ARCHIVE
JONI MITCHELL
Joni Mitchell Archives Vol 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) WARNER MUSIC
Glorious collection of outtakes, demos and live tracks explore Mitchell’s continued musical and emotional journey.
By Peter Watts
Mitchell: almost embarrassed by the astonishing music she was making
JOEL BERNSTEIN
9/10
THE critical era between Blue and Hejira provides fertile territory for the latest sweep of the Joni Mitchell archives, which covers the three transcendental albums she recorded between 1972 and 1975 – For The Roses, Court And Spark and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. These saw her music move increasingly towards jazz, while her themes also began to change, from the experienced-based songs of For The Roses towards the more general character studies of Hissing…. It’s a journey that’s explored here through numerous outtakes and demos from the three albums but most neatly articulated in the two live concerts that feature on the set – which is available on 5CDs or 4LPs, with a book containing photographs and a conversation between Mitchell and Cameron Crowe.