Several things you need to know upfront. There are no new songs here although all of them have been remastered, and they only include material from the eighties on.

This is a thematic anthology, songs Joni felt belong together because each of them address the world we live in, at least the way she's seen it. Once you know this, the album gains a certain poignancy and cohesion that most collections or "greatest hits" albums do not achieve.

At the same time, it forces the choices to include songs you may not regard among her greatest compositions, and excludes some stunning examples of her work.

Among the gems, I count "Reocurring Dream," "Magdalene Laundries," "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" and "Passion Play," to name a few but not to imply they are the only ones. In the other hand, there are some song which I'd considered second row -and they are "second row" only because Joni's output, through all these years, has been so phenomenal- such as "Dog Eat Dog" or "Lakota."

Add to this that the digipak presentation here is as exquisite as anything Mitchell has ever released in the past, including some great reproductions of Joni's paintings -which may not be masterpieces in your book but must be recognized as the work of a serious and talented artist.

If you do not own these songs, this is a must; if you are a completist, you already bought it. If you do not belong to either group, you may at least gather together these songs and play them. Mitchell deserves at least that, together these songs articulate the vision of a singer and songwriter who, certainly in my case, has helped me to understand this beautiful and mad and, at times, cruel world of us

OK, before we all go trashing Joni for releasing this compilation of some of her most pointed observational/social-conscience songs as being crabby again, let's put it in perspective. First of all she hasn't been a willowy-wispy-hippie folksinger for decades, and... she started singing lower on Mingus which was also decades ago--so get over it!!

These are songs from her later period which is also her most adventurous and creative of her many different periods. She's making a statement with this collection about the world we live in today. Yes Joni perfected the confessional singer-songwriter genre but how much further could she go? After that it's as if she said: OK, I've looked within and shared, now it's time for you (the listener) to take a look at yourself and the world. Part of the song writer's job is to open our eyes. Joni's been holding up the mirror for us, just like many other song writers do.

The main point of these songs is that even though they were written and released years ago, they are so relevant today. That's how they should be listened to and they do deserve a re-listen if you're familiar with them. If you're not familiar with them, you're in for an awakening.

I'm a reviewer from France.

It's even more unlikely that I'm only 23!

This 1985-1998 period has to be rediscovered, some of Mitchell's best songs were written and recorded during that time. It's too bad there isn't that never-heard exclusive track but I'm sure she will release a real new album of real new songs by 2005, believe me.

She is one of the 5 most important US/Canadian artists of the last 35/40 years, and I'm not saying "female" artists, right?

She's been largely ignored throughout her career, but I think it has to be part of her "art", of her "muse", although it faded her desire to make records. Anyway, "who cares?", like the TV man in "The Reoccurring Dream" - aren't we living in this kind of suffocating society, is that not relevant?. Joni Mitchell, and I say it as viewed from the Old Europe, is a very important figure of rock music so she deserves a little bit more recognition than that of her 1971 "Blue" album. Please reviewers, stop filling up your rock magazines lists with "Blue" all the time! OK, this is a masterpiece of the kind, but she made quite other things, and this recent compilation is one of these other things.

Joni, on t'aime !

LAURENT, from France.

True, I could have compiled it myself on my audio burner from my Mitchell collection, but it's packaged well, remastered, and has, as usual per Joni, nice artwork.

Most of the songs are from the 80s - they have an 80s brightness - and they are more relevant NOW than they were then, as Joni was one of the few artists of that time to call the period for what it was - a descent into mindless greed and narcissism camaflouged with ersatz religiosity and "the guy who dies with all the toys wins" mentality.

Great stuff here - "The Beat of Black Wings", "Fiction" and the lovely "Impossible Dreamer, " one of my all time faves. Too bad "Two Grey Rooms", one of her greatest songs ever, is missing, but, heh.

Joni Mitchell has a mission--to gain for her overlooked later-period work the same respect given to her acclaimed 1970s releases. It's a hard sell, I'm afraid. Not because the material isn't often brilliant. It is, as this frighteningly apt meditation on the state of a world on the verge of W's second term proves.

Both musically and lyrically, this collection of Mitchell's late work is ambitious, difficult and spiky. It's mostly not about love. It's about betrayal and greed and cruelty and stupidity. And, now and, then, it's about hope. Mitchell's voice is deeper, richer and more expressive here than in her commercial heyday. Her melodies and instrumental settings are more complex.

If you're willing to open your ears and be challenged, these songs are thrilling. If you're just after a good cry and a tune you can hum, look farther back in Mitchell's catalog.