The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Joni Mitchell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002GY2
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,832 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: MITCHELL,JONI
Title: HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS
Street Release Date: 07/07/1987
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joni firmly announces "I DON'T WANT TO BE A STAR!", September 7, 2000

By 

30-year old wallflower "Eric N Andrews" (West Lafayette, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Audio CD)

COURT AND SPARK won Joni Mitchell the commercial acclaim her songs had won courtesy of other artists. But she's always had a cynical attitude towards the music business, as "Free Man In Paris" off COURT AND SPARK indicated. And while this album made the top 5 on its release, it was her very effective raspberry to the powers that be that run the industry. Except for the opening "In France They Kiss On Main Street", THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS is the epitome of anti-commercial. Joni reaches new emotional heights with songs like "Shades Of Scarlett Conquering", "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow", and "Shadows & Light". "Scarlett" is probably Joni's best-written song ever, while "Shadows" manages to encompass all the majestic sounds of an orchestra with just a chorus of female voices and a synthesizer. If that wasn't enough, there's the African drum sound of "The Jungle Line" which didn't exactly prove to be anti-commercial, but in fact inspired the world music dabblings that Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, and Sting would base much of their careers on. When released in late 1975, THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS was called by ROLLING STONE magazine as one of the worst albums of the year. For the time, it probably was a unanimous sentiment, but now that time has passed, and Joni Mitchell's career is looked at as a whole, it ranks as one of her most ambitious (and, to the uninitiated, impenetrable) works. As a first album to buy, this is not a wise move. But when you get deeper into her music, you'll find THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS to be quite rewarding.

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Summer Lawns shines, September 30, 2004

By 

Thomas L. Bennett (Indented Head, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Audio CD)

Almost 30 years after it was recorded, The Hissing of Summer Lawns remains a gem.

It shines with a newness, uniqueness and originality that belies its age.

In this set, Mitchell examines the nature of human relationships via a number of set-piece scenarios.

The songs have layers of meaning that are gently peeled back by melody lines that beguile and hypnotise.

The title track with its " ...blue pools in the squinting sun ..." draws us in with its descriptive and pointed analogies of a shallow, loveless and materialistic life.

Again, in Harry's House " ... a helicopter lands on the Pan-Am roof like a dragon-fly on a tomb ..." Mitchell draws on superbly crafted images in her scathing indictment of manipulative, but ultimately mediocre, people who achieve the meaningless lives they deserve.

Edith and the Kingpin is again an insightful observation of an unlikely, and probably unenduring, coupling.

Don't Interrupt the Sorrow and Shades of Scarlet Conquering are rich in imagery and irony.

Overall, the narratives are wrapped in strong soft rock melody lines laced with contemporary jazz nuances.

Great art endures and that may be why The Hissing of Summer Lawns still shines these many years after its initial release.

FIVE STARS for the poetry and superb musicality of it.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucious. Very, very lucious., April 9, 2006

By 

john - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Audio CD)

Alright- I bought this album on my 17th birthday. On the way home from the mall, I put the CD into the player in the car. After the first tune my buddy took it out and opted to listen to Yes! Hey, Yes is wonderful, but so is Joni! 9 times out of 10, you will meet people like this. People who don't seem to quite "get it" or see the depth in an album like this, Hissing in particular. It makes you feel alone! Really does. I wish I could meet every single one of you who give this album 5 stars. Where have you been all of my life? We could probably assemble a very creative band.

The actual melodies of the album are super duper original. I actually have the sheet music for the album which was printed in '76...and just a brush through some of the notation quickly reveals "not so standard" note usage and changes. That's interesting. It's a 70's thing. A lot of writers of the period could do this. A prime example, and I really hate to trail off, is the song "Children and All that Jazz", by Joan Baez which was also released in 1975 (The album is called "Diamonds and Rust" and Joni appears on it...so does the LA Express!).

When I arrived home and listened to the album properly, it didn't take anymore than 6 minutes to release the insanity commited to tape in '75. I'm not interested in dissecting every song here because I know that we all hold particular melodies dear to ourselves for different reasons, but let me just say this. I realize that "Edith and the Kingpin" is generally considered the "gem" of the album, but I have a different opinion. For myself, Shades Of Scarlett Conquering is what can almost move me to tears. Shades Of Scarlett Conquering is the best writing on the album, as far as notational content is concered and lyrical content. It isn't really even the subject at hand (but believe me, it's a good one), it's the lyrical execution. How would you write lyrics like that? So unobvious, so professional and matured. Try it. It will be very hard. But for myself, more importantly, it's the music. Amazing arranging, she knows how to arrange! That buddy of mine eventually said, "well *this* song is pretty cool".

In any case, I also though I'd share a little amusing tale with you. A friend slept over at my house a couple years ago, and we couldn't sleep for some reason. So finally at 5 am we walked to the McDonalds in town, for coffee and hash browns. There are speakers wired outside of this particular McDonals, always playing music at relatively loud volumes outside. As we arrived, "Edith and the Kingpin" was blaring through the speakers...it had just started. I stood outside, very tired- borderline hallucinating, wondering "is this real?".