Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Archives - Volume 3 - Highlights - The Asylum Years (1972-1975) 180g 4LP Box Set

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Come 1972, Joni's singular songwriting talent and poetic gifts were undeniable. Fresh off the back-to-back Platinum-certified releases of 1970's LADIES OF THE CANYON and 1971's BLUE - totemic albums whose artfulness and ubiquity would influence generations of songwriters — Joni had grown wary of mounting media scrutiny. Everything from her style choices to romantic partners became the subject of far more gossip column inches than were ever dedicated to the lifestyle minutiae of her male counterparts.

In response, she had pulled back, announcing an early retirement from the stage in 1970 and moving to the quiet expanses of British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. It was a fruitful change of scenery. Inspired by her proximity to nature and refreshed by the peaceful seclusion, she began constructing the songs that would become FOR THE ROSES. This respite thrust Mitchell into a remarkably fertile creative period, yielding a run of albums - 1972's FOR THE ROSES, 1974's COURT AND SPARK, and 1975's THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS - that would simultaneously expand and refine the scope of her music. Her adventurous, intricate arrangements and growing formidability as a bandleader injected these songs with a clarity of purpose, a potent muscularity, and a sense of possibility - it is among the most exciting eras of a near peerless career.

This era comes into even greater focus on JONI MITCHELL ARCHIVES, VOL. 3: THE ASYLUM YEARS (1972-1975). It's the latest entry in the GRAMMY-winning series exploring the vast untapped archives of rare Joni recordings - a project guided intimately by Joni's own vision and personal touch. The collection begins with an early cut of "Cold Blue Steel And Sweet Fire," one of two songs (along with "For The Roses") test-driven during a visit to a Graham Nash David Crosby recording session at Wally Heider's in Hollywood.

From there, you'll be treated to early demos and alternate versions from sessions from FOR THE ROSES, COURT & SPARK, and THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS; historic live show recordings, including the entirety of Mitchell's triumphant 1972 return to Carnegie Hall and a definitive gig with her COURT AND SPARK backing band Tom Scott & the L.A. Express; and tracks from sessions cut alongside James Taylor, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.

The Archives series has done a massive, emotional job cataloging Mitchell's first decade of music, and Vol. 3 is the best one yet. Packed into 96 songs and a five-hour runtime, Archives Vol. 3 boasts demos, live cuts, outtakes and alternative versions of some of Mitchell's best work—including a larger-than-life demo of 'You Turn Me On I'm a Radio' performed with Neil Young. This release is for the Mitchell hive, as we get an even more vivid portrait of the greatest folk songstress of our lifetime.

Joni Mitchell's powers as a songwriter and creative spirit are unparalleled at every step of her journey, but her output in the '70s was on a higher plane, even for her. Archives, Vol. 3 reflects this with behind-the-scenes material just as storied and worthy as the music that Mitchell was making during one of her finest hours.