Joni Mitchell
Shine

Nobody believed in her retirement.

When Joni Mitchell, coinciding with the release of the double album "Travelogue", announced her farewell to the recording world, we all knew that sooner or later she would release something again.

The last episodes were the wonderful "Night Ride Home" and the highly acclaimed "Turbulent Indigo", at least for this writer. This was followed by an unrecognized masterpiece like "Taming the Tiger", played entirely on a synth guitar that Roland custom-made for Mitchell, allowing her to memorize the open tunings without having to change the pitch of the guitar strings for each song. Then came the orchestral "Both Sides Now", a partial disappointment for a record of very boring standards, as well as the controversial "Travelogue", a revisitation in an orchestral vein of a hypothetical "the best of". But, as stated, despite her official declarations, we knew the story wasn't over.

And that's why it's no surprise to see Joni back on record store shelves with new songs labeled 2007. "Shine", as the collection is titled, comes 10 years after her last album of original songs, the beautiful and already mentioned "Taming the Tiger".

The marvelous piano chords that open the album, in the instrumental "One Week Last Summer" are a red herring because disappointment is perhaps the most suitable word to define Mitchell's return to discography. "Shine", in fact, is an album of such unreachable elegance and formal perfection yet unfortunately mediocre from a strictly compositional point of view. The sound, as mentioned, is a hypothetical meeting point between "Indigo" and "Tiger": the acoustic guitar returns, but very gloomy synth streaks break into the songs almost as if to pollute an almost pastoral tranquility. The sax of the inevitable Wayne Shorter, a cameo by Herbie Hancock, the steel guitar, a perfect use of electronics: the sonic garment is the best Mitchell could offer us.

It's a pity, then, for the quality of the compositions, truly mediocre by the standards of the Canadian singer-songwriter. Very few melodic ideas worth mentioning, except those of the already mentioned opening track, which is instrumental for that matter. It seems like an album of leftovers, unfortunately, and after the fourth or fifth track, one's finger is ready on the "skip forward" button of the player because it is really difficult to continue listening to each track to the end without getting bored. A real pity.

There are few tracks that rise from an unusually gray compositional level. "If I had a heart" has some glimmer of the great songs contained in "Turbulent Indigo"; "Hannah", instead, is a really mediocre piece; on previous albums, it would have seemed like filler, whereas here it seems to be the main course of the meal, placed as the fourth track. The title track is even pompous, something Mitchell rarely managed to be. The concluding piece "If", with lyrics by Rudyard Kipling, is perhaps the best track. Even "Bad Dreams" is pleasing, but its structure is thin and lacks inventiveness, although some chills arrive after repeated listens. "Night of the Iguana", with a good use of electronics, is just passable.

Ah, why then a new version of "Big Yellow Taxi"?

Joni Mitchell's return is thus a partial disappointment from a compositional standpoint, while the sound, elegant and very contemporary (as always), deserved other material to dwell upon. In this writer's opinion, in fact, the sound without the songs is, how to say... smoke without the roast! Compared to "Shine", even the controversial "Dog Eat Dog" deserves to be reconsidered.

In extreme summary, it is a respectable album but nothing more. Nothing scandalous, but a Joni Mitchell album with two or three great tracks and that's it, it's like saying - continuing with the metaphors - Juventus finishing fifth in the league: a disaster!