Shine (Joni Mitchell album)

Last updated

Shine
Shine Joni Mitchell.jpg
Studio album by
Joni Mitchell
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2007
Recorded2006–2007
StudioCastle Oaks (Calabasas, California)
Genre
Length46:57
Label
Producer Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell chronology
Songs of a Prairie Girl
(2005)		Shine
(2007)		 Amchitka
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Entertainment Weekly A− [3]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
Pitchfork 8.0/10 [7]
PopMatters 8/10 [8]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]

Shine is the 19th and final studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on September 25, 2007, by Hear Music. It is Mitchell's first album of new material since Taming the Tiger (1998).

Contents

In the US, the album sold 40,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 chart; [11] this was Mitchell's best peak position in America since Hejira (1976). Shine peaked at No. 36 on the UK chart, making it Mitchell's first Top 40 album there since Night Ride Home (1991). In its first week on sale, Shine sold around 60,000 copies worldwide. [12] As of February 2008, the album has sold 372,000 copies in the United States. [13]

Background

In 2002, Joni Mitchell famously left the music business. The public first learned that she had returned to writing and recording in October 2006, when she spoke to The Ottawa Citizen . In an interview with the newspaper, Mitchell "revealed she's recording her first collection of new songs in nearly a decade" but gave few other details. [14]

Four months later, in an interview with The New York Times , Mitchell said that the album was inspired by the war in Iraq and "something her grandson had said while listening to family fighting: 'Bad dreams are good—in the great plan.'" [15]

The Sunday Times wrote in February 2007 that the album has "a minimal feel, a sparseness that harks back to her early work," adding that "rest and some good healers" had restored much of the singer's vocal power. [16] Mitchell herself described Shine as "as serious a work as I've ever done". [16]

The album was launched at the Sunshine Theater on Houston Street, New York City, on September 25, 2007, with a film of the Alberta Ballet performing The Fiddle and the Drum , a ballet devised by choreographer Jean Grand-Maître in collaboration with Mitchell that had premiered in Calgary on February 8 that year. The ballet uses a selection of Mitchell's songs, including "If I Had a Heart" and "If" from Shine, along with images from her art installation Flag Dance, which are projected as a backdrop. [17] The album cover features a scene from The Fiddle and the Drum. The CD was distributed with a matching blue band around it, not glued on, which obscured the bodies of the male dancers in tights from the general public.[ citation needed ]

Shine is only the second Joni Mitchell album never to have been distributed by Warner Music Group, the first being Night Ride Home , which was released by Geffen Records after the company was sold to MCA.

Reception

Shine has a 77/100 on Metacritic. [18]

Track listing

  1. "One Week Last Summer" – 4:59
  2. "This Place" – 3:54
    • In an interview, Mitchell referred to a "second guitar song [inspired when] they decided to whittle down this mountain behind my sanctuary and sell it to California as gravel for McMansions." [19]
  3. "If I Had a Heart" – 4:04
    • "If I Had a Heart" is a reaction to the state of the environment and what Mitchell called the current "holy war". In February 2007, The New York Times described the song as "one of the most haunting melodies she has ever written". Of the impetus that inspired her to write the song, Mitchell explained, "My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species. I can't cry about it. In a way I'm inoculated. I've suffered this pain for so long. ...The West has packed the whole world on a runaway train. We are on the road to extincting ourselves as a species." [15]
  4. "Hana" – 3:43
  5. "Bad Dreams" – 5:41
    • "Bad Dreams" was inspired by a comment Mitchell's grandson made at the age of three: "Bad dreams are good, in the great plan." In a March 2007 BBC Radio 2 interview with Amanda Ghost, the singer jokingly said she'd promised to "cut him in" on the song's profits. [20]
    • "Bad Dreams Are Good" lyrics appeared as a poem in The New Yorker , September 17, 2007. [21]
  6. "Big Yellow Taxi (2007)" – 2:47
    • In March 2007, The Guardian reported that Shine will feature a "new version" of Mitchell's 1970 environmentally-themed hit single. [22]
  7. "Night of the Iguana" – 4:38
  8. "Strong and Wrong" – 4:04
  9. "Shine" – 7:29
  10. "If" – 5:32

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Shine
Chart (2007)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [24] 71
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [25] 19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [26] 44
French Albums (SNEP) [27] 103
Irish Albums (IRMA) [28] 59
Italian Albums (FIMI) [29] 30
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [30] 10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [31] 25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [32] 100
UK Albums (OCC) [33] 36
US Billboard 200 [34] 14
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [35] 3
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [36] 12
Scottish Albums (OCC) [37] 44

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joni Mitchell</span> Canadian-American singer-songwriter (born 1943)

Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. She is widely considered one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. She has received many accolades, including eleven Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century."

<i>Unplugged</i> (The Corrs album) 1999 live album by the Corrs

The Corrs Unplugged is the third album by Irish band The Corrs, filmed and released in the fall of 1999. The album is part of the iconic MTV Unplugged series, which features musicians performing in a more acoustic, “stripped-down” concert setting. Initially, the album was released internationally, albeit not in the United States until a year later, after the band had experienced further success with their single “Breathless” and their fourth album In Blue, with both releases earning them their highest chart positions to-date in the US.

<i>Hard Candy</i> (Counting Crows album) 2002 studio album by Counting Crows

Hard Candy is the fourth studio album by American rock band Counting Crows, released in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2002, and the following day in the United States.

<i>Court and Spark</i> 1974 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Court and Spark is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Released in January 1974, it infuses the folk rock style of her previous albums with jazz elements.

<i>Both Sides Now</i> (Joni Mitchell album) 2000 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Both Sides Now is a concept album and studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell that was released in 2000. It is her 17th studio album. The album won two Grammy Awards in 2001 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the song "Both Sides Now" and a Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.

<i>Hejira</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Hejira is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1976 on Asylum Records. Its material was written during a period of frequent travel in late 1975 and early 1976, and reflects Mitchell's experiences on the road during that time. It is characterized by lyrically dense, sprawling songs and musical backing by several jazz-oriented instrumentalists, most prominently fretless bass player Jaco Pastorius, guitarist Larry Carlton, and drummer John Guerin.

<i>Let Your Dim Light Shine</i> 1995 studio album by Soul Asylum

Let Your Dim Light Shine is the seventh studio album by American rock band Soul Asylum, released June 6, 1995, on Columbia Records. Critically, it suffered in comparison to its predecessor, Grave Dancers Union, the band's breakout release. It includes the hit "Misery", which was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Syndicated Inc." on his album Bad Hair Day.

<i>Mingus</i> (Joni Mitchell album) 1979 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Mingus is the tenth studio album by Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. It was released on June 13, 1979, and was her last studio album for Asylum Records. The album is a collaboration between Mitchell and Charles Mingus. It was recorded in the months before and after Mingus' death in January 1979 and is wholly dedicated to him. The album is one of Mitchell's most experimental and jazz-centric works. Mingus originally wrote six compositions for Mitchell to write lyrics for; three of these pieces were included on the album. Two other tracks written exclusively by Mitchell are included, alongside a new version of Mingus' standard "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", featuring lyrics written by Mitchell. In addition to these, five spoken word tracks are dispersed throughout the album.

<i>Shadows and Light</i> (Joni Mitchell album) 1980 live album by Joni Mitchell

Shadows and Light is the second live album by Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. It was released in September 1980 through Asylum Records, her last release for the label. It was recorded in September 1979 at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California.

<i>Wild Things Run Fast</i> 1982 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Wild Things Run Fast is the 11th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her first of four releases for Geffen Records, it was released in 1982 and represents her move to a more 1980s pop sound. This was her first album to work with bassist Larry Klein, whom she married in 1982. Klein would play bass on and co-produce her next four albums.

<i>Dog Eat Dog</i> (Joni Mitchell album) 1985 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Dog Eat Dog is the 12th studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1985. It was her second album for Geffen Records.

<i>Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm</i> 1988 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm is the 13th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on March 23, 1988, by Geffen Records. Her third release on the label, the album features duets with a number of artists such as Peter Gabriel on "My Secret Place," Willie Nelson on "Cool Water," Don Henley on "Snakes and Ladders," and Billy Idol and Tom Petty on the track "Dancin' Clown." Henley also performs backing vocals on "Lakota," and Wendy and Lisa perform backing vocals on "The Tea Leaf Prophecy ."

<i>Night Ride Home</i> 1991 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Night Ride Home is the 14th album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1991. It was the last of four albums she recorded for Geffen Records.

<i>Turbulent Indigo</i> 1994 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Turbulent Indigo is the 15th album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Released in 1994, it won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Album. John Milward, writing for Rolling Stone, wrote that it was Mitchell's "best album since the mid-'70s".

<i>Taming the Tiger</i> 1998 studio album by Joni Mitchell

Taming the Tiger is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. Released on September 29, 1998, through Reprise Records, it is the follow-up to the successful Turbulent Indigo (1994). The album was, at the time, widely believed to be her last of completely original material; this would be disproved with the release of Shine in 2007.

<i>Half the Perfect World</i> 2006 studio album by Madeleine Peyroux

Half the Perfect World is the fourth studio album by American jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux. It was released on September 12, 2006. It peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and had sold 218,000 copies in the United States by December 2008.

<i>Dreamland</i> (Joni Mitchell album) 2004 compilation album by Joni Mitchell

Dreamland is a compilation album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 2004 by Rhino. The songs for the album were selected by the singer herself. The booklet contains an essay by Cameron Crowe on Mitchell's career and several paintings by Joni Mitchell. As of December 2007, the album has sold 78,000 copies in the US.

<i>Little Voice</i> (album) 2007 studio album by Sara Bareilles

Little Voice is the second and major-label debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, which was released on July 3, 2007 on the Epic Records label. Six of the tracks are re-recorded studio versions of songs from her previous album, Careful Confessions. A two-disc special edition of Little Voice with live acoustic tracks was released on March 18, 2008. The bonus disc also includes an interview with Bareilles and accompanying videos of the performances.

<i>River: The Joni Letters</i> 2007 studio album by Herbie Hancock

River: The Joni Letters is the forty-fifth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on September 25, 2007, by Verve. It is a tribute album featuring cover songs of music written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joni Mitchell discography</span>

Since her debut album in 1968, Canadian musician Joni Mitchell has released 19 studio albums, most recently 2007's Shine. Her most commercially successful period was the early-mid 1970s, which included 1970's Ladies of the Canyon, 1971's Blue and 1974's Court and Spark, all three of which reached Platinum status in the US.

References

  1. ↑ Jurek, T. (2011). "Shine - Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  3. ↑ Collis, C. (2011). "Shine | Music Review | Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  4. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (2011). "CD: Joni Mitchell, Shine | Music | The Guardian". TheGuardian.com . Archived from the original on April 22, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  5. ↑ Powers, Ann (2011). "Mitchell, at home and in homage - Los Angeles Times". articles.latimes.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Joni Mitchell: Shine (2007): Reviews". Metacritic . 2011. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  7. ↑ Sodomsky, Sam (2020). "Joni Mitchell: Shine | Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  8. ↑ Layman, Will (2011). "Joni Mitchell: Shine < PopMatters". popmatters.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Joni Mitchell: Shine". Q . No. November 2007. p. 140.
  10. ↑ Christgau, R. (2011). "Joni Mitchell: Shine : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  11. ↑ Katie Hasty, "Rascal Flatts Races To No. 1 In Debut-Heavy Week", Billboard.com, October 3, 2007.
  12. ↑ Keith Caulfield, "Ask Billboard: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Chart-mas", Billboard.com, December 21, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Perky Sellers" (PDF). Billboard. February 16, 2008. p. 28. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  14. ↑ Fischer, Doug (October 8, 2006). "The trouble she's seen: Doug Fischer talks to Joni Mitchell about her seminal album, Hejira". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 9, 2007.
  15. 1 2 Yaffe, David (February 4, 2007). "DANCE: Working Three Shifts, And Outrage Overtime". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
  16. 1 2 Eggar, Robin (February 11, 2007). "The Renaissance Woman" (reprint). Sunday Times. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  17. ↑ David Yaffe, "Working Three Shifts, and Outrage Overtime," New York Times, February 4, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2015. The ballet was not performed in the U.S. until February 2010, three years after its Canadian premiere, when it was praised in Seattle but panned in Los Angeles.
  18. ↑ "Shine by Joni Mitchell". Metacritic . Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  19. ↑ Eggar, Robin (April 2007). "Both Sides Now" (reprint). jonimitchell.com. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  20. ↑ Come In From the Cold: The Return of Joni Mitchell, BBC Radio 2 programme, March 20, 2007.
  21. ↑ Mitchell, Joni (September 17, 2007). "Bad Dreams are Good". The New Yorker.
  22. ↑ Sexton, Paul (March 19, 2007). "Captive on the carousel of time" (reprint). The Guardian. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  23. ↑ Gill, Alexandra (February 17, 2007). "Joni Mitchell in person" (reprint). The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  24. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 8 October 2007" (PDF) (918). Australian Recording Industry Association. October 8, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2020– via Pandora Archive.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  25. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Joni Mitchell – Shine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Joni Mitchell – Shine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Joni Mitchell". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  30. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  33. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  34. ↑ "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  35. ↑ "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  36. ↑ "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  37. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.