This atmospheric album contains several gems, like My Secret Place, a duet with Peter Gabriel. Lakota is a political protest song with a lovely Native American feel, and on Dancin' Clown, Billy Idol and Tom Petty help out on vocals. I don't know if it's mean as a comment on dance culture, but it's an uptempo love song with a catchy tune and contains the phrase "cherchez la femme" which may or may not be a reference to the song by Dr Buzzard's Savannah Band. If so, it's very gentle, inlike for example Frank Zappa's funny but acerbic Dancin' Fool. Cool Water is a dreamy poetic piece with Willie Nelson adding vocals. The lilting, swaying Beat Of Black Wings is ominous and disturbing as it probes the psyche of a disillusioned veteran - a line from the lyric gives the album its title: ""I'm just a chalk mark in a rainstorm." One of my favorites is The Reocurring Dream - a criticism of advertising and shallow materialism that Bongwater's Ann Magnuson explores so delightfully on Bongwater's work - with its interesting arrangement. Chalk Mark concludes with A Bird That Whistles, her gentle interpretation of the traditional Corrina, Corrina. This is a brilliant album that contains some of her most compelling songs.

I dug this CD out of my collection yesterday, put it on, and started working on the computer with "Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm" playing. The opening duet with Peter Gabriel was pleasant enough, but by the time I heard "Lakota" chanted over and over, I realized this CD was both dated and discordant. As I tried to sit through a duet of Billy Idol and Ms. Mitchell, I wondered what twisted muse had inspired one of my favorite singer/songwriters on this less than stellar recording.

There are some bright moments here and there, but Ms. Mitchell's better works do not, in my opinion, include this album. I see from reading some of the other reviews that I am apparently "ignorant" or worse, and I'm sure that I'll soon have as many negative votes as a porcupine has quills for daring to state a qualified assessment of an icon's work.

Guess, I'm the skunk at the picnic on this one.

I want to take a slightly different tack in this review, as there are several other perceptive reviews of this grammy-nominated album.

One of my favorite songs over the years has been "Cool Water" played by such notables as Burl Ives, Riders in the Sky, Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers amongst others. But this version of that song is the most incredible I have ever heard. I've respected Joni Mitchell as a songwriter since her early years, she's a great poet. But this stylization of "Cool Water" makes me thirsty and hear the flow of cool water all at the same time. I now respect her as a vocalist and interpreter as well. I'd buy the entire CD just to get this one song... but the quality I found in this particular song permeates the entire CD.

Buy it.

When I first purchased this CD some years ago, I tried to it a few times and decided that it wasn't for me. First, it wasn't what I expected from Joni Mitchell. Second, I didn't know what to make of the music. After awhile, though, melodies from a couple of the songs came percolating back into my head and I came back to this CD. Now it's permanently in my player.

What I can say about this music is that it is eclectic and interesting, jazzy in part, creative and very, very good. It is hard to pigeon-hole. But it's not too challenging to be an easy, enjoyable listen in the car on the way to work. Or playing in the background on a late weekend morning when you're making breakfast. That's an eclectic blend hard to achieve but Joni somehow does it in this remarkable CD.

If you've tried Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm but found that it wasn't for you, then try it again. If you're a Joni Mitchell fan but have yet to experience this CD, then you should. Creative genius has a way of sneaking up on you and then knocking you out.

from start to finish I invariably find myself { of the short attention span and dismissive nature } totally wrapped up in the splendour of this artist at her immaculate best. I have followed joni's career from its lacklustre beginnings, through the halcyon days of court and spark etc., through the self-indulgence of latter times... this one defines the intelligence and passion of this unique person. Anger, cynicism, mordant wit and frustration are married to sublime musical talent. My personal favourites are Lakota and The Beat Of Black Wings which both flow like nectar. The only downside is that many people will continue to miss out on this offering purely because the hype is and never has been there. For God's sake do not !