Blue

Joni Mitchell

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: June 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KBU
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (237 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #435 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Music > Pop > Adult Contemporary > Contemporary
  #29 in	Music > Rock > Folk Rock
  #45 in	Music > Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Joni Mitchell would go on from this '71 recording to make more popular, more ambitious, and more challenging albums, but she's never made a better one. Working with minimal accompaniment (Stephen Stills and James Taylor are two of the four sidemen), the Canadian thrush summoned an involving song cycle of romance found and lost. Though Blue is an uncommonly intimate representation, it's also astonishingly open and gracious. Songs such as "All I Want," "Carey," "California," and "A Case of You" work equally well as poetry and pop music. --Steve Stolder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

207 of 213 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skeptics-give it a chance, December 19, 1999

By	"scintillating" (seattle) - See all my reviews

If reading all the 5 star reviews here hasn't swayed you already, I'll say it again- buy this album. After receiving it as a gift from my MOM, (I'm in high school...) I wasn't sure how it could be any good. I listened to it a few times before I latched on to it, really. The warbling melodies of joni and her stark instrumentation makes for a difficult listen at first. But when you have gotten used to joni and her style, every track on the cd becomes worn in like a sumptous slipper. The absolute beauty of the music is worlds apart from what you hear on the radio or MTV. And it's a gateway to much of the other fantastic work joni has done- I've bought about 5 other joni cd's since last christmas when I got Blue. The point is- give it a chance. Whenever I try to tell my friends to listen to joni, I get teased. "Joni Mitchell? Folky outdated guitar player?" But if you take my advice and LISTEN to this record, you will be rewarded with it's richness. It has become an integral addition to my life, not just my cd rack.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Avoided Joni Mitchell for 25 Years!, October 15, 2000

By	A. Wolverton (Crofton, MD United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As a teenager in the 70's, my listening tastes consisted of Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, and lots of other supergroups. I got so tired of hearing Joni Mitchell's "Help Me" in the 70's, I changed stations everytime I heard one of her songs. Oh foolish youth...

Last week I bought my first Joni Mitchell album, Blue. I've been listening to it for a week and am simply amazed at Mitchell's songwriting, vocal range, melodies,....I could go on and on. There are no songs being written or sung like this today. Mitchell has the ability to paint pictures of her journeys through life that intrigue and fascinate us. (Nearly every one of these songs contains mention of a color...not an accident, I think.) Plus the songs are simply a joy to listen to. I used to be turned off by Mitchell's singing and vocal mannerisms. I'll admit that at first, Mitchell's voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard, but in not much time her voice becomes comfortable and welcome. Her vocal range is very impressive. I am anxious to hear some of her more recent work to see how her voice has held up since this album was released nearly 30 years ago. For me, Blue is gold.

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Mitchell at her best, if not most famous, June 29, 2005

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

`Blue' is Joni Mitchell's fourth album, first released in June, 1971, after the seminal and deservedly famous previous album, `Ladies of the Canyon'. Listening to `Blue' now, after 35 years, I am surprised that there is not a single memorable song on the whole album, compared to the five or more major anthems of the generation on the previous recording.

And yet, everything which is so strong and so good about Joni Mitchell's songwriting is on this album, in spades. Contrary to the title's inclination, most of the album seems to be more about times and places than it is about colors or moods.

The single strongest aspect of Mitchell's songwriting is her ability to evoke a mood by a great use of little details. Listening to the song `Carey' makes you look forward to spending some time at a place called the Mermaid café on some beach on the Riviera with the warm winds blowing in from Africa, as I contemplate going to Amsterdam or Rome.

Blue should not be the first Joni Mitchell album you should buy, but it should be near the top of your list. The album also gives you the sense that you may want to bypass all the `Best of' collections and stick to simply collecting all the original releases, as you really don't want to miss any of Ms. Mitchell's great little three minute dramas.