A Tribute to Joni Mitchell features a strikingly eclectic roster of artists who share Mitchell's fierce intelligence, musical sophistication, and boundary-pushing experimentalism. The creative interpretations of some of her best-known songs illustrate Mitchell's breadth as a composer and lyricist while putting something of a unique flavor on the chosen songs.
Tribute records live or die by the performers' ability to interpret the subject's work in new and inventive frameworks, or by how well they evoke the spirit of the original recordings. Joni Mitchell's poetic folk and jazz offers infinite possibilities for the former, which makes the notion of this collection by indie rockers, pop divas, and country and folk practitioners most appealing. Not surprisingly, for most of the men it turns out to be more of an intellectual exercise than an emotional foray (Elvis Costello's harder take on "Edith and the Kingpin," Sufjan Stevens's jumbled sonic landscape on "Free Man in Paris"). But there are some breathtaking performances from the women, starting with Björk's wide-eyed cover of "The Bojo Dance" and moving on to Cassandra Wilson's mahogany-voiced "For the Roses," Emmylou Harris's devastating reading of "The Magdalene Laundries," and Sarah McLachlan's goosebump-raising "Blue," where her vocals approximate Mitchell's so thoroughly some folks might be fooled. Hands down, the most peculiar track is Prince's doo-woppy "A Case of You," which nearly defies description. The project got started in the late '90s and was finished only recently, which probably accounts for a stilted unevenness and seeming lack of continuity. Think of this as an interesting companion to Mitchell's vast and vital body of work. But the revered Lady of the Canyon doubtless deserves a far more comprehensive and well-executed homage. --Alanna Nash
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Long Time Waiting for this:
This album is the result of a tribute to Joni hosted by TNT Network almost 5 years ago. While some find this missing a few cuts or some of her most popular songs, it is nonetheless a wonderful album. What's unfortunate is that many who buy may not have seen the actual broadcast that was touching and very well produced. It's a shame that TNT didn't release the video of the broadcast. I've been listening to kd Langs version of help me for almost five years from my saved tape; it was the most memorable... more info
Joni tribute just so so:
I just got "Shine" and absolutely love it. Joni is coming into her own again. This tribute album is just so so. Lots of different interpretations, but it doesn't work for me. Kind of boring, like the Leonard Cohen tribute album "Tower of Song." The originals are better, why bother with this one.
Why you are making a huge mistake to pass this up....:
I was comparing this album and Herbie Hancocks new release "River The Joni Letters". Both are uniformly excellent but the difference is that in the Hancock album you have Herbie unifying the entire experience. This album is very uneven in the listening. There is a vast textural disparity from the smoothness of James Taylor's version of "River" to Bjork's "Boho Dance" cover. So I think the first impulse of many listeners would be to dismiss this album. What a huge mistake that is. The common thread in this... more info
VERY few can accurately portray the mood and emotion of Joni's songs:
These 'new' interpretations of Joni's songs just don't do it for me. Sorry, but I felt embarrassed for Joni as I listened to these modern renditions of some of her truly unique masterpieces. The artists either perform the songs with phony, over dramatic emotion; or lifeless, out of tune phrasing. Some of the artists performed songs that their singing style is CLEARLY not suited for (Bjork, Costello, etc.) The only tunes I felt were worth listening to again were the ones performed by artists
who knew... more info
