Joni Mitchell – Blue (Reprise 1971)

Fourth, and much beloved, album by Joni Mitchell. It also marked the end of her period as a pure folk artist. ‘Blue’ is an album that varies between soft, fragile songs and more uptempo numbers. It’s a lighter album than the moody and masterful ‘Clouds’ released a couple of years earlier, an album I prefer over this one. But ‘Blue’ certainly has its fair share of GREAT songs. Take ‘My Old Man’, for instance. It features a fantastic melody, that is accentuated by her flawless vocals and the tasteful piano playing. This is simply melancholic folk of the highest order. The same can be said about gems like ‘Little Gren’ (which manages to be hopeful and sorrowful at the same time), the title track and of course ‘River’, the latter being one of her very best known songs. It also offers incredibly touching and personal lyrics. You’ll find more uptempo and lighter songs here as well, like ‘California’ and ‘This Flight Tonight’. But there are some rather anonymous tracks here, too, unfortunately. Songs like ‘All I Want’ and ‘Last Time I Saw Richard’ don’t really do that much for me. So overall, there is much to enjoy here, and I won’t argue with this being a classic album. But personally I have always felt that Mitchell has made several better and musically more interesting albums than ‘Blue’. She would take a turn towards more pop- and jazz oriented music after this album, and with wonderful results. Fans of folk should however get this album, but I would have started with her truly magical album ‘Clouds’.