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Shine by: Joni Mitchell City Travel Guides Price: CDN$ 15.99 Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0888072304574 Label: Universal Music Group Manufacturer: Universal Music Group Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Universal Music Group Release Date: September 25, 2007 Studio: Universal Music Group Sales Rank: 2276 MPN: 30457 Disc 1:
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Editorial Review: From Amazon.com: Shine may ultimately register as a "fans only" milestone, but it proves that Joni Mitchell retains many of the storied calling cards of her best albums. The searing lyricism of 1971's Blue and the penchant for self-redefinition hailed by 1974's Court and Spark make cameos here, but sadly, lesser efforts' drawbacks abound. True, "Big Yellow Taxi" reprises the environmental dystopia Mitchell first poeticized on 1970's Ladies of the Canyon, but the occasion only prompts new pedantic effrontery ("This Place," "If I Had a Heart"). In this regard, Shine's especially cloying title track marks the worst offender. Blissfully, though, "Hana" boasts a driving rhythm section and blurting squirts of electric guitar and saxophone in support of a compelling character sketch, and "If"--based on Rudyard Kipling's poem of the same name--paints a lyrical message of affirmation in bold strokes. Mitchell's songwriting shines brightest at such singularly poignant moments where specificity of images meets the vagaries of the instrumental arrangements, and, in the end, these and other highlights ("Bad Dreams," "Night of the Iguana") definitively carry the torch. --Jason Kirk Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - One of Joni's Best!I love how Joni Mitchell sings about social justice including the environment. I've always loved her because she's a rebel and her lyrics go way beyond the usual ones of love songs. And this CD only reinforces why I love her. She just keeps getting better. Rating: - Joni's Return!I was overjoyed to hear that Joni would be back with new material. And I was not disappointed by this album in the slightest. It's among some of her strongest work, right up there with Night Ride Home, Turbulent Indigo and Taming the Tiger. In fact, the album sounds like a peculiar hybrid of those albums - but very effective. In some ways it sounds like a sketch, or an unfinished work, since the instrumentation was largely done on one big synthesizer, but I think that is what makes it so endearing - at least to my ears. The album is driven by keyboards, mostly: beautiful piano chords and dark synthesizer arrangements form the backdrop to some very poignant and often cutting lyrics about the state of our globe, our ... Read More: Rating: - The best songwriting to dateLove it. Can't say enough about the incredible Ms. Mitchell. A true Canadian treasure. Her "Court and Spark" remains on of my favs, as does "Hissing of Summer Lawns" and the list goes on and one. Genius. Pure Genius. Rating:  - Cheesy synthesizer musicI am a fan of Joni and I have bought most of her albums over the years. I was excited to see a new CD from Joni after so many years. Although lyrics and music are fine on Shine, I was really disappointed by the really cheesy use of cheap synthesizer instruments. The fake saxophone and robotics rhythms are particularly painful to listen to. I hope Joni will re-edit this one with a real band; it will sound much more alive. Rating:  - Extraordinary songwriting ability, exceptionally moving work.Following Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell is the second musical heavyweight to be courted successfully by Starbucks' Hear Music label and, again, it feels like an odd alliance, especially given the avowedly noncorporate hankering for the simple life which is threaded lyrically through this album. As well as airing her distaste for the trappings of modern living on "Bad Dreams", Mitchell offers dignified anti-war comments, describing history as "a mass murder mystery" on "Strong and Wrong", and warnings of ecological woe on "This Place". A new version of her classic "Big Yellow Tax"i chimes in with these concerns. "Shine" presents beautiful melodies, dark lyrics and a sparseness that recalls and even progresses beyond some the artist's most ... Read More: |
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