I was never a huge Joni Mitchell fan, mostly because I had only heard the big radio hits, which I found totally irritating, especially the vocals. But I kept hearing about her Blue album, so I decided to give it the old college try ... and I loved it!
Lyrically this is probably the most personal record I have ever heard, covering such topics as ... the ex-husband ... break-ups ... hippies ... Europe ... Canada ... LA ... personal nostalgia ... love ... child abandonment (don't judge, what can you do when you are too young and dirt poor!) ... and whatever else I failed to notice or mention, but you get the point.
Mitchell's use of alternative tuning, various instruments and interesting vocals (not
Big Yellow Taxi style, which I still can't stand) makes her folk sounds vibrant and beautiful. She is a true artist ... and not only because of her innovative songwriting, she's also a painter, which is usually featured on the album covers, but not this one -- oddly enough ... maybe she was feeling too Blue ...
