Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark (remastered) (Limited Edition) (Clear Vinyl) (in Germany/Austria/Switzerland exclusively for jpc!) EU Link

If Joni Mitchell is considered one of the most important artists of the last century, and this album is also praised as one of her best (alongside “Blue” and “Hejira”), what superlative remains for this work? Masterpiece, milestone, stroke of genius??? Well, Joni Mitchell surprised here with a poppy and accessible appeal without really going mainstream or selling out her ideals. No wonder that this album was also their biggest commercial success. The reduced folk gives way here to a very self-confident and full-sounding, more rock-oriented production. Their trademarks, sharp and complex lyrics, the fun with intricate song structures that flirt with jazz shine through at every turn despite the stylistic shift.
After the reservedly orchestrated title song, which with its melancholic mood would fit well on one of the earlier albums, “Help Me” is so smooth and catchy that it’s hard to get it out of your head. “People’s Parties” and even more so the light-footed “Twisted” point the way to later jazz excursions. “Raised On Robbery” really rocks. The highlight of the album is certainly the driving “Car On The Hill”, Joni Mitchell has probably never come closer to the ideal of the perfect pop song.

The themes remain classic Mitchell territory: all the complexity that happens between two people. As always, her voice tells these stories in a very personal and touching way. This album floats between the radical intimacy of “Blue” and the spacious sparseness of “Hejira”. A timeless classic that sounds so young and fresh and harkens back to a time when you could still captivate people with a melody and a voice that had something to say. The album then reached number 2 in the US Top 100 and even became number 1 in her home country of Canada.

»Court and Spark« is Joni Mitchell’s 6th studio album. It contains the singles “Raised on Robbery”, “Help Me” and “Free Man in Paris”. Originally released in 1974, it was remastered by Bernie Grundman under the supervision of Joni Mitchell.

“Court and Spark,” the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell’s groundbreaking career, came after a year in which she took a breather and held back. The well-deserved break led to further breakthroughs. The lush 1974 album, which showcases Mitchell’s increasing embrace of jazz (and her fondness for the works of Miles Davis and John Coltrane), brims with confidence, beautiful melodies and shifting arrangements, and received four Grammy nominations and was nominated at the prestigious Pazz and Jop poll voted best album of the year. “Court and Spark” shows the singer-songwriter not only finding her footing with a group of musicians who seem to understand her vision and desires, but also expanding her lyrical palette and venturing into areas that