Customer Reviews

Hits

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's never too late to get into Joni Mitchell, and if you're a novice curious about the strengths of one of music's most revered artists, "Hits" is the perfect place to start. This collection covers all of her incarnations and vocal tones: there's the high-pitched chirp that accompanied her folky social commentator days ("Big Yellow Taxi," "Woodstock"), the earnest delivery on confessional pop songs ("Both Sides Now," "Carey"), a maturing voice on her jazzy experiments ("Help Me," "Chinese Cafe") and the nicotine-enhanced smokiness of her 90's pop ("Come in from the Cold"). Largely chronilogical, the artistic evolution the set shows is breathtaking, but the one common thread running through all of the genres and decades is Mitchell's power of lyric and obvious love of her art...she is one of her generation's most respected artists for no minor reason.

The set could have been a touch more complete, however; at an hour's length, there's plenty of room leftover for FM staples like "In France They Kiss on Main Street" and "Coyote," certainly hits in their own right. The title track from "Night Ride Home" might have also been included, as it made a significant dent on contemporary jazz radio upon its release in the early 90's. Still, "Hits" tidily sums up one of the most important bodies of work in popular music. Anyone wondering why Mitchell is so widely respected need look no further than this compilation.

As single discs Best Of albums go, Joni Mitchell's "Hits" is very well done, collecting 15 of the best and most well known songs of Mitchell's long career. Mitchell is primarily known as a folk singer, but she's always had a rock and roll heart as she shows most particularly on "Big Yellow Taxi" (recently remade to excellent effect by The Counting Crows), the tropical paradise evoking "Carey" and the sweet love song "Help Me" that was one of her biggest hits.

On the folkier side of things, there is the standard "Both Sides Now," which for my money is more tuneful and superior to Judy Collins's hit version of the song. "Woodstock" is a postcard from another era, while the childhood memory-evoking "The Circle Game" is as poigniant as it is sweet. The collection gets a bonus star for including Mitchell's 1991 "comeback" tune "Come in from the Cold," which evokes the strain of being a flower child at heart growing up in the McCarthy-ite 1950s. The CD booklet is also excellent, containing a full lyrics sheet.

Overall, an outstanding single disc anthology album from an important American popular music artist.

Joni Mitchell is a musician of surprising breadth. She's experimented with everything from folk to rock to jazz. This CD provides a sampling of just about all of her phases, from the "what was popular" viewpoint.

There are some very familiar songs here. All of us who were conscious during the 1970s have heard "Help Me", "Both Sides, Now" (though probably the Judy Collins version) and "Big Yellow Taxi" (which seems to produce a new cover version every few years, all of them forgettable compared to the version on this CD) numerous times. If you run in folk music circles you know that "The Circle Game" is almost an anthem of folk music (you're almost guaranteed to hear it once at any coffee house open stage).

Some of the absolute highlights are the songs from her album "Blue" (arguably her best): "Carey", "California", and "River". If you enjoy this album, "Blue" is a good album to pick up next. "Hits" is a typical "greatest hits" collection: it provides a glimpse into the oeuvre of an artist, but leaves out a lot.

Joni Mitchell is an argument against those who think that women artists are "just for women" or "too emotional" or "sappy". Being a man, and having a typical male musical upbringing, high female voices were for a long time considered off-limits. That was purely my loss, and I'm glad to be past that phase. Which brings up another point, Joni Mitchell has succeeded in not selling her music with sex (in spite of the infamous Rolling Stone swimming pool pictures, which were an anomaly). There are few female muscians today, or ever, who have succeeded in this. In today's pop market it seems that if you don't flaunt it you won't get it. Joni Mitchell is a refreshing change from the Britney Spears, Madonnas, Chers, and all the rest of the skimpy outfit strutters who cram and have crammed the airwaves.

Overall, this CD is a great starting point to Mitchell's music. If you're impressed by this, give one of her albums (subliminal message: "Blue") a try to find out what this collection leaves out.

As a greatest hits album, there would normally appear to be little incentive to buy Joni Mitchell's "Hits" if one were already a die-hard fan, possessing all her previous work. But one song, "Urge for Going", unavailable on CD until this release, makes it all worthwhile. Covered by dozens of artists, "Urge" has a beautiful simplicity that is characteristic of Mitchell's early work (indeed, the song is from the late '60s). But make no mistake: this is far from being a collection of her true best work. For that, one must listen through her first dozen albums (including the ones from the Jaco Pastorius years, such as "Hejira"), then take on the impossible task of choosing the best ten songs. Joni Mitchell was not a producer of "hits"; she was and is simply a great musician.

I guess to complain about a Joni Mitchell greatest hits collection is a moot point; we were fortunate to receive this disc after Joni spent years protesting the idea of a collection or even performing her best-known songs in concert (comparing it on "Miles of Aisles" to asking Picasso to repaint a painting). But what is here is outstanding; sweet ("Carey"), confessional ("River"), jazzy (two of three songs from "Court and Spark" remaining together), happy ("I'm a Radio"), wistful ("Circle Game" "Woodstock," "Both Sides Now.") Call it Joni 101, then follow it with "Ladies of the Canyon," "Blue," "Court and Spark," and some of the finest accoustic pop-jazz-folk ever created.

What can you say? There are at least a handful of songs on this CD that unquestionably define the singer-songwriter genre. Even if surrounded by dross, those songs alone would make this CD worthwhile and listenable. In fact, with the exception of a couple of questionable late career inclusions, this CD is a terrific listen all the way through. So why only 4 stars? Because a catalogue as sprawlingly diverse as Mitchell's really can't be properly served by a single CD compilation. What's called for is a boxed set, or, failing that, one CD compilation devoted to the early folk years, another to the middle jazz-influenced years, and yet another (I guess) to the later who-can-say years. Unfortunately, Joni herself has refused such compilations over the years, and only begrudgingly allowed this one on the condition that the companion "Misses" volume be released at the same time. That's her mistake entirely, because without the context of the gems to keep your ears perked, Misses comes off exactly as...well...deserved misses. At any rate, Hits is swell, and unreservedly recommended for those looking for a place to start (or start and end) their Joni experience...

dap

Like fine wine! This album is wonderful. After all these years, I finally added Joni to my music collection! Ashamed for not grabing this one earlier, but the upside..If I purchased this years ago, I would not have had the luxury of the CD sounds! She's just great!

This is a decent selection of Joni's best-known (not best) songs, but it's impossible to do her career justice on one CD. I own all of Joni's albums up until and including Mingus so there wasn't much reason to get this but I wanted to have 'Urge For Going' on CD so, if that's you're only reason for getting it, make sure you find it cheap! 'Urge For Going' is terrific though, classic Joni from her earlier period (my favourite). This song would have fitted nicely on Clouds and it is a nice addition to her catalogue. On another positive note, the inclusion of Chinese Cafe is welcomed because it is one of the few mildly decent songs from her Geffen days and I don't want to buy any of those dreadful albums! So, this is a good CD if you want just a few of Joni's songs in your collection, but be aware that you are missing out on countless treasures like: For Free, I Don't Know Where I Stand, Tin Angel, Conversation, The Last Time I Saw Richard, All I Want, Banquet....etc. etc....the list goes on. BTW, why is none of Hejira included on this CD??

No one made more impact on the sixties folk-rock scene with her deeply personal songs than Joni Mitchell. Certainly with songs like "Woodstock" and "The Circle Game" Joni galvanized our collective consciousness by quite deliberately turning toward both social consciousness and personal intimacy with a fresh, poetic, and unique approach. Of course, no one as observant and perceptive as Mitchell can help but make shrewd side remarks at the inanity of social circumstance or political happenstance along the way, and we laugh along while accompanying her on this soulful journey through the risky, crater-filled landscape of cultural change and personal adventure in the sixties, seventies and beyond.

Here we have her high points in terms of popular success. She has another album she wryly calls "Misses" which are others she considers her best even though they were not commercially successful. Yet that is a terrific album as well. From the opening "Urge For Going", made famous by folk singer Tom Rush, to "Both Sides Now", popularized by Judy Collins, we find many of Joni's best work was interpreted quite successfully by other artists. Of course, the single greatest example of this was with her folksy dirge, "Woodstock", which super-group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young turned into an upbeat rocker that became a number one song. Likewise, "Free Man In Paris" was made a commercial success by Neil Diamond's version of it, Tom Rush popularized "The Circle Game", and Judy Collins got a lot of air-time with "Chelsea Morning".

Still, it is also true that Joni made a lot of waves of her own with a number of other original works, like "Big Yellow Taxi", "You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio", and "Help Me". I also really love "Carey", "California", and "Come In From The Cold". In her own creative way, Joni was the inspiration for a whole generation of iconoclastic feminists then and now, trying to find a sensible and meaningful way to live a meaningful life and still try to deal with all those "love `em and leave `em" guys, sometimes giving them some of their own medicine. This is a great collection of very popular hits by one of the most captivating, surprising, and articulate talents in modern music. You will find yourself listening to it and shaking your head knowingly as you recognize her wisdom as she sings her way through them all. Enjoy!

Joni was never a singles artist. Hits have been few and far between, in whatever country you care to name. Yet her albums have always sold well, and some of her songs have become popular. This compilation of her best songs could be called Best of, or Classics, or even Gold, but not Hits. There aren't many of those. Some might have been hits if they had been covered by other artists, as Woodstock and Both sides now. While Joni has a lovely, clear voice, her style of music never fitted the singles market.

The most famous song here is surely Both sides now, which has been covered by many singers since Judy Collins had a hit with it. Legend has it that Joni rang Judy in the small hours one morning and sang it to her, begging her to record. Neither of them were especially well known at the time, but Judy was more widely recognised than Joni. After the song became a big hit (in Britain and America), both quickly established themselves. Judy also covered Chelsea morning, another fine song of Joni's included here.

Woodstock, a song about the pop concert of 1969, was a British number one hit for Matthews southern comfort in 1971. They never had another hit.

Big yellow taxi was Joni's biggest hit by far - it just missed the top ten in Britain, although I must confess I'm not sure if the hit was the original studio version (included here) or a live recording. I know that it was the live version that was a hit in America.

Country singer Gail Davies did a lovely cover of You turn me on I'm a radio, but my favorite song here (apart from Both sides now) is Chinese café, a song which cleverly weaves a segment of Unchained melody into the lyrics. I'd love to hear Joni sing Unchained melody on its own, but I don't actually recall her covering anybody else's songs - and why should she, when she can write such great songs as those here?

Of course, these are generally her best songs. They are not the only ones worth hearing, but this a good place to start a Joni Mitchell collection. Her style changed somewhat over the years, so you can easily decide which other albums to go for after hearing this.