Blue

"Blue" is an album that has Joni bearing her soul...leaving no stone unturned, no walls or curtains to hide behind. It is intensely emotional, and lets the listener get closer to her than any other album. This album is so special for that reason. Her playing is stellar...she makes it sound so easy. Her voice is in top form; singing with such clarity and young wisdom. I never get sick of this album...from "All I Want" to "The Last Time I Saw Richard." Is it folk music? No...I wouldn't say so. Has it ever claimed to be a folk album? If you want "Tom Dooley", then listen to The Kingston Trio...if you want something deeper and encompassing, listen to Joni Mitchell...no simple 3 chord wonders here.

I have read the bad reviews of this album (and also those for "Court and Spark"...yet another piece of Mitchell magic) and I just don't understand it. Someone reviewing "Court and Spark" said that they didn't like Joni Mitchell's voice...hmmmm...a matter of opinion...from a person who couldn't possibly give a good review of ANY of her albums since she has the AUDACITY to sing on them. It is the same for "Blue"...Joni needed Prozac...why couldn't she crack a smile...the album is dull and boring...her voice is awful...these negative reviews (for Joni Mitchll albums, they tend to be extremely short, and lacking in any real detail...as different from Joni Mitchell's writing as day is from night...maybe that is why they don't like her) could be sending people away from this album, or others by this absolutely legendary singer/songwriter. I have no problem with people giving albums negative reviews, but not if it is about criticizing her for her mood at the time of writing the songs...was she not allowed to be reflective of things in her life?

Give a negative review based on the musical performance, the lack of lyrical depth, the LACK of emotion, the poor production quality...it won't apply to this album.

Led Zeppelin-LED ZEPPELIN IV
The Who-WHO'S NEXT
Carole King-TAPESTY (Amazingly, won Grammy for Album of the Year)
The Rolling Stones-STICKY FINGERS
Rod Stewart-EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY
Traffic-THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH-HEELED BOYS
John Lennon-IMAGINE
James Taylor-MUDSLIDE SLIM AND THE BLUE HORIZON
Chicago-CHICAGO III and AT CARNEGIE HALL
Elton John-TUMBLEWEED COLLECTION and MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER
The Altman Brothers Band-AT FILLMORE EAST
Carly Simon-CARLY SIMON and ANTICIPATION
Yes-THE YES ALBUM
Alice Cooper-LOVE IT TO DEATH and KILLER

And at the heart of these remarkable landmarks was Joni Mitchell's BLUE. What she does to the songs CAREY and CALIFORNIA are truly amazing. There were a couple of X factors as to why I think '71 is the greatest ever: It was the first full year that there wasn't a song by The Beatles and it marked Rock's unsolved mystery with the mysterious demise of The Doors' Jim Morrison(Did he really fake his death in Paris to escape prison like what happened to Roman Polaski?). Could it be possible that the incident inspired Mitchell to write "Free Man in Paris" three years later? ("But for the work I've taken on/Stoking the star maker machinery/Behind the popular song) Above all, BLUE was the beginning of what made Joni Mitchell great.