COURT AND SPARK won Joni Mitchell the commercial acclaim her songs had won courtesy of other artists. But she's always had a cynical attitude towards the music business, as "Free Man In Paris" off COURT AND SPARK indicated. And while this album made the top 5 on its release, it was her very effective raspberry to the powers that be that run the industry. Except for the opening "In France They Kiss On Main Street", THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS is the epitome of anti-commercial. Joni reaches new emotional heights with songs like "Shades Of Scarlett Conquering", "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow", and "Shadows & Light". "Scarlett" is probably Joni's best-written song ever, while "Shadows" manages to encompass all the majestic sounds of an orchestra with just a chorus of female voices and a synthesizer. If that wasn't enough, there's the African drum sound of "The Jungle Line" which didn't exactly prove to be anti-commercial, but in fact inspired the world music dabblings that Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, and Sting would base much of their careers on. When released in late 1975, THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS was called by ROLLING STONE magazine as one of the worst albums of the year. For the time, it probably was a unanimous sentiment, but now that time has passed, and Joni Mitchell's career is looked at as a whole, it ranks as one of her most ambitious (and, to the uninitiated, impenetrable) works. As a first album to buy, this is not a wise move. But when you get deeper into her music, you'll find THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS to be quite rewarding.

Alright- I bought this album on my 17th birthday. On the way home from the mall, I put the CD into the player in the car. After the first tune my buddy took it out and opted to listen to Yes! Hey, Yes is wonderful, but so is Joni! 9 times out of 10, you will meet people like this. People who don't seem to quite "get it" or see the depth in an album like this, Hissing in particular. It makes you feel alone! Really does. I wish I could meet every single one of you who give this album 5 stars. Where have you been all of my life? We could probably assemble a very creative band.

The actual melodies of the album are super duper original. I actually have the sheet music for the album which was printed in '76...and just a brush through some of the notation quickly reveals "not so standard" note usage and changes. That's interesting. It's a 70's thing. A lot of writers of the period could do this. A prime example, and I really hate to trail off, is the song "Children and All that Jazz", by Joan Baez which was also released in 1975 (The album is called "Diamonds and Rust" and Joni appears on it...so does the LA Express!).

When I arrived home and listened to the album properly, it didn't take anymore than 6 minutes to release the insanity commited to tape in '75. I'm not interested in dissecting every song here because I know that we all hold particular melodies dear to ourselves for different reasons, but let me just say this. I realize that "Edith and the Kingpin" is generally considered the "gem" of the album, but I have a different opinion. For myself, Shades Of Scarlett Conquering is what can almost move me to tears. Shades Of Scarlett Conquering is the best writing on the album, as far as notational content is concered and lyrical content. It isn't really even the subject at hand (but believe me, it's a good one), it's the lyrical execution. How would you write lyrics like that? So unobvious, so professional and matured. Try it. It will be very hard. But for myself, more importantly, it's the music. Amazing arranging, she knows how to arrange! That buddy of mine eventually said, "well *this* song is pretty cool".

In any case, I also though I'd share a little amusing tale with you. A friend slept over at my house a couple years ago, and we couldn't sleep for some reason. So finally at 5 am we walked to the McDonalds in town, for coffee and hash browns. There are speakers wired outside of this particular McDonals, always playing music at relatively loud volumes outside. As we arrived, "Edith and the Kingpin" was blaring through the speakers...it had just started. I stood outside, very tired- borderline hallucinating, wondering "is this real?".

I lick my chops everytime I see Joni - finally - honored by Gen X'ers, as I was one who watched her - and this gorgeous album - trashed and demonized by the once oh-so-important Rolling Stone. Naturally, that's when I parted company with the Stone's opinion on ANYTHING, and maintained my allegiance to Joni throughout the years (even when she faltered, as on WILD THINGS). I can't add much to the eloquent critiques preceeding me, except that "Edith and the Kingpin" remains one of the top five cinematic gems in pop history, and a fine piece of poetry to boot. As for Rolling Stone, let 'em eat cake, Joni. You're a goddess.

This album marked the first serious departure for Joni Mitchell from the mainstream pop music scene. Considering the popularity and influence which 'Court & Spark' demonstrated after it's release, "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" was all but dismissed by popular music critics at the time. Rolling Stone even bestowed it's own brand of 'appreciation' for Mitchell, calling it the Worst Album of the Year. Overlooking their myopic opinions of Joni, anyone who bought this album knows it's a true classic. It set musical trends at the time introducing native African drums and percussion and paving the way for Sting and Paul Simon a decade later. 'Summer Lawns' confronts much of the same themes as most Mitchell albums: relationships, childhood experiences and the lonliness and disconnectedness of a maturing artist. The melodies, at first, are not that easy to grasp. They're distinctively Joni's and bear repeated listenings. After a while though, songs like "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow", "The Jungle Line", "The Boho Dace", "Harry's House" & the title track will sink into your consciousness. Her poetry is as clear and sharp as ever. She can cut to the heart of the matter like no one else, describing an emotion or reaction with such clarity that you sometimes think her powers are more arcane than musical. This album, once again, placed her into another category which most artists aspire to: uniquely original and wholly undefineable! When the last words about the history of pop music are written, they will be: joni, Joni, JONI.

Interestingly, I'm a big Zappa fan, and Joni's music is pretty much as far removed from Frank's as you can get. But you know what? This CD just freaks me out. "Edith and the Kingpin" has to be one of the most moving songs ever written--I don't weep over many songs, but I do over this one, time after time. The whole CD (and many of her other CDs) is just pure, no nonsense, honest emotion--emotion that just happens to come from a truly amazing musician. Buy it.