For The Roses - JONI MITCHELL****

Banquet/Cold Blue Steel & Sweet Fire/Barangrill/Lesson In Survival/Let The Wind Carry Me/For The Roses/Let Me See You Sometime/Electricity/You Turn Me On I'm A Radio/Blonde In The Bleachers/Woman Of Heart & Mind/Judgement Of The Moon & Stars

For The Roses was a transitional album from singer songwriter Joni Mitchell in which she started to move away from her folk roots to introduce a jazz perspective into her sound. (US:11)

“Her most complex album, the melodies are rarely clear-cut, usually winding and diverging down unexpected paths and rarely settling on an easily hummable hook.”

“There are so many memorable touches that divulge themselves gradually, and will have you wondering how you didn't notice them instantly. Mitchell's habit of stretching the syllables of a word, or raising her voice to liltingly accent a point mid-verse; how songs that once seemed relatively tuneless now sound stacked with miniature melodies.”

“The music on this album was composed and recorded many decades ago, but I have to say that it's better and more beautiful than ever. Just like all great art, Joni Mitchell's work seems only to improve with age. If you're a Joni fan and you don't have this album, you don't know what you're missing. If you're not a Joni fan you rapidly will become one once you listen to this album.”

“In almost every way, it straddles the line between her earlier folk roots and her later dive into jazzy-pop, while never reaching the peaks that both eras achieved.”

“A transitional album, For The Roses is the last where she sings in her girlish upper register. After this she would use it as a sensual, languid alto jazz instrument.”

“This album is an example of her ability to subtly change styles and approaches, fusing jazz and blues to her traditional approach, resulting in a captivating and quite arresting collection.”

“This is Joni Mitchell in full bloom, a collection of mature songs that are a solid blend of her best qualities as a songwriter: unapologetic emotion and intellectual irony.”

“We see the first forays into jazzier areas. The songs here aren't entirely joyous, but the vocal swoops and harmonic guitar rhythms of Joni set a more reflective mood.”