Shine Reviews

After nearly ten years in a self-imposed retirement, Joni Mitchell came roaring back with a vengeance on Shine. Yes, at times Mitchell sounds like she’s wagging her finger and saying that she’s knows better and is better than you, but when an artist sounds this reinvigorated and alive on record certain flaws can be ignored. This is the return of Joni Mitchell the singer/songwriter. The folk-meets-jazz arrangements are still there, just like her heydays with records like For the Roses and Court and Spark, and her voice sounds strangely beautiful in its new smoky contores. Years of smoking and aging will do that to your voice, along with whatever else caused some damage to her vocal chords. She no longer sounds like the folk-pop-jazz sprite of the 70s, but the regal Queen of them all filled with a life lived and experience. “Big Yellow Taxi” returns in a rearranged form, and its no longer a warning about ecological problems – it’s become a prophesy fulfilled. “Night of the Iguana” is a retelling of Tennessee Williams’ play of the same name, and is without a doubt an album highlight. But the title track is possibly the worst offender, not the only offender mind you. It’s filled with “I know better than you”-ism, and tells the sun to continue to shine down on all of us who sin against the planet…by using cell phones. Luckily for us, and for her, the music never sounds anything less than astounding. The newly discovered electro-folk on “Hana” points to a great new future, and it’s a wonderful character sketch. If Shine had more moments like that, it would have been a neo-classic. But, as is, it’s a most welcome return. DOWNLOAD: “Hana”