Joni Mitchell - Hejira
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Free Music Notes for Hejira
Free Music Review: Grows in stature with each passing year
Hit: 5 Stars
Joni Mitchell flew into my life in 1970 on the wings of a seagull ( "Fly, silly seabird, no dreams can possess you") and has stayed there ever since. The great album in those days, "Clouds", has faded somewhat with time. Not so with "Hejira". I remember the cool reception and low sales around its issue: "Introvert egotrip" was the typical critic`s response in those politicised times. Listening to it through the years, it is one of the select few non-classical works that grows from "transitory" to "good" to "great", till it stands today as one of the masterpieces of popular music, one of the few that deserve the label "a work of art". It may not be meaningful to call "Amelia" the greatest song in all of popular music, but one of the most perfect statements of the human conditions it must be. The whole album stands as an integrated statement, a journey in itself.Free Music Review: Another emotional masterpiece from Miss Joni!
Hit: 5 Stars
After experiencing major commercial success with COURT & SPARK, Joni Mitchell took that as a reason to create some of her most challenging and textured music of her career. While this may have signaled the dropoff in sales that Joni has never really recovered from, this middle period of her career contains some of her greatest work. HEJIRA was the first of Joni's experiments into the jazz realm of music. With jazz greats like Jaco Pastorius and Larry Carlton in tow, songs like "Coyote", "Hejira", and "Amelia" are made just as complex musically as they are lyrically. There are only hints of electricity on this album, but they're enough to make such a personal and layered album palatable on the first listen. The ancient HEJIRA signaled the beginning of the Muslim religion, and in a small way the album HEJIRA signaled the beginning of a new phase in Joni's long and multi-faceted career.Free Music Review: after all these years....
Hit: 5 Stars
In February 1977 I was 18 years old and had one of the most haunting experiences of my life. A group of 200 pilot whales had stranded on a remote beach just north of Jacksonville, Florida, and as a novice journalist who was interested in such things, I was able to talk my way onto the site. I lived several hours away, in St. Petersburg, and the only music I brought on the trip was 'Hejira,' which had come out in November. All these years later, hearing those stark, remote but strangely warm-blooded songs immediately brings back the image of those jet-black suicides lying prostrate on a white beach. I love 'Hejira' for many reasons, especially 'A Strange Boy' and 'Refuge of the Roads' because they are examples of perfect (and perfectly honest) songwriting, but the reason closest to my heart is that it reminds me of foreign things examined up close, strangely and intimately, like dead whales that just shouldn't be there at all.Free Music Review: Joni's magnum opus
Hit: 5 Stars
The first time I heard the songs on "Hegira" was at the "Joni's Jazz" concert in Central Park in 1999 when various artists lovingly performed the album in it's entirety. Although the voices were different, the music was unmistakably Joni. The beauty of her compositions gripped me from the opening strains of "Coyote" and didn't let me go until the final note of "Refuge of the Roads." I rushed out to buy the album the next day. Never before had Joni Mitchell produced such an eloquent musical statement. From the image-laden lyrics which chronicle both actual and spiritual journeys to the dreamy soundscapes of songs like the title track and "Amelia" (one of the most beautiful songs ever written), everything clicks to produce a whole that far exceeds the sum of it's parts. "Hejira" is one of those rare works which yield new rewards upon every listen.Free Music Review: Timeless...
Hit: 5 Stars
Thanks to "The Loft" on XM Satellite, I've reawakened to Joni Mitchell. I heard the title cut to Hejira the other day and her phrasing of "we're only particles of change I know, I know" caught my attention. I went out and bought the album last weekend and have been listening to it over and over like a mental patient. In high school I liked "Court and Spark" and later enjoyed "Blue" but this one's much better in my opinion, and after reading some of the other reviews, I don't think I'm alone. Although it sounds as if she hadn't sung "Cyotte" enough to really pace the words yet (compared to the live version on Shadows and Light), her performance of Hejira is worth the price of admission alone. This is a beautifully written and performed song that ranks up there with the very best pop music ever done. I'm happy to be a fan once again, Joni.