Joni Mitchell - Dreamland - Music & Performance - CD

"Don't it always seem to go/ That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone/ They paved paradise/ Put up a parking lot." It's one of popular music's best-known and revered lyrics, the words to Joni Mitchell's 1970 breakout hit "Big Yellow Taxi." That bubbly, yet scathing song is just one of the many highlights on Dreamland, Mitchell's hand-picked career retrospective. There is so much to delight in here from a career that most music pundits agree has been one of the most groundbreaking and influential in the history of popular music.

Joni's lyrics are consistently outstanding. Part poetess, part sardonic social commentator, she has always had a knack for hitting the nail squarely on the head. And, for hitting it as hard as she darn well pleased. Take the opener, "Free Man In Paris," an indictment of the avaricious side of the record biz that's as uncompromising as the lady herself: "You know I'd go back there tomorrow/ But for the work I've taken on/ Stoking the star-maker machinery/ Behind the popular song." A big hit for Mitchell in 1974, it combines the singer/songwriter's lilting vocal, fine folk guitar playing, and poetic imagery.

Sometimes Dreamland bubbles, sometimes it boils, but at every turn it is evidence of Joni Mitchell's avant-garde eclecticism. Whether it was experimenting with African rhythms, as on the percussion-and-voice tapestry of the title track, or, at the other end of the spectrum, the big-production '80s pop of "Dancin' Clown" (featuring both Billy Idol and Tom Petty!), Mitchell led the way for crossover artists. Her jazz dabblings are also in full view here on cuts like the highly percussive "The Jungle Line" and the delightful "Help Me" (from her remarkable album Court and Spark from 1974).

Other notable tracks include the airy "California," the folk-pop classic "You Turn Me On I'm A Radio," and the lush "In France They Kiss On Main Street," (with some excellent lead guitar adding a rock edge). And as a true bonus, there are orchestral versions of "Amelia," "For The Roses," and "Both Sides Now," as well as more of Joni's superb artwork, which graces the CD's booklet.

Further proof of Joni Mitchell's enduring appeal and timeless talent is unnecessary, but it is nonetheless fascinating to note that "Big Yellow Taxi" was not only a hit when it first came out, but again in 1975, yet again in 1996, and was sampled by Janet Jackson in 1997! And that's just one of the hors d'oeuvres on this tray of delicacies, known appropriately as Dreamland.

By Adrian Zupp