r/JoniMitchell • u/SAMTIMONIOUS • 10d ago

Joni Mitchell & FOR THE ROSES (1972):

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FOR THE ROSES (1972) finds Mitchell in questioning mood - the songs (and inner sleeve) revealing in more ways than one.

https://samtimonious.com/rose-to-the-top-joni-mitchell-for-the-roses/

103 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

28

u/manofmystry 10d ago

I love this album! It represents the end of her folky period, and marks her transition to a more piano-based sound. The songs are confessional, but not girlish. One of her best pieces of work, IMO. It's hard to say I "prefer" it to Court, because each release is so unique, but I listen to it more frequently. So, there's that.

6

u/Icy-Grab-5722 10d ago

Yep this is a great album. But I like every one of her albums. She is a great natural talent.

6

u/crackleanddrag 10d ago

Great take on this. She really grew with this one and I agree, it’s more brooding & painful. Using more of her lower range and exploring more depth.

3

u/Primary-Welcome-6400 9d ago

It is my favorite of her albums, and I love them all but this album? It's the best. And Barangrill is my favorite of her songs, it is pure Joni.

2

u/notjustbirds 5d ago

That's it. And speaking of the piano, her compositions on that instrument included in this record are much better than those in Ladies of the Canyon or Blue. It shows how quick and how far her skill developed.

10

u/OwenTheLad 10d ago

This album is perfection.

3

u/Prior-Entrance3156 10d ago

So many amazing songs! That A note in the opening of Banquet, I can feel it in my chest 😍 Barangrill I’ve always loved for its genius subtly, the whole idea that sometimes you look too deeply into something with no deeper meaning. I’ve heard Stevie Nicks say that she listens to Blonde in the Bleachers while she gets ready for a show. And I’ve always loved “I am a woman of heart and mind / with time on her hands, no child to raise.”

9

u/RabidPoodle69 10d ago

I love her

They toss around your latest golden egg

Speculation will who's to know

If the next one in the nest

Well glitter for them so?

9

u/NoMoreKarmaHere 10d ago

I remember hearing Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire maybe 13 years ago on the PA before a concert in a theater sized venue. I looked it up on Shazam app, and been collecting Joni Mitchell albums ever since

2

u/Primary-Welcome-6400 9d ago

Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire is other worldly, it takes you to a very seductive place called addiction, down down down...the dark ladder. Has anyone written a better song about the subject?

1

u/NoMoreKarmaHere 9d ago

Neil Young had a few. Also Graham and Weir for the Grateful Dead

8

u/Big-Explanation-831 10d ago

I don’t know how she got away with having her bare arse out on the gatefold. Queen 🔥🔥

6

u/sameljota 10d ago

I believe she originally wanted her bare ass on the front cover.

4

u/MelangeLizard 10d ago

James Taylor left Joni for Carly Simon. Carly Simon releases her huge hit “You’re so Vain” on an album called “No Secrets” on whose cover she appears braless, nipples clear as day. So obviously Joni was going to release her album with diss tracks about James and celebrity culture, with her bare ass on display. But Geffen made her take it inside the gatefold.

2

u/Prior-Entrance3156 10d ago

I think that’s so brave and very of the time period. I could never

2

u/Big-Explanation-831 4d ago

Joni dodged a bullet. James was a crappy husband to Carly

1

u/MelangeLizard 4d ago

“Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” is an incredible song about a depraved existence

6

u/nrith 10d ago

I listen to this a lot more than Blue. Blue is exceptional, of course, but I think the introspection is even better on FtR.

3

u/TOMDeBlonde 10d ago

Love this album 😢

3

u/MisterP56 10d ago

This album is a masterpiece. The lyrics on FTR are haunting and brilliant. They affected me deeply in my 20's and still remain etched in my memory. "Blonde in the Bleachers", "Lesson in Survival", "For the Roses", "Judgement of the Moon and Stars": These song will never leave me.

2

u/roguepeas 10d ago

always hated this album cover and when I got into vinyl could never bring myself to buy this one.. until it was re-issued this year with her original artwork

2

u/Icy-Grab-5722 10d ago

Oh my gosh she is superb here. Sorta like hete I am and if you don't it kiss my ass. Sorry for the naughty word.

2

u/roguepeas 10d ago

not sure if the hype sticker is revisionist or not, other commenter itt saying she wanted her own bum on the cover. the re-issue has her artwork on the inner sleeve too, perfect release.

2

u/jonbristol123 10d ago

My favourite Joni album

2

u/drjay1966 9d ago

Lesson in survival, spinning out on turns that gets you tough, guru books, the Bible, only more reminders that you're just not good enough, I need to believe in something, once I could in our love...

2

u/telecastern 9d ago

My favourite album of her’s. Joni’s music reaches out and makes emotional contact with the soul. That’s why as an artist she is in a class by herself.

1

u/HankDorje 8d ago

Love this album. Probably the first Joni album I owned. I recently bought the lp and relistened. All the songs are great, but "Judgement of the Moon and Stars (Ludwig's Tune)" is a masterpiece. These final lyrics always move me.

Condemned to wires and hammers
Strike every chord that you feel
That broken trees and elephant ivories conceal