Today we have Joni Mitchell's eighth studio album Hejira. Released in 1976, the album has gone on to be considered one of her greatest releases and was widely praised when it was released. Upset with how long it took rock studio musicians to record her songs the way she wanted on previous releases and becoming increasingly interested in jazz, she hired jazz studio musicians, whom she found to be more professional and better suited for the sound she wanted to achieve, for the album.
In working vigorously to make a perfect soundscape with the best studio musicians she could find, Mitchell takes herself and her music too seriously to perform anything as vocally charming, inventive, or swaying as her singing on Blue, For the Roses, and Court and Spark. She's also opted to stretch her songs out to an average length of 5:49 and, with few of the songs qualifying as fast-paced, most of them lose my attention after three and a half minutes. Being the major talent she is though, she basically gets away with both of these--her lyrics continue to be invaluable literature and the music is still pleasant, creative, and inspired. However, it's just too perfect and sedated. Proof? The live version of "Coyote" (attached below) with Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn on rhythm guitar in which her vocal ease and humor alone make it better than any song here (the music is better too). B+
