Clouds

Joni Mitchell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KOJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,456 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Joni Mitchell's second album contains the first manifestations of her artistic brilliance. Where her debut, Song to a Seagull, has hints of greatness, Clouds displays the real thing. With her newfound control on melody and lyrical economy, she delivers songs that are readily accessible, instantly hummable, and virtually timeless. Her hippie excesses are still in view ("Songs to Aging Children Come" is untamed), but, for the most part, she has found her voice. "Both Sides Now" has become a lite-FM staple (thanks to Judy Collins's cover). While songs such as the incredibly idyllic "Tin Angel" (nicely covered by Tom Rush on his classic Circle Game), "Chelsea Morning," and "I Don't Know Where I Stand" have become modern folk standards. --Rob O'Connor

Product Description

Joni was 25-and already a revered songwriter-when this 1969 classic made her a star. Her first Top 40 LP, it boasts her original Both Sides Now and Chelsea Morning plus I Don't Know Where I Stand; Tin Angel a beautiful, stark masterpiece.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my three favorites October 1, 2002

By MurrayTheCat

Format:Audio CD

I've often said that The Beatles were the geniuses of rock, but it was more of a collective genius with George Martin included. They fed off of each other's individual muse. Joni Mitchell, however, is a genius that stands on her own. Her music and lyrics meld into a seamless, living, breathing whole - taking on a magical essence that's greater than the sum of its parts. And those parts are some of the most brilliantly advanced and artful musings you will find in popular music.

"Clouds" (1969) is a fabulous collection of songs, and one of my favorite albums. It begins with "Tin Angel," about someone (Joni?) with memories of a past love who finds another with a soul as sad as her own. The verses are in a minor mode, so minor-infused they're practically mournful. When she gets to the last line of each chorus, "I found someone to love today," her minor guitar chords still amble, even right through the word "love," but finally resolve to major as she sings "to-day" (and even then there seems to be some hesitation as the chord smiles briefly). The song is pure magic. "Chelsea Morning" awakens us out of the gloom with a burst of sunlight - rhythmically bright, filled with hope and anticipation:

"Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my SENSES
Oh, won't you stay
We'll put on the day
And we'll talk in present TENSES"

How can I not be moved? The entire album seduces me. Her meaningful lyrics are veritable stories one can become lost in, filled with thought-provoking relevance. The music supports her storytelling, bursting with sensual richness. The sound of her voice alone makes me swoon. I can only describe her vocal harmonies on "The Gallery" as heavenly. On "Songs To Aging Children Come," her lyrics, melodies and chords all soar to celestial heights while the rhythms of her guitar keep the whole thing anchored. One could depict this - like much of the album - as at once both cosmic and earthy. Her unaccompanied vocal on "The Fiddle and the Drum" can give me a lump in my throat, but that's no matter, since the concluding "Both Sides, Now" (which ranks among the most intoxicatingly gorgeous songs I know), is a song that can reduce me to tears.

Joni Mitchell is a genius in the truest sense of the word. She is an artist of the highest order. Words often elude me when attempting to describe what I feel when I listen to her music. She reaches deep inside of me - and I'm never quite the same after listening to one of her albums. If you are new to Joni Mitchell, I suggest starting with "Clouds" or "Song to a Seagull." Get to know her through these two, then continue on.
Cheers,
Murray

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Three reasons to get this album: BOTH SIDES NOW April 17, 2000

By 32-year old wallflower

Format:Audio CD

I'll go out on a limb and say that Joni Mitchell is probably the greatest female musical personality of the last three decades. She's also an artist that still commands great respect in her career at a time when other female artists who quote Mitchell as an influence are the ones ruling the charts. Mitchell's latest appearance on ROSIE O'DONNELL should revive interest in her career at the very least. Those new fans looking for a place to start may wanna try out her second album CLOUDS. Her self-titled debut just hinted at the potential Joni Mitchell was capable of, but CLOUDS manifested it. Looking at the dates for songs like "That Song About The Midway", "I Don't Know Where I Stand", and "Tin Angel", these are quite insightful and advanced for a woman still in her mid-twenties. Of course, the two songs that most fans will recognize in an instant are "Chelsea Morning" and "Both Sides Now". Judy Collins may have been the first to popularize these songs, but when sung from their actual creator, they sound a lot better. While not hit singles more than standards, these could still be called the most popular tunes to come off of CLOUDS. While Joni Mitchell's later work can be difficult and quite idiosyncratic, CLOUDS is by far the best a new fan can get when starting out their collection.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Mitchell takes a marked step up on her 2'nd album April 13, 2000

By D. Jobe

Format:Audio CD

Major artists (aka not-one-hit-wonders) seem to have two ways of approaching the album thing. One is to record a mammoth of a debut album and then have a "sophomore slump." The other is to have "opening night jitters" the first time around and THEN hit the nail the second time out. 'Clouds' is a great example of the latter. With her debut a somewhat removed experience, Joni strides forward on this release and though the album has a few lesser moments, its overall strengths are wonders to witness. This record, ultimately, shows that she is an artist to be reckoned with, both as a songwriter and a performer.

As a songwriter, she finally gives us her versions of a pair of hits ("Chelsea Morning" and "Both Sides Now" both made gargantuan by Judy Collins)and then hits us over the head with great lesser known material. While it can be said that neither, say, "Tin Angel" (the gorgeous opener) or "That Song About the Midway" have exactly become standards, they certainly stand out. Lyrically she is becoming focused and looking inward as well as outward, and only in a few spots do we suffer through the kind of Freshman Wordglot that slaughtered so many of the debut album's songs.

As an artist, Mitchell shows a big leap in charisma. No longer is she the distant whimsical youth of the first album, now she is bold, forthcoming, and still retaining that VOICE. This time around, though, she's not just playing pyrotechnics. She's learned to save her soprano for when it really counts, and when to fade back to a whisper to allow a song to build. Also, her instrumentation is improving, though she still clings exclusively to acoustic guitar here, and hasn't begun utilizing her ear for alternate tunings yet.

So what these events taken together tell us is that Mitchell was emerging not just as a fine songwriter but as a talent to be reckoned with on a par with few. What's more, the album's true center may lie in its potential...in the budding of this young woman not quite yet in bloom. Where you can see the colors taking shape, giving anticipation of what might come next. From here, Joni would not look back for six solid years, producing an output almost unequaled in modern music, critics, fans, lovers, and sales be damned. And here, on 'Clouds', she takes the first tenutive steps on that journey.