Today we have Joni Mitchell's seventh studio album The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Released in 1975, the album generally received mixed to negative reviews upon release for its experimental nature. In retrospective reviews, the album has often been praised as one of her strongest releases.
I'm a stark believer in listening to every second of an album no matter how painful, but boy did I often skip "The Jungle Line," one of the most unlistenable songs I've heard this year. So let's talk about everything else: I've sat through this many times without taking any notice to it and I have yet to identify a single arresting track. Although it would have weakened her three previous releases, "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" might be the most engaging song here. Upon reading the lyrics, I recognized their strength as poetry but usually spaced out from the lackluster melodies before deciphering their significance. I also started to care less and less about what they meant the closer the album got to ending--and I love Joni. B-
