Joni Mitchell - For the Roses

Sandwiched between the solitary, heart-on-her-sleeve confessions of Blue and the ravishing pop of Court and Spark, 1972's For the Roses captures Joni Mitchell in a deceptively subdued period of transition. Still hewing to a spare sound, Mitchell ventures beyond the elegant folk sources of earlier records to explore her love of blues and jazz-based harmony, writing as much on piano as guitar; thematically, the earnest reveries and heartbroken dirges of before give way to a more detached, even journalistic perspective and darker, grittier settings, most strikingly on "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire." "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" was the set's nominal hit, yet in hindsight the keepers here are found in evolutionary pieces like the jazz-tinged "Barangrill," the rock-infused "Blonde in the Bleachers," and in more sober meditations like "Woman of Heart and Mind"--testaments to her restless growth and signposts to the more mature music ahead. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com essential recording

best LP, Cassette, or CD ever!

I heard this as a cassette in the summer of 1976 while on a 2 1/2 month canoe trip thru Northern Minnesota--fell in love with the music first, then the lyrics...went out & found the LP..played it to pieces and just recently replaced my CD as a b-day gift for myself. Joni Mitchell has soul and wisdom and passion in every strum and plunk of the guitar....ever song tells a story! April 23, 2008

(3.5 stars) A bit overrated, but it's hard to really go wrong with vintage Joni

Caught between Blue and Court & Spark chronologically, it's quite natural that For the Roses is somewhere between them sonically. It's a tentative step into Spark's folk-jazz sound ("Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire", "Blonde in the Bleachers" and "Judgment of the Moon and Stars" both use horns), but there are also a few piano ballads ("Banquet"; "See You Sometime") and acoustic-based ballads (title song; "Woman of Heart and Mind"; "Electricity") that would soon leave her repertoire completely. (for the record, there's also a solid country-folk number, "You Turn Me On I'm a Radio", that has no real equal in Mitchell's catalogue). As a transitional album, Roses is actually pretty good, even if it does have a very, well... transitional feel. My big problem with it is that some of it is too heavy-handed, musically speaking - take "Judgment of the Moon and Stars" and its pompous pseudo-classical arrangement. Other times, it's too lightweight, again musically speaking: "Barangrill" (just "Bar and Grill" said ten times fast), "Lesson in Survival", "Let the Wind Carry Me" and "Electricity" are all the kind of acoustic songs that had become Joni's stock in trade, and frankly she seems stuck in the past on all of those. But there are enough tremendous songs ("Banquet"; "See You Sometime"; "Blonde in the Bleachers"; "You Turn Me On"; title track), enough strong melodies (everywhere) and enough great lyrics (again, everywhere) to make this a noteworthy album. Just not as noteworthy as what came before and what came after, you know? November 22, 2007

Joni at Her Peak

Just emerging from the depression that marked Blue (not too obvious a title there), this record shows our favorite all-time singer/songwriter at her peak of her form, both lyrically and vocally. She may have had her commercial apex later with Court and Spark, but For the Roses, with its assortment of love tales, record-industry indictments, and drug reportage, is unforgettable. "Electricity" might be her best song ever. August 29, 2007

For The Roses - my favorite Joni Mitchell album

I LOVE this great album, one of my personal all-time Top 10 if I were marooned on a deserted island ... it carries me along like a story of a sometimes gentle, sometimes anguished tour of past love, heartbreak and disappointment, along with insights into the world around us ... for my tastes, this album and "Blue" are her definitive works ... July 24, 2007

You've got to shake your fists at lightning

JM told the world how she felt with Blue. For The Roses develops her storytelling muse with deeper observations.

"Blonde In The Bleachers" narrates the uneasy relations of the musician and the groupie, successfully describing both points of view. "Woman Of Heart And Mind" aptly illustrates the frustrations of an evolved lady taking in an eternally adolescent man. "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" conveys drug abuse with a Burroughsian dispassion. "Barangrill" is a road song inspired with meticulous attention-to-detail. "For the Roses" rails against pop culture commerce with chilling probity. Finally, "Judgement of the Moon and Stars," with its stunning climatic lines, reveals JM, the humanist warrior.

And, "You Turn Me On (I'm A Radio)," charming and smart.

A seriously overlooked album. February 28, 2007

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