Blue
by Joni Mitchell

From babyBlueSedan TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/10/2015 03:11 | #134545 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

There are a few words used to describe music that typically indicate I won't like it. Sparse, intimate, and voice-driven are some of them. And all three of them describe this album perfectly - as others have said, it is the sound of an artist laying their life bare with songs reflecting over their experiences. But somehow, in this case, it all comes together and creates what I believe to be the most perfect album ever crafted.

It's one thing to have a great voice, and it's quite another to be able to use that voice and make it sound honest. If there's one word that describes (nearly) all of the music I enjoy it's honest. And if someone is clearing trying to hit high notes and sing in key that honesty is lost; that's why I often prefer bad singers to good ones. But Joni makes hitting the high notes sound incredibly effortless, and she integrates them perfectly into the rest of the song so that they don't stand out as if she's trying to impress with her voice. It's an album that is so well crafted that the voice is irrelevant, but she still manages to sing perfectly.

And the song-writing - the stream-of-consciousness style she writes in is just tremendous. Picture Kurt Cobain if the thoughts in his head actually made sense. There is no pretense, there is no thought. These are the things she is thinking, and she's not manipulating them to sound like poetry. There are moments on this record that are incredibly general and could apply to anyone, and there are moments where the specificity is brilliant ("Richard got married to a figure skater, and he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator"). The songs reflect the era she lived in (Little Green / Blue) and her dreams for the future (River). Even when the lyrics blend into a more manufactured poetry they sound so heartbreakingly beautiful you can't fault it (Case of You). And of course there's a central theme that ties things together nicely - it wouldn't be a true album if the songs didn't feel like they belonged together. Not only is there the general sentiment of heartbreak that is described by colors (Blue and Green, obviously), but each song seems to dwell on a different aspect of the feeling (or the moments leading up to it). The songs also progress nicely, starting off hopeful and glad and then straying into sadness, depression, and what I wouldn't hesitate to call despair. It starts with hopes and dreams (the dream theme culminates in Carey and California) but by the end the illusion is shattered and the truths about love and life come out.

My love for this album goes even beyond words, but somehow it's the one I find the most to say about and the most to discover more in. The number of times I've broken down sobbing to this album is not a single digit number.

I also listened to this album as part of working through the BEA100 - and I see loads of great reviews about it, but, I guess it's just not my cup of tea. Sure it may be putting her heart out there, but if I want something depressing to listen to I would go for Lou Reed's Berlin (second side). But hey, if we all liked the same stuff all the time there might only have been a few dozen bands over the last 50 years.
I'll revisit this album as tastes change and familiarity might help...

Joni Mitchell's "Blue" is one of the most melodic and emanating albums of all time. Joni Mitchell composed most of the songs during a trip to Europe. The songs are filled with the emotions of the singer who was, at the time, fragile because of her success. Joni Mitchell reveals all her feelings, her thoughts, she talks about her daughter and her desire to flourish. This album is composed only of Melancholy and Romanticism, it is one of the most beautiful musical, vocal and literary masterpieces of all time.

10/10

Best track: "All I Want"

From Boltzmann TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/27/2018 22:44 | #220172 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Here it is, the only female solo artist in the top 100, and the only female solo artist in a lot of charts. It makes sense why: as long as the message is “you don’t have to marry” it is seen as empowering, but the near equivalent “fuck whoever you want” still rubs people wrong. And that’s not a criticism towards Joni.

But enough about you guys, let’s talk about Joni Mitchell, or rather her album - if that’s not the same thing. Because the album feels like a diary really. And one would see that as brilliance, but I - a lover of music, not poetry - would’ve loved if she focussed on the emotions themselves, instead of just addressing the events. Maybe then those emotions would’ve emerged more in her vocals and the music. That’s why I tend to not really feel the songs.
“California” however, struck a sentimental string with me, because of the somewhat richer instrumentation it has and the positive tone in it, which makes the song a bit more mellow; the type that draws the tears from my eyes in Stevie Nicks’ songs.

Quite simply one of the greatest albums of all time. Blue, is Joni Mitchell's masterpiece. A brilliant collection of ten stunning songs. Every one is excellent, but my personal faves are, Carey, California, my old man, all I want, and, this flight tonight. In truth, I could have picked any of the other five. Genius, the ultimate bedsitter album.