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The Hissing of Summer Lawns
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0755960606228
Label: Elektra / Wea
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
MPN: 1051
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Elektra / Wea
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Studio: Elektra / Wea
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Editorial Review:
Court and Spark had earned Joni Mitchell mainstream pop acceptance, but its underlying spirit of discovery pushed her to risk new-found success with this edgier, experimental sequel released in 1975. Although the session crew is largely the same, and sleek jazz elements again abound, these songs find her introducing Burundi drums (on "The Jungle Line"), layering magisterial but forbidding vocal harmonies ("Shadows and Light"), and casting rueful shadows across the sun-dazed Southern California of the title song. Her daring promptly earned critical scorn and halted her commercial expansion, but the album's confident eclecticism and dark beauty have outlived that reception: from the safety of hindsight, Hissing was a promise to stay hungry and creatively adventurous, a promise kept then and now. --Sam Sutherland
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Joni wins her "struggle for higher achievement"
"Hissing" is Joni Mitchell's greatest album. It's been called "avant-garde", but there is something forbidding about that term and this music is accessible and enjoyable. The arrangements are well-textured and always interesting, never overstuffed, gimmicky or cute, and often - very often - astonishingly beautiful. Kudos to Tom Scott and the LA Express, and to Joni for coaxing such a classy performance from them. The music is strongly jazz-tinged without being actual jazz, but the main thing ... Read More
Rating: - Timeless greatness
Ever since it's release, this has been a favorite of mine. The poetry and musical taste of Joni Mitchell is totally unique. I'll enjoy it forever!!
Rating: - Inimitable
"Hissing" is inimitable. Nothing like it has been done before or since... sure, others (and Joni herself) have done plenty of songs that are similar to parts of "Hissing", but this is a collection of songs that was not only groundbreaking in the early 1970's, but still is today. This, along with "Mingus" represents the side of Joni that makes her music so compelling... the willingness to reject the obvious, sure-fire formula in favor of experimentalism. This is the true artist in her element. I love ... Read More
Rating: - Joni's most accomplished album
This is Joni Mitchell's most accomplished album and the work by which she should ultimately be judged. Joni by turns satirises, laments, cajoles and savages the cultural millieu of mid 70s America. We are drawn towards parties full of arrogant and ruthless fat cats, alienated house wives and model girlfriends and disenchanted artists in a landscape of cocktail soirees and pool parties. Song by song, Joni deconstructs the commercial world that she felt was straightjacketing her creativity and freedom. ... Read More
Rating: - (4.5 stars) ignore the hissing of stupid critics: don't miss this one
A lot of people simply forget about Hissing: the critics hated it at the time, dismissing it as artsy pretense, and it's not like it shows up on many peoples' Greatest Album Ever lists or anything. Allow me to argue in its favor: it's as good as, if not better than, the much more acclaimed Court and Spark. I think the reason for the backlash was because it was jazzy, and critics dissing Joni just because she went jazz on them obviously means they're not bright enough to "get" this album, which I find odd ... Read More
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