Hits

by

Joni Mitchell

Edit

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 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.