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Track Listings
| 1. In France They Kiss On Main Street |
| 2. The Jungle Line |
| 3. Edith And The Kingpin |
| 4. Don't Interrupt The Sorrow |
| 5. Shades Of Scarlett Conquering |
| 6. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns |
| 7. The Boho Dance |
| 8. Harry's House/Centerpiece |
| 9. Sweet Bird |
| 10. Shadows And Light |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
Court and Spark had earned Joni Mitchell mainstream pop acceptance, but its underlying spirit of discovery pushed her to risk new-found success with this edgier, experimental sequel released in 1975. Although the session crew is largely the same, and sleek jazz elements again abound, these songs find her introducing Burundi drums (on "The Jungle Line"), layering magisterial but forbidding vocal harmonies ("Shadows and Light"), and casting rueful shadows across the sun-dazed Southern California of the title song. Her daring promptly earned critical scorn and halted her commercial expansion, but the album's confident eclecticism and dark beauty have outlived that reception: from the safety of hindsight, Hissing was a promise to stay hungry and creatively adventurous, a promise kept then and now. --Sam Sutherland
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Interestingly, I'm a big Zappa fan, and Joni's music is pretty much as far removed from Frank's as you can get. But you know what? This CD just freaks me out. "Edith and the Kingpin" has to be one of the most moving songs ever written--I don't weep over many songs, but I do over this one, time after time. The whole CD (and many of her other CDs) is just pure, no nonsense, honest emotion--emotion that just happens to come from a truly amazing musician. Buy it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By kennedy19
Format:Audio CD
Like Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks," this is one of those albums people either get or they don't, and thus they tend to love it or hate it. I like much of Joni Mitchell's work, but I have to confess that I'm not particularly fond of this album, though I certainly don't hate it. The jazzy pop Mitchell had delved into with "Court and Spark" is here taken a step further, with an accent more on the jazz than the pop. The result features some beautiful moments and moods, but precious few memorable melodies. Even "Hejira," the next step in the experimental process, seemed to feature better songwriting to my ears. Mitchell's lyrics are good as always, and vaguely thematic in their approach to urban life. I'm glad she chose to get experimental, though I don't care for some of the results, especially "The Jungle Line," a clunker full of some annoying moog synthesizer programs that might have sounded better if somebody had even just mixed it differently to emphasize different sounds in it. Some of her "contemporary" (yuck) jazzy sounding basses and guitars sound rather cloying and lack bite, but Joni's voice is wonderful as usual and "In Paris They Kiss on Main Street" is a genuinely exciting track.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By learjeff
Format:Audio CD
Other reviewers waxed eloquent about this jewel, and rightly so. I can't add much add other than that this is one of the handful of albums I'd want on that deserted island, along with these:
Pink Floyd / Dark Side of the Moon
Pat Metheny Group / Path Metheney Group
Miles Davis / Kind of Blue
Weather Report / Heavy Weather
Bruce Springsteen / Born to Run
Steely Dan / Aja
James Taylor / Greatest Hits
It's the kind of album that still sounds fresh and relevant after 25 or 30 years. Albums that have stayed at arm's reach the entire time, never forgotten or falling into disfavor.
If you liked "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris" from Court and Spark, or "Last Time I Saw Richard" from Miles of Aisles, chances are you'll like this album too. The folksy Joni has been put on the back burner but the jazz Joni hasn't quite emerged yet. What you get instead is the sophisticated pop Joni at her very best. If you're looking for folk style or very jazzy stuff, this isn't it. Also, there's less of her floaty guitar style on this album than on subsequent ones like Hejira.
This album is also ideal for people who thrive on searching for various levels of meaning in the lyrics. As Joni states in the liner notes, the album was conceived as a whole, and all the pieces fit together conceptually as well as musically.
Great backup work by Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Robbenn Ford, Jeff Baxter, Max Bennett, Victor Feldman, John Guerin, and Chuck Findley, and including backing vox and other instruments by James Taylor, Graham Nash, and David Crosby.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joni's most ambitious one
Joni Mitchell is one of the best female vocalist in the popular music. Her earlier works were anchored in folk-music, she then turned to a more jazz/pop-oriented music. Read more
Published on Dec 8 2003 by lucas biela
5.0 out of 5 stars
A decade ahead of its time
This record is both "the beginning of the end" and "the end of the beginning" for Joni Mitchell. Read more
Published on Oct 16 2003 by Michael Logan
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enduring precursor of things to come
Who said that there wasn't life after Court and Spark?
For one who has always been adventurous and challenging, Joni Mitchell would create another masterpiece that proved once... Read more
Published on Jun 20 2003 by Chad Kelham
5.0 out of 5 stars
The many faces of "Hissing of Summer Lawns"
The beauty of "Hissing" is much like that of a work of art in a museum.
It cannot be fully appreciated by simple casual glances. Read more
It cannot be fully appreciated by simple casual glances. Read more
Published on Jun 5 2003 by "krimmy"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joni invented a type of jazz.
A lot of people think "In France They Kiss on Main Street" is pop-ish, or not so special. I see how that might happen, but I hear different things in that song. Read more
Published on May 10 2003 by john
4.0 out of 5 stars
a tricky album
This is a tricky album. I bought it after hearing the beautiful 'In France They Kiss On Main Street' and listened to it on my discman in the train. And, I was dissapointed. Read more
Published on April 28 2003 by Hans
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joni at her most cryptic and haunting...
One of the reasons why I love Joni Mitchell so much is that there are so many sides to her music...the delicacy of her early folk ballads; the electric jazz of her work with... Read more
Published on Mar 25 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
I DISCOVERED JONI ALL OVER AGAIN
My mother introduced me to the music of Joni Mitchell when I was a little girl. She use to play "Court and Spark" and "Blue" for me and they became two of my... Read more
Published on Mar 3 2003 by Emma's Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars
I don't know why I like it so much
I was born the year this album came out, 1975. For some reason, records that came out between 1971 and 1975 tend to be some of my favourites. Read more
Published on Feb 23 2003 by Kelly G
5.0 out of 5 stars
The soundtrack to a different California...
An album that bears many many listenings, without ever growing old or stale. The music itself is jazz-pop, and the lyrics are far better poetry than anything that comes between... Read more
Published on Mar 20 2002 by Bo K.
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