(Folk-Rock, Folk) Joni Mitchell - Clouds - 1969, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Clouds is a stark stunner, a great leap forward for Joni Mitchell. Vocals here are more forthright and assured than on her debut and exhibit a remarkable level of subtle expressiveness. Guitar alone is used in accompaniment, and the variety of playing approaches and sounds gotten here is most impressive. "The Fiddle and the Drum," a protest song that imaginatively compares the Vietnam-era warmongering U.S. government to a bitter friend, dispenses with instrumental accompaniment altogether. The sketches presented of lovers by turns depressive ("Tin Angel"), roguish ("That Song About the Midway"), and faithless ("The Gallery") are vividly memorable. Forthright lyrics about the unsureness of new love ("I Don't Know Where I Stand"), misuse of the occult ("Roses Blue"), and mental illness ("I Think I Understand") are very striking. Mitchell's classic singer/songwriter standards "Chelsea Morning" and "Both Sides Now" respectively receive energetically vibrant and warmly thoughtful performances. Imaginatively unusual and subtle harmonies abound here, never more so in her body of work than on the remarkable "Songs to Aging Children Come," which sets floridly impressionistic lyrics to a lovely tune that is supported by perhaps the most remarkably sophisticated chord sequence in all of pop music. Mitchell's riveting self-portrait on the album's cover is a further asset. This essential release is a must-listen.
David Cleary

Clouds is the 1969 second album by Joni Mitchell. It is sparsely arranged, with little more than Mitchell's voice and solo acoustic guitar for accompaniment. All Music describes, "Songs to Aging Children Come" as featuring, "perhaps the most remarkably sophisticated chord sequence in all of pop music," employing chords chromatically related by tritone or thirds.
Particularly well known are the songs "Both Sides Now", which Mitchell had written for others but sung herself for the first time on this record, and "Chelsea Morning".
The cover art depicts Mitchell's home town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, showing the South Saskatchewan River that flows through the city, and the Bessborough Hotel, an historic railway hotel built in the days before asphalt-surface highways. In the self-portrait, Mitchell holds the floral emblem of the Province of Saskatchewan: the "western red lily" (aka prairie lily or Lilium philadelphicum var. andinum).
In 1970 Clouds won the Grammy for best folk album of 1969.

Joni Mitchell's second album contains the first manifestations of her artistic brilliance. Where her debut, Song to a Seagull, has hints of greatness, Clouds displays the real thing. With her newfound control on melody and lyrical economy, she delivers songs that are readily accessible, instantly hummable, and virtually timeless. Her hippie excesses are still in view ("Songs to Aging Children Come" is untamed), but, for the most part, she has found her voice. "Both Sides Now" has become a lite-FM staple (thanks to Judy Collins's cover). While songs such as the incredibly idyllic "Tin Angel" (nicely covered by Tom Rush on his classic Circle Game), "Chelsea Morning," and "I Don't Know Where I Stand" have become modern folk standards.
Rob O'Connor

Cirrus, Stratus, Cumulus, Romulus and Remus
Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10
A starkly different effort than A Song to a Seagull, even though it might not be immediately apparent! Whereas A Song to a Seagull had almost meandering yet unearthly beautiful folk(ish) songs, this effort has much more succinct and, I guess, more usual folk(ish) songs.
Of course, this was also Joni Mitchell's commercial breakthrough! As you can probably tell by looking at Clouds' 9.2 album score, I don't like this quite as much as I adored Song to a Seagull. ... That whole thing in that review where I said that 'these songs sound like they're poetry set to music' doesn't so much apply here ... (even though the poetry still sounds great). So, I'm not quite as breath-taken by this effort.
Nevertheless, this is still quite a great album with more great songs than you can shake a stick at! (...That's a strange clichй, isn't it? I don't think I ever wanted to shake a stick at anything! ... Yet, I'm still going to say it. I don't want to shake a stick at these songs.)
Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 (A great album by all means ... not all the songs within are perfect, but too many of the others seem like they are.)
Average Song Score: 9.0 (More great songs from Joni Mitchell! They're wonderful and colorful ... all they need is a guitar and Mitchell's captivating voice ...)
Album Tilt: 9.0 (Wonderful songs throughout ... there are a few relative downers such as "The Fiddle and the Drum," but ... they're still pretty good.)
Artist Rating: 9.5 (I'm almost more amazed how she was able to do this more than I actually enjoy the songs ... which doesn't make sense, but it was a nice accomplishment. I don't even enjoy Dylan's acoustic albums this much! ... Besides which, she's *the* baroness of lyrics.)
Track Reviews
Tin Angel 9/10
Yeah! Joni Mitchell is boring MY DOODIE!!! ........... Okay, maybe she is a little boring ... ummmmm ... But not boring! ... Indeed, this is a very calm, serene, folky song ... much more succinct and more evenly structured than the songs that appeared on Songs to a Seagull, so all you "She-Is-Boring Freaks" can just bite the big one.
Chelsea Morning 10/10
Hey! This song isn't boring! It's a very upbeat (and still totally acoustic) song with a catchy melody and a very short running time (less than three minutes). This is the first song in the Mitchell catalogue that ordinary people liked ... yeah ...
I Don't Know Where I Stand 9.5/10
Another one of Joni Mitchell's "boring" songs ... slow, serene, and absolutely gorgeous! Her voice, again, is wonderful, seeming to capture everything beautiful on the planet. ... Yet, there's absolutely no studio production on this song! There's no added production on any of these songs! It's just Mitchell and her guitar! ... You can seriously do that without song production????
That Song About Midway 8.5/10
... Kind of like that last song, except it's a different melody! (It's a very different melody ... hardly a carbon copy!) It's perhaps not quite as captivating as other songs on the album, but ... still captivating.
Roses Blue 8.5/10
The melody is rather simple here ... but the song is captivating nevertheless. (And there's another instrument here besides an acoustic guitar ... I have no freaking idea what it is ... a mandolin, maybe ... I know not of such things!!!) Nevertheless, it's just Mitchell and her guitar singing to you ... and thou shalt listen.
The Gallery 9.5/10
Wow! Another absolutely encapsulating song! ... I really don't know how people can not like Joni Mitchell. She may be boring on the surface, but really, I rarely ever run across such songs that are so colorful when only a guitar and voice are used. ... And her voice is much better than Dylan's, too ... she has that going for her. ... You've got to like this stuff... It ought to be a requirement of humanity!
I Think I Understand 8/10
Okay ... this is a little bit boring. A little bit!!!!! I don't find this quite as captivating as I might ... but it remains a perfectly groovy folky song with a nice vocal performance and ... this is just nice!!
Songs to Aging Children Come 8.5/10
Awww! 'Tis a lovely song!! The melody, while simple, is nice, and the vocal harmonies that Mitchell adds to this were quite nice. Another fine little song...
The Fiddle and the Drum 8/10
A CAPELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on! You've got to have your guitar!!! ... Just strum it a little!!! ... Oh, I just suppose Mitchell was just being a hippie. All hippies have to do something like this, which was probably a protest song of some sort. Hippies will be hippies. Nearly 40 years later, A Perfect Circle covered this song, of all freaks.
Both Sides Now 10/10
This was another hit from the album! ... I don't see entirely why this is better than some of the other songs from here ... It only utilizes Mitchell's voice and guitar ... It was lovely then, and it is lovely now! Perhaps it's because it's slightly more upbeat than the others, but it's equally as captivating. I guess the genius with this particular song comes with the colorful lyrics ... And how gorgeous they are ... People who especially take lyrics to heart probably owns Mitchell's entire catalogue ... There aren't many people in rock like her. (And, you know, every singer-songwriter to come after her owes their existence to this whole album, prob'ly.)