... By the early 1990s, when 'Night Ride Home' came out, she was no longer the star she once was. She can probably handle that: even at Woodstock, she was an outsider. But as she sings on this album "All I ever wanted was to come in from the cold".
'Night Ride Home' was released in the wake ... Read review
Night Ride Home Passion Play (When All The Slaves Are Free) Cherokee Louise Windfall ... more
The (Everything For Nothing) Slouching Towards Bethlehem Come In From The Cold Nothing Can Be Done Only Joy In Town The Ray's Dad's Cadillac Two Grey Rooms
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: The poetry of the lyrics, the beauty of the voice Disadvantages: Music could be a little too bland for some
...listing:
Night Ride Home
Passion Play (When All the Slaves are Free)
Cherokee Louise
The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Come in From the Cold
Nothing Can be Done
The Only Joy in Town
Ray's Dad's Cadillac
Two Grey Rooms
If Kurt Cobain was labelled spokesman for his generation, Joni Mitchell was just as surely lumbered with that role for hers. Younger listeners, who could almost be Joni's grandkids, may find that hard to believe. So, how to describe the status of one of the truly legendary figures of popular music?
Well, spokesman for a generation is a bit misleading. That tag was foisted on her when she wrote the song 'Woodstock'. But the irony was, she wasn't even there: the song came out of the fact that she got stuck in the traffic jam leading to the festival. It's truer to say that she, along with a few others such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, created the singer-songwriter genre. Some would call her the greatest example. She's certainly made her mark: you can trace a direct line from Joni Mitchell to newer singer-songwriters she's influenced - from Beth Orton to Tori Amos, as well as dozens of earlier examples.
So it's sad that she has such a low profile today. By the early 1990s, when 'Night Ride Home' came out, she was no longer the star she once was. She can probably handle that: even at Woodstock, she was an outsider. But as she sings on this album "All I ever wanted was to come in from the cold".
'Night Ride Home' was released in the wake of a 'mid-life crisis' album ('Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm') in which Joni seemed to need to prove that she had the clout to get anyone she wanted to play on her records - as if that was ever really in doubt. In contrast, this is a laid-back, jazzy set, with an appropriately late-night feel throughout. There are big hitters discreetly guesting here - such as jazz giant Wayne Shorter's sax tootling gorgeously on a few tracks. But the overall feel is of a musician who knows she has nothing left to prove. After all, a good clutch of her albums - 'Blue', 'Court and Spark', 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns' - are genuine classics.
Her songs here are the mixture of the personal and the political that characterises most of her work. The opening title track paints a picture of acceptance and contentment - "I love the man beside me/We love the open road". This is a grown-up record by someone who has come to terms with who she is. The music shimmers - strummed acoustic guitar, muted pedal steel and slapped percussion (against a backing of chirruping cicadas on this track) - setting the instrumental tone of the whole album.
It's harder to pin down the subject of 'Passion Play' which is easily among Joni Mitchell's best songs. "Now you tell me/Who're you gonna get to do the dirty work/When all the slaves are free?" runs the chorus. But it's mainly about Mary Magdalene's view of Christ's crucifixion, with some vague environmental concerns thrown in for good measure. Like poetry, the lyrics work by suggestion rather than explanation, and are no less stunning for that.
In 'Cherokee Louise', Mitchell is looking back at her childhood, just as the later track 'Ray's Dad's Cadillac' revisits her teenage years. Here she's lamenting a friend's sexual abuse and lost innocence. 'The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)' attacks the American culture of greed and litigation. Then, in tune with the corruption covered by the previous tracks, Joni pulls off a setting of Yeats's apocalyptic poem 'The Second Coming', complete with drums that seem to echo from the very pits of hell.
As light relief, the track 'Come in From the Cold' speaks of someone coming to terms with growing old - giving up the rebellion of her youth. On 'Nothing can be Done' she sings "Oh I am not old/I'm told/And I am not young/Oh and nothing can be done".
As I said, this is an adult album - resigned to the impossibility of purging evil from the world, but full of wisdom too. The lyrics are dense and poetic, and the music is sophisticated and restrained. Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park it aint. But Joni Mitchell is more a spokesman for her generation now than ever, a generation which no longer believes it can change everything. She nevertheless gives us a hopeful reminder that, once the sound and fury of youth have passed, there can still be things worth living for.
Track listing:
Night Ride Home Passion Play (When All the Slaves are Free) Cherokee Louise The Windfall (Everything for Nothing) Slouching Towards Bethlehem Come in From the Cold Nothing Can be Done The Only Joy in Town Ray's Dad's Cadillac Two Grey Rooms
Advantages: superb singer songwriter Disadvantages: takes a little patience to listen too
...The impression of the night is conveyed to the listener by the use of a sound sample, which is that of chirping cicadas, the sound effect runs for the whole length of the song. This sound is what holds all the instruments used on the track along with the signature sound of Joni’s acoustic guitar playing style. At the start of the track along with the opening lines “Once in a while, in a blue moon, there comes a night like this, like some ... ...the artist finishes this line the sublime bass playing of Larry Klein begins adding a deep rich texture to the track, along with the addition of Bill Dillon’s pedal steel guitar playing underlining lines in the song such as “we love the open road”. The percussion touches by Alex Acuņa and Larry Klein finish off the sound of the song, as the vocals and music begin to fade the sound of the cicadas get louder for a second or two and ...
Miles13 16.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Night Ride Home - Joni Mitchell
Product Information for "Night Ride Home - Joni Mitchell" »
Product details
Title
Night Ride Home
Performer
Joni Mitchell
Genre
Rock & Pop
Sub Genre
Singer/Songwriter
Release Date
08/09/1997
Recomended Retail Price
8.99 GBP
Original Release Year
1991
Label / Distributor
Geffen / Universal Music
Engineer
Dan Marnien
Producer
Joni Mitchell; Larry Klein
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
720642430224
Catalogue Number
GED 24302
SPAR code
AAD
Additional notes
Album Notes
Personnel: Joni Mitchell (vocals, guitar, oboe, keyboards, percussion); Jeremy Lubbock (conductor); Brenda Russell, David Baerwald (vocals); Michael Landau (guitar); Bill Dillon (pedal steel guitar); Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone); Larry Klein (bass, percussion); Alex Acuna (percussion); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Karen Peris (background vocals). Released around the time that Seattle's grunge movement was exploding in full-blown angst, NIGHT RIDE HOME boasts a lost carnival of characters that wander through, seeming especially poignant. In the '60s when another angry, lost generation reigned, Mitchell's painterly portraits reflected the troubled times. More than two decades later, her songs mirror the mood swings of an aging generation no more sure of their footsteps than they were in their youth. A quiet, restless album that evokes the electric stillness before a summer storm, NIGHT RIDE HOME looks back to Mitchell's jazzier '70s endeavors like COURT AND SPARK. Despite the album's softer turn, the fey warble of alto sax is not nearly as prominent (or intrusive) as on Mitchell's 1998 TAMING THE TIGER. "Come In From the Cold" is one of Mitchell's finest songs, a lilting memory play of adolescence, desire and mature revelation. The title track is a sultry love song that travels down a dark, back road, whereas "Nothing Can Be Done," featuring David Baerwald on vocals, is a churning acceptance of an affair gone sour. NIGHT RIDE HOME eloquently resurrects the past, but never hesitates to embrace the future.
Album Reviews
Wall Street Journal (4/3/91) - "..shows she's still growing, still reaching and still succeeding..."Night Ride Home" is a very special recording. A mature work, it casts Mitchell as surveying the landscape of middle age... intensely delivered over simple arrangements; has the hypnotic feel of "Hejira." Rolling Stone (3/21/91) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "..contains a handful of Mitchell's prettiest melodies in years. And in her lyrics she's as acute as ever....a convincing demonstration of her continuing validity as an artist." Musician (3/91) - "Tune for tune, it's her most listenable album in a decade." Entertainment Weekly (3/1/91) - "..From a musical standpoint, it's the most graceful record she's ever made...blends varied musical styles from every phase of her career." - Rating: A Down Beat (6/91) - 4.5 Stars - Very Good - "..another strong outing by one of pop's most thoughtful and articulate artists."
Titles on disc 1
1.
Night Ride Home
2.
Passion Play (When All The Slaves Are Free)
3.
Cherokee Louise
4.
Windfall (Everything For Nothing)
5.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
6.
Come In From The Cold
7.
Nothing Can Be Done
8.
Only Joy In Town
9.
Ray's Dad's Cadillac
10.
Two Grey Rooms
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06/11/2002
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