hard not to give this a 5. It's a brilliant album, combining her characteristic shuffling jazzy folkiness, with her idiosyncratic rhyme schemes and uniquely brilliant voice. 🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨 Playlist submission: Down to You

I found it pleasant and engaging.

Listened on the drive to the mall and while walking around the mall. What an incredible story teller. Great range and variety of sounds on this record too. Down To You is a masterpiece of a song. Great record!

Beautiful tone, and songwriting that grabs me throughout. Especially Raised on Robbery & Free Man in Paris

Her voice and phrasing is just mesmerizing. She moves effortless from her chest voice to her head voice. The harmonizing on several tracks is angelic. Her expressiveness and vulnerability draws you in. Must listen to tracks are Help Me, Free Man in Paris, and Raised on Robbery is just fun.

L’ho ascoltato in macchina ieri, mi ha trasmesso un senso di pace e calma. Bella scoperta, mi è piaciuto

My favorite of her albums and that's saying something. Brilliant songwriter and wonderful singer.

Longtemps restée dans l'ombre de son petit-fils Eddy, Joni Mitchell n'en a pour autant pas moins de talent. C'était d'ailleurs prévisible. Je m'explique. Une fois que l'on a compris que Joni était une femme et non un énième gonze, on se doute que l'album sera bon puisque à l'exception de Patti Smith et sa crête iroquoise, aucune représentante de la gente féminine n'a obtenu moins de quatre étoiles de ma part. Et cet album les vaut bien.

great full band and piano, riffs can be pretty fun to listen to

When this is all over, if at least 50% of my reviews are threes, then I will say that I have assessed correctly.

3.5 - decent album. Compared to the first Joni Mitchell album I heard, this one actually makes me understand why people hold her in such high regard

Sorry Shane :-( good songs and great instrumentation but it’s a voice thing

Hated this on the first listen but really enjoyed it second time around

a very intresting mix, nice deep lyrics, love the mesh of the different elements... i expect this to age well, specially the uniqueness of the jazz pop sound which im excited to try in diff contexts. a very strong 3.

I enjoyed it, she has a really nice voice, and very poetic lyrics. To me, the lyrics actually gave off strong Taylor Swift vibes, it’s the stories she tells and vulnerability in the way in which she talks about her emotions. Her and Swift may be decades apart in their age and musical careers, but they have the same inner emotional landscape driving their song-writing. Well that’s my take anyway.

This was better Joni Mitchell than The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Still not my style, but much better.

Folk Music. :/

This wasn’t terrible but it’s not for me. Something about her style or voice just makes every song sound the same. Needs to throw a chorus in every once in a while. 2.5

Joni Mitchell is a polarizing figure for me. I enjoy her folky stuff more than her easy listening jazzy style stuff.

Couldn’t find it on Spotify and in the end not overly mad about it. Deedle deedle deedle

I really liked her voice, but the songs are a bit too generic and flat. I'm sure the lyrics are meaningful but I couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind because of this.

meh, just not really my style

A bit meandering and winding in places; middle of the road. Good album for dinner parties.

2 Joni Mitchell albums in 3 days, am I in purgatory?

Realised after one hour that the album was over and that I wasn't listening to anything. Completely forgettable (for me) and even more astonishing if you see the (good) ratings it got on release.

Girls just wanna have fun but this album does not let that. It's so boring except the Twisted song.

I feel like this is what divorced cigarette moms listen to.

This was a truly beautiful listen. Joni has a wonderful voice and a writing style that demands your attention, even during quieter songs that would fade into the background for lesser artists. The production on here was great, fitting in beautifully with the lush sounds of AM gold and Laurel Canyon permeating every interesting chord progression.

# Joni Mitchell - *Court and Spark*: An In-Depth Review Released in January 1974, *Court and Spark* stands as Joni Mitchell's commercial breakthrough and a pivotal artistic statement—a "bridge of sighs between folk-rock singer-songwriter and neo-jazz experimentalist". It was her sixth album and ultimately her biggest hit project, reaching #2 in the United States and achieving double-platinum certification. The record represents a deliberate step into jazz-inflected pop, showcasing a newfound polish and sophistication while retaining the confessional intimacy that defined her earlier work. ## Lyrics: Confession, Observation, and Internal Conflict The lyrics of *Court and Spark* mark a shift from the raw emotional immediacy of *Blue* toward more distanced, analytic ruminations on love's patterns and paradoxes. Mitchell described the album's approach as "songs about love" rather than love songs, with the lyrics weaving a central thematic tension: the conflict between freedom and commitment, and the "almost Zen-like dilemma" of always knowing what she wants while remaining depressed when she gets it. ### Key Lyrical Themes **The Freedom vs. Love Dichotomy**: Throughout the album, Mitchell explores this fundamental ambivalence. In "Help Me," she captures the thrill of romantic surrender tempered by self-protection ("We love our lovin' / But not like we love our freedom"). The title track finds Mitchell unable to leave Los Angeles to follow an alluring drifter ("But I couldn't let go of L.A. / City of the fallen angels"), choosing career and security over romantic possibility. **Fame and Its Discontents**: "Free Man in Paris"—famously about her friend David Geffen—depicts a music industry executive yearning for escape from the "star-maker machinery". "People's Parties" presents a more personal view of Hollywood social circles, capturing the performative nature of celebrity gatherings with lines like "Laughing and crying / You know it's the same release". The album reveals Mitchell's growing cynicism about the L.A. scene she had entered. **Mental Health and Vulnerability**: The album's closing pair—"Trouble Child" and the cover of Annie Ross's "Twisted"—address madness from two angles. "Trouble Child" depicts a medicated savant who threatens the comfort of those around him ("Breaking like the waves at Malibu"). "Twisted" uses humor to mock psychoanalysis ("I got into the vodka one night"). Together, they "flirt with insanity from a distance safe enough to show she can control even so threatening a concern". **The Internal Conflict**: The album's central tension is crystallized in "The Same Situation": "Caught in my struggle for higher achievements / And my search for love that don't seem to cease". This conflict reflects the broader challenge faced by ambitious women in an era when career and partnership often seemed mutually exclusive. ## Music: The Jazz-Inflected Arrangements *Court and Spark* represented a significant sonic departure from Mitchell's earlier work. Where *Blue* achieved emotional effect through sparseness and nuance, this album "achieves its ethereal and lyrical quality with even more instrumentation than any of her other recordings—including horns, strings and a full rhythm section". ### The Session Musicians Mitchell assembled some of the finest session players of the L.A. jazz scene: saxophonist/arranger Tom Scott and his band L.A. Express, guitarist Larry Carlton, drummer John Guerin, and keyboardist Joe Sample. Guest contributors included Robbie Robertson, José Feliciano, David Crosby, and Graham Nash. The musicianship throughout is impeccable, with "tonal separation sharply defined" and arrangements that feel both meticulous and spontaneous. ### Musical Highlights **"Down to You"**: Often cited as the album's masterpiece, this track uses instrumental breaks as storytelling devices. A long instrumental passage—moving from somber bass notes to pizzicato strings and triumphant piano chords—mirrors a journey from darkness to acceptance. As one critic notes, "the music is less a reinforcement of the lyrics and more of a counterpoint to them". **"Car on a Hill"**: A bold experiment that "suffers from a possibly too literal conception". Mitchell changes tempi and inserts choral passages between verses, attempting to contrast specific lyrics with dreamy interludes—a technique that works better in concept than execution for some critics. **"Help Me"**: Mitchell's only Top 10 hit, it demonstrates her ability to blend accessibility with sophistication. The track features "John Guerin's measured rhythms on the skins" and "Larry Carlton's soft-sex electric guitar licks". ## Production: Polished but Contested Mitchell co-produced the album with engineer Henry Lewy, while Bernie Grundman handled mastering. The production represented a significant step toward polish and accessibility. ### The Controversy Not all critics embraced the new sound. A contemporary review complained that Mitchell had "buried herself with too much sweetening," sounding "sometimes like the Carpenters" and losing the "simple purity of style" that defined her earlier work. The critic noted her voice had become "lower, huskier" and that she risked becoming "just another pretty voice". ### Technical Quality Audiophile reviews praise the album's sonic quality. The Rhino remaster features "more punch, more weight down low with excellent resolution and texture on percussion, piano and woodwinds". Some find the pressing "a bit brittle in the higher registers of the piano" depending on the pressing, but overall the production is considered "superb," with "pointed observations on superlative pitch control, timbral complexion...and paper-dry patterning of drum skins and brushes". ## Themes: A Woman's Perspective on Love *Court and Spark* is notable for offering a woman's perspective on the complexities of modern relationships. As one commentator notes, "while most relationship stories were told from a male perspective... Mitchell gives us a woman's perspective on love". The album moves from *Blue*'s self-blame and *For the Roses*'s blame of others to a more mature view: the source of unhappiness lies in relationships themselves, "in the patterns of interaction between lovers". ## Influence: A Lasting Legacy *Court and Spark* has proven remarkably influential. Stevie Nicks described dropping acid while listening to the album, calling it "a pretty dynamic experience". The album's melding of confessional songwriting with jazz sophistication influenced generations of artists, from Kate Bush to contemporary singer-songwriters. The record also represents a key moment in Mitchell's artistic evolution, setting the stage for the even more experimental works that followed: *The Hissing of Summer Lawns*, *Hejira*, and *Mingus*. As one critic observed, for younger listeners, *Court and Spark* often supplants *Blue* as the essential Joni Mitchell album. --- ## Pros and Cons of *Court and Spark* ### Pros - **Sophisticated musicianship**: The jazz-influenced arrangements featuring L.A. Express and top session players are impeccable - **Lyrically rich and emotionally complex**: The album captures nuanced ambivalence about love and freedom with remarkable precision - **Sonically excellent production**: The recording quality is superb, with clear separation and dynamic range - **Commercial accessibility without artistic compromise**: Mitchell achieved radio hits while maintaining her artistic integrity - **Tonal variety**: The album ranges from the poignant "Down to You" to the raucous "Raised on Robbery" and the humorous "Twisted" ### Cons - **Loss of intimacy**: Some listeners miss the stripped-down, emotionally raw quality of *Blue* and earlier work - **Occasional over-production**: The elaborate arrangements can feel like "excess baggage" that buries Mitchell's voice - **"Car on a Hill" experiment partially fails**: The tempo changes and choral passages feel overly literal - **"Twisted" is a stylistic oddity**: The closing cover, while charming, feels disconnected from the album's emotional arc - **Voice has changed**: Mitchell's voice had become lower and huskier, losing some of its earlier ethereal quality --- *Court and Spark* remains a landmark album that successfully balances commercial appeal with artistic ambition. It captures Mitchell at a crossroads—between folk and jazz, between the personal and the universal, between the pursuit of love and the demands of career—and represents what one critic called "a sky-high marriage of serenity and yearning". While some fans may prefer the raw intimacy of *Blue* or the experimental daring of *Hejira*, *Court and Spark* stands as Mitchell's most accessible masterpiece and a definitive statement of 1970s singer-songwriter artistry.

So when I was 16 I was walking through a mall and this came on the loudspeaker. Don't recall which song. I stopped, literally, mid-stride, listening in shock and awe (sorry, my phrase too, not only the warmongers'). I knew a couple Joni songs from the radio, but this was different. The start of an obsession. I walked to the record store and bought the LP.

As big of a Joni Mitchell fan as I am, for some reason, this album was never one I fell into. I'm familiar with much of it, but damn, taken in one sitting, what a fantastic record. "Help Me" is a gem of a song, and there are many others that rival it on this. Love the jazz feel, love the unpredictability, love Mitchell's unabashed literacy. Great album, a treasure of a songwriter.

What is there to say about Court And Spark that hasn't already been said? All the accolades seem so trite when compared to the masterpiece that is this album. This listen I had swirls of memories from distinct moments in my life when I would spin this. High School - I found the LP in a record collection from a family I babysat for. They let me spin their records. I think I even borrowed Dr. Rothfarb's album and failed to return it. Summer of 1984 - I was an exchange student in Germany for the summer brought this with me on cassette. Help Me became more about falling in love with myself and my choices. I felt so powerful listening to this song. That confidence helped me make it through that summer. Fall 1987 - Back in Germany for the year, feeling so mature and worldly...I was a free woman in Bremen going from cafe to cabaret. Joni singing on my Walkman as I navigated so many cobblestones. Mid 90s - Finally upgraded my cassette to CD and started to hear the music behind the lyrics. Oh christ, the same situation. All I wanted was to send up my prayer. Last night - Thankful that prayer was answered. Most thankful Joni Mitchell and this, my favorite album, has been a soundtrack through all my journeys. Lately I've come to recognize what a strong impact travel & music have had on me and my life choices. So this isn't really a great review of an album. But Joni's work has always meant more to me than just music. And we know millions of people feel the same way.

This is an easy album to admire. Joni Mitchell is universally respected for good reasons. Brilliant lyricist, incredible vocalist, and as an artist, a true trailblazer. Help Me and Free Man in Paris are timeless masterpieces. There are no bad songs, and there is a pleasant variety. Raised on Robbery is a cooking little boogie woogie number, while a number of the others are smooth and slick stories set to a folk-music wrought storytelling approach. I can't see anything but five stars for this album.

Beautiful. I think this album really demonstrated her lyrical capacity, in that she tells stories that are so incredibly believable that you can imagine them happening word for word. Raised on Robbery the highlight.

From the beginning song court and spare which rambles beautifully to the peerless help me. This is an absolute work of art. A different style and more narrative rather than the personal previous albums. Such a storyteller and such a voice. A quiet album that kicks like a mule

I was going to give this a 4, but then I waited a day and gave it two more listens. This is really good, her voice is always beautiful but it feels just completely like an instrument. Such range and careful use, I could have this on in the background just all of the time.

This is another very good album by Joni Mitchell. It's more varied than Blue, with some more rock and jazz influences. Songs I enjoyed: "Help Me", "Free Man in Paris", "Car on a Hill", "Down to You" (great arrangement and probably my favourite track in the album), "Raised on Robbery" (a great "rocker"), or "Trouble Child" (great lyrics). Actually, the song I enjoyed the less is "Twisted", which happens to be the only cover in the album . Overall, I think it deserves 5 stars as part of this project.

Simply beautiful

Like

I don’t care how Love, Actually frames it, I’d be quite happy with a Joni Mitchell CD

Joni Mitchell is an artist who needs to be listened to more than once to hear the nuances in the lyrics and the music. No one writes songs like she does. But when you first hear her, it doesn't make sense as pop music because she breaks so many "rules." Nevertheless, her influence is enormous, and she lays claim to being one of the all-time great songwriters.

So good

An extremely pretty, perhaps relatable story of loneliness, falling in love, being turned down, coming to terms with rejection. And then a side story at the end, with themes about mental health and acceptance of neuro-diversity, which would have been extremely forward thinking for the time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time listening to this, relating to the themes very strongly.

Nu har æ hørt på det her minst fire ganger, og æ elske det. Æ har hørt påfallanes lite på Joni Mitchell i løpet av livet så langt, men ho har jo bestandig eksistert i bakgrunnen på alt av musikk, så æ tror æ e fan likevel. I så måte gjorde det her ingenting for å motbevise det, for æ likte det skikkelig skikkelig godt.

Als ik dit vind op de rommelmarkt, waar orange juice in de achtgrond speelt, koop ik dit album zeker.

Love the jazz influence on this one (quite the departure from For the Roses), the guitar tunings/chord voicings and lyrics/subject matter are both so beautiful

Хорошо поет прикольно как птичка

so whimsical love her voice too I love it! some very movie/theatre vibes in the instrumentation that i adore, mostly in 'down to you' very pretty

Sorry Joni, I wasn't really familiar with your game

Beautiful album to shower to.

I’m glad we got two Joni albums back to back. Blue is lovely, but this album really sounds like home. It sounds like my parents cooking dinner with the windows open, and I’m outside playing with my sister at sunset. It’s a lovely sense memory. It’s a lovely album.

Love me some Joni

Love Joni Mitchell! Incredible voice. Great songwriter. Fantastic guitar player. This album is nearly perfect. 4.8 I’ll give it a 5.

muy buen álbum de lo mejor cito que escuche

One of the absolute best...

9/10

Gentle, breathless, and exquisite vocals paired with remarkably fluid melodies. This is the definitive album where jazz textures seamlessly weave into Mitchell's song-writing. The first side is structurally flawless, sustaining an elegant, sun-dappled mood from start to finish. On side two, a couple of spirited, whimsical tracks offer a wonderful contrast, preventing the heavier themes from becoming overly dense. "Court and Spark" remains my favourite Joni Mitchell album. Listening to it on a lovely summer's Sunday morning - after an early walk with the dog, now settled with a cup of tea and buttered toast - is pure perfection. Five stars. Side one 1. "Court and Spark" (5/5) 2. "Help Me" (5/5) 3. "Free Man in Paris" (5/5) 4. "People's Parties" (5/5) 5. "The Same Situation" (5/5) Side two 1. "Car on a Hill" (4/5) 2. "Down to You" (5/5) 3. "Just Like This Train" (4/5) 4. "Raised on Robbery" (5/5) 5. "Trouble Child" (4/5) 6. "Twisted" (4/5) Total - 51 Average - 4.64 333/1001 182/333 albums reviewed were new to me.

You know, I should have expected sublime perfection from Joni Mitchell and yet she still surprised me with how incredible this record is. It deserves 7 stars but I guess I'll give it a 5. It's that fucking impeccable.