The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
Joni Mitchell
1975
Album Summary
The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the seventh studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1975.
WikipediaNice production value. The Jungle Line is cool and not the sound i associated with Joni Mitchell. I’m a fan!
Joni Mitchell doing her usual blend of folk rock and jazz. Her lyrics will always be standouts as she has a canny ability to create songs that often feel like you're listening to a painting. It's wonderfully detailed, fascinating stuff.
Pretty remarkable, even if Joni Mitchell has a voice that I seriously cannot get along with. The craft and talent are apparent but, man, that voice...
This was like a time piece for someone who loathed the late 60s/early 70s.
Not my cup of tea. Too slow and jazzy, maybe it's that I don't understand the context of the time the album was written. Almost fell asleep listening to it. Best: idek Worst: The whole album??
Estoy convencido de que Joni Mitchell es poeta, jaja. Ya había dicho creo que su voz me resulta agradable, relajante y aquí pasa lo mismo, si bien a diferencia del Court and Spark, acá hay más relajo respecto a las letras y sobre todo las melodías. Se nota, pues, como este intento de jazz fusionado con lo pop, lo folk y el resultado me gusta. De repente parece poesía musicalizada, pero que no todo lo sea es lo que me convence. Mis canciones favoritas fueron "The Jungle Line" y "Harry's House / Centerpiece", la primera por esos tamborcitos y todo el tono (que me enteré de que son un sample y es el primer sample reconocido en música "comercial") y la segunda por su composición y además la manera en que inserta "Centerpiece". En sí, todas me gustaron, es un bonito recorrido y a "The Boho Dance" también le tengo cariño porque Björk la covereó. Btw, "The Jungle Line" suena de repente a "Earth Intruders" en sus principios y también entiendo cada vez más que a Lana del Rey le guste Joni. 9/10
This is an incredibly expansive album. Joni Mitchell employs various genres, instruments, and rhythms to create a kaleidoscope of sounds that remains coherent. She was beginning to explore sounds outside folk, and incorporated a fair amount of jazz into what would turn out to be an avant garde masterpiece. The back half of the album in particular resonated with me. I am fairly new to Joni Mitchell but I am already firmly convinced of her genius.
There are several Joni Mitchell albums I would prefer over this one, but The Hissing of Summer Lawns is still very, very good. The overall atmosphere is just very pleasant, and I like the jazziness that will be further developed on Hejira and Don Juan, probably my favourite albums from her.
Fascinating! This Joni Mitchell could have been a boring coffeehouse singer-songwriter, but this is avant-garde coffeehouse. I love the jungle line! It reminds me of Ween. Way ahead of its time and stretching the power of the moog. Sweet bird, shadows and light, and the opening track "France" are also great. I give it 8/10 - a great album and I'm glad I listened.
Production value was better. Still don't care for the music. Joni Mitchell does not speak to me.
I love the sort of free-flowing inventiveness of the song structure and the arrangements here, but none of it ever sinks in for me.
The jungle line rubs me the wrong way, and with it being song #2, put me in a bad mood. She's a heck of a songwriter, and most of the music is beautiful. But overall, something that I'd most likely not put into the rotation.
Joni Mitchell has made more than a couple of perfect albums in her career, this is one of them. So good
I mean, Joni Mitchell is classic, and surprisingly, I’d never actually listened to one of her albums. I enjoyed this one and would look for more of her in the future.
Joni knocks it out of the park on this one. Summer feels with an excellent blend of nostalgia, melancholy, and ambience.
Fantastic. The vocals and lyricism are breathtaking, and closing track was one of the biggest surprises in music for me.
I was sort of dreading this after her more folksy albums, but it's kind of perfect. The sort of thing Air were trying to do, minus the tongue-in-cheekness.
A happy Joni Mitchel that I din't know! Loved it! Melhor música: The Jungle Line e Shades of Scarlet Conquering
awesome album and super impressive for 1975 The Jungle Line sounds like if Tyler, The Creator produced the beat for a Björk song, and again to make a song like that in 1975 is extremely impressive overall, I love Joni Mitchell’s discography and this album is one of my favorites of hers, 10/10
Feels like the first perfect day of summer. Jazz, folk, beautiful poetic lyrics. This might be my favourite from Joni Mitchell.
Incredible. the unique vocal style of Joni mixes with meladolic instrumentation to create an otherworldly tone, when more bass-ey instruments on "The Jungle Line" are used it really succeeds in disrupting this and making you feel an uneasyness underneath. Similar sounding country for the most part to some of crosby stills and nash which makes the use of jazz piano stand out being an older musical style adds to the theme of nostalgic longing in the song that features it. Fav song: Harry's House/Centerpiece Least fav song: The whole album flows so well i cannot pick one
Notes - Joni mitchell’s 7th album - Jazz-rock folk album - Ive never really listened to Joni mitchell other than her big hits - Definitely someone that I’ve missed in my musical education - Her lyrics and singing just feel effortless - Totally relaxed and natural, like she’s telling you a story and just so happens to be singing really incredibly at the same time - This album sounds and feels like nostalgia for a time I wasn’t alive in - Its “jazz” but only enough to add an extra dimension to the instrumentals Fav - Edith and the kingpin - Love the story of this song Least fav - Sweet bird - Good song, goes on a bit long 5/5 - I NEED to listen to more joni mitchell
5.0 + Props to Prince for promoting this stunning gem of a record. Mitchell sounds so coolly in command singing jazzy turns of phrase. Instrumentally, the album is packed with nuggets. The interplay of distorted drums and growly bass on “The Jungle Line”, along with Mitchell’s lines of coffeehouse poetry, are a true highlight on a record filled with stunning moments.
What a strange album. I love Joni Mitchell's voice. This album is an album that doesn't know it's own genre. I didn't know a single song, but would listen again.
Ahh, não devia ter ouvido o Blue antes desse, né? Agora fico querendo comparar os dois e não tem como algo bater aquele álbum incrível. Mas esse é muito bom!
Approaching a masterpiece, this album is quite an experience! Much more sonically diverse than her other stuff I've heard, and the lyrics are so profound. Way to kill it again, Joni!
Well this was an interesting listen. Definitely an experimental time, Joni must have been influenced by synthesizers, jazz and progressive rock as much as her previous style. There are definitely some words and lyrics which I didn't understand. This could be as much the way she chooses to sing them as much as the words themselves. I feel like I'm missing something in the lyrics, it could be the age of the album. It could be the way she sings. Perhaps someone more familiar with both the 1970s and Joni would know. Overall, I enjoyed it and would probably listen again. 7/10
I never listened to Joni Mitchell at all until this album, and while it was a great album, it just didn't resonate with me. I even listened to this twice at work, and i still couldn't feel this...if it makes sense. " Don't Interrupt The Sorrow" was definitely the best song of the album, which was incredibly well done, and i still give this high marks, maybe i'm just crazy, or the next listen-to will change things for me.
“The Hissing of Summer Lawns” by Joni Mitchell (1975) Lyrics. Lyrics. Lyrics. To appreciate this album is to immerse oneself in the Lyrics. Here Joni Mitchell demonstrates her superlatively intelligent transformation of serious thoughts and feelings into meaningful sound. Her poetry is smart without being pretentiously erudite. She employs highly referential subject matter in service to exquisitely feminine introspection and evocation. Each line is vivid. Each phrase punctuated by perfectly placed consonants, begging a listener like me to shut down my interior (male) voice and surrender my attention to her. Joni Mitchell could get me to do anything. If I were so fortunate as to take her out on a date, my first words to her would be “Conquer me, Scarlett.” Musically, this is a very well produced album, well executed and recorded, and very appealing (if the listener has developed a taste for both jazz and folk—in that order). Dispensing with standard structures and melodic conventions, she walks her own path. Glad to follow. 4/5
Me pareció sonicamente mucho más llamativo que el anterior qie escuchamos de ella. A pesar de que son canciones con tonos que usualmente no me interesan, la verdad sí disfruté mucho este disco, melancolía y dulzura. Canciones favs: Harry's house y shadows and light. Mood: estoy muriendo?
Sets it's stall out in the first 20 seconds: "Downtown My darling dime store thief In the War of Independence Rock 'n' roll rang sweet as victory" Lyrically very striking, musiclly interesting. Liked it a lot. Feels like it would have more to give on repeat listens. 4/5
My mom used to listen to her a lot. Makes me feel like I should be in the 70s listening to this.
I didn’t love it, because it was Joni Mitchell I was tempted to score high, but maybe it’s not as high as I think
Sonically and lyrically interesting. I would probably revisit this one a few times to see if I can make more sense of it.
Mitchell does some of her jazz/folk. BT: In France They Kiss On Main Street, Don't Interrupt the Sorrow, Harry's House / Centerpiece
Se antoga para una tarde nublada de depresión y vino, y sí, eso es un cliché. Nunca había escuchado nada de Joni, pero sí la tenía presente como una figura femenina importante de la música de su época. igual y por no tener más referencias de ella no tengo claro el impacto o la razón de su inclusión en esta lista (?)
I definitely see why this alienated Joni Mitchell fans of the time. It was a little more artsy, a little more jazzy, a little more psychedelic than her other musical endeavors. However, I thought it was an experiment that yeilded a great end product! Maybe not the instant classic that Blue was, but a great album of its own; I want more time to digest it.
The jazz, folk and experimental sound of this album make it worth listening to.
Bra album! Bästa låtarna: In France They Kiss on Main Street Don't Interrupt the Sorrow The Hissing of Summer Lawns The Boho Dance Harry's House / Centerpiece
Good album. I rated the previous Joni Mitchell album 3 stars with the only criticism that the songs don't really feel like they're going anywhere. This one seems a bit more mature musically. The poppy jazz instrumentation was a great background for Mitchell's beautifully soothing voice. I liked it.
I kinda only knew Joni Mitchell from that one hit (Taxi) and the Prince cover, but I'm very glad I finally fully listened to some more of her music. The album is an amazing combination of folk and jazz.
Good album, enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting. Very different vibe from Blue, more varied instrumentals and the lyrics are quite nice. Particularly liked Don't Interrupt the Sorrow.
I've never been particularly into Joni Mitchell but damn if this isn't one of the prettiest albums I've ever heard.
This was very pleasant. Having not reviewed the track listings there were a couple of times I thought she was going to break into Big Yellow Taxi. Also, there were a few instances were I detected some politicising in the lyrics but because it was so pleasant you almost don’t even realise!
Musings on suburbia with her usual lyrical dexterity and folksy touch. There’s some excellent layering of vocals here too.
A pleasant surprise. I have honestly no experience with Joni Mitchell so this was a first experience for me. I thought there was a ton of originality, a good vibe, and a cool sound. I'll be listening to some of the songs off this again for sure. The only reason I knock it down a star is because sometimes I feel like she tried to do a bit too much with the lyrics. This isn't a huge deal but was a bit distracting on what was an otherwise very pleasant listen.
Unable to listen as Joni removed all her music from Spotify. I'll take a guess on the rating based on my knowledge of her other albums.
Much more interesting than Blue. Title cut, “Shadows and Light,” and “Edith and the Kingpin” all work well. It’s safe to say that one prefers the more observant and jazzier Joni to the outwardly emotional Joni.
Joni Mitchell is has such a lovely voice. I had never heard this album for but I really liked it
Such a strange and interesting record. Some really weird stuff with the drum loops and synths. Some of it sounds so ahead of its time and some of it sounds so 70’s. Seems to be one of her more experimental records and kind of transitional in style. Kind of enigmatic for me . I really enjoyed listening to the album and there’s some really great stuff on here, but it didn’t move me emotionally like some of her others. Tough one for me to rate. 4
Not heard this one. Cool and jazzy underpinning to Joni. Like it a lot on first listen. Going to be a favourite.
Enjoyable album without any standout songs but an overall nice atmosphere, created by Joni's voice and the Jazz instruments