Today we have Joni Mitchell's fifth studio album For the Roses. Released in 1972, the album was met with critical and commercial success and is so far the only Mitchell album to be added the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. "You Turn Me on, I'm a Radio," which was the first of her songs to make it in the top forty, was sarcastically written when her label asked her to write a hit song.
First, listen to the music four or five times and don't initially be bothered by the fact there's nothing as fun or musically charming as "All I Want" or "Carey" from Blue. Notice how lovely the subtle addition of a backing band is for the second verse of "Blonde on the Bleachers," the intoxicating the vocal melody on "Banquet," and the exquisite the guitar strumming on "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" and "Woman of Heart and Mind." Then, read the lyrics and follow how her disillusionment from the music business on "For the Roses" leads her to naively glorify the normal lives of everyday people on "Barangrill" and the incredible extended metaphors on the deeply poetic "Electricity" and the humorous but still impressive "You Turn Me on, I'm a Radio." Finally, notice how well the music weds with the lyrics. It's not as good as Blue, but her lyrics couldn't be better and the return of sparse instrumental backing, which has now become a bit jazzy, from Ladies of the Canyon makes them close. A
