The Hissing of Summer Lawns

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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

The Hissing of Summer Lawns,Joni Mitchell,Elektra / Wea,Canada,Folk-Rock,Jazz-Rock,Pop,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter

The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Average customer rating:

(4.5 stars) ignore the hissing of stupid critics: don't miss this one
Joni at Her Best
Joni Mitchell does Luis Bunuel
Worth 20 stars alone for the songs "Hissing of Summer Lawns and Harry's House"!
A world away....

The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Joni Mitchell
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Canada | North America | International | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Contemporary | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Hejira
Court and Spark
For the Roses
Clouds
Blue

ASIN: B000002GY2
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

In France They Kiss On Main Street
The Jungle Line
Edith And The Kingpin
Don't Interrupt The Sorrow
Shades Of Scarlett Conquering
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
The Boho Dance
Harry's House/Centerpiece
Sweet Bird
Shadows And Light

Amazon.com

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:

(4.5 stars) ignore the hissing of stupid critics: don't miss this one.......2007-07-13

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 because this isn't that hard to "get". Oh well, critics are stupid anyway. Rock on, Joni! Metaphorically speaking, that is. Right, so this has a bunch of good songs on it! Like "In France They Kiss on Main Street". Great, great lyrics, great, great guitar solo. Great song! So is her experiment with African tribal rhythms "The Jungle Line". You wouldn't expect Joni to do this, you know, but she does it well. She also does the a capella (mostly, you can hear a keyboard crop up here and there) performance "Shadows and Light" pretty well, though it's a bit long. And yes, there's a lot of jazzy stuff here, like the multi-part "Harry's House - Centerpiece", which has a fun blues piano solo; the folksy "Edith and the Kingpin"; and the ironic "Boho Dance" (well come on, when has the term "Boho" been used in a non-ironic sense?), which features the best lyrics on the album. So does "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow", which seems almost anti-religious to me, or at least anti-religious hypocrisy. To me the only weak songs are the ones that look to the past (title song; "Shades of Scarlett Conquering").

Joni at Her Best.......2007-04-19

Joni has famously quipped, supposedly to a fan attending one of her concerts who wanted her to sing one of her old songs, that "nobody ever asked Van Gogh to paint 'Starry Night' again." And maybe when she did she was thinking of the reception this album (which I see that most of the reviewers have given four or five stars to) received upon its release as the followup to "Court and Spark."

It's laughable that a work of genius like this, containing "On France They Kiss on Main Street," the title track, "Shades of Scarlett Conquering," "The Jungle Line," and the miraculous "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow" could have been branded as one of the worst albums of 1975 by "Rolling Stone"--but it was.

Now of course it's considered a masterpiece, and well it should be.

Joni Mitchell does Luis Bunuel.......2007-03-05

What is there to make of the Joni Mitchell that emerges on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns? This Joni Mitchell seems to have no connection with the Joni Mitchell who, up through Court and Spark, released the previous year, was in her creative peak, a winning streak that spurned out one perfect album after another (what artist working today could make albums the astonishing quality of Blue, For The Roses, and Court & Spark in succession?). Mitchell, it seems, was interested in taking her music in a very very different direction - the lyrics now are not the coherent, eloquent epistles of angst and regret, they are works of beat-poet stream of consciousness (this line starts "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow": Don't interrupt the sorrow/ Darn right/ In flames our prophet witches/ Be polite/ A room full of glasses/ He says "your notches liberation doll"/ And he chains me with that serpent/ To that ethiopian wall"), and the music itself wreaks of the Steely Dan 70's. The attempt? To say something in the vein of a Luis Bunuel about the stagnating complacency of the bourgeoisie. I didn't much care for that Joni Mitchell when I started listening to the record, as many people still don't - her less-transporting verse is a meaningless ramble and truthfully, even some of the great writing is lost in its song form. A song like, for example, "Edith and The Kingpin" might read like great morality tales, but is as far from memorable as the weakest of her material, and its opener, the single "In France They Kiss on Mainstream" is energetic enough, but is dying in search of a tune. Yet something struck me after a while - that middle section of the record! "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow," "Shades of Scarlet Conquering," "The Hissing of Summer Lawns," "The Boho Dance," "Harry's House/ Centerpiece" and "Sweet Bird" work with at least a fraction of the full conceptual and lyrical fire that Mitchell intend, and, in the case of "Hissing" and "Sweet Bird" allow Mitchell to fulfill a grander ideal with songs attempting more daring commentary and soaring past their already large intentions. It's a flawed record to be certain, but what works about The Hissing Of Summer Lawns is its ambition to be a work of great concept that, even when failing, makes you admire the drive.

Worth 20 stars alone for the songs "Hissing of Summer Lawns and Harry's House"!.......2007-02-26

I have been known to repeat those 2 songs over and over and over, better each time you hear them.. they are masterpieces of storytelling and vivid imagery. Could Joni, dear brilliant beautiful multi talented humble Joni be even greater? These songs are worth the price of the CD. And luckily there are all the other gorgeous songs too. How many superlative albums has this woman made? Is it every album!? I think nearly so. But this, this is a totally incredible mind altering experience. Put on your iPod headphones and let her lyrics and music take you places and show you things you have not ever heard or seen or at least not thought about consciously. If there was ever a complete artist, I would say Joni is the one.

A world away.... .......2007-01-23

Joni Mitchell was coming off of the well deserved success of " Court and Spark" as she entered the studio to fashion " Hissing". Considering the extensive self exploration Mitchell had put forth in earlier work, ranging from pictoral reflection ( "Ladies of the Canyon") to inside-out musical expression ( the irrefutable classic " Blue")then back again with astute, more mature searchings on " For the Roses" and " Court", this fan thinks she earned the right to turn the conversation from "I" to "You".

However, if one really looks at the lyrics on "Hissing", it's apparent that Mitchell didn't turn the lens completely away from herself. In fact, she was examining the decadence she sometimes found herself a part of, or at least in a position to analyze by proximity.

The first track, " In France They Kiss on the Main Street", champions early rock and roll like no other; the images of 50's youth steaming in the streets is vivid. The remainder of the disc explores religious symbolism, the male/female saga ( as would be expected by this point), metaphor as a tool for illustrating stage characters ripe with an overload of "herd" culture. Contrasts between extremes provide a scathing glimpse into the undercurrents of what passes for the ideal standard.

" The Jungle Line" is a pioneer. World music before Paul Simon and the others, using primitive artist Rousseau to paint a picture of urban blight, comparing it to society excess. The title track, as well as "Harry's House/Centerpiece" take on the claptrap of the American dream, offering different results. " Hissing's" leading lady remains planted, while " Harry's" longs for freedom. Males and females are skewered equally for superficial desires and complicit provocation. Metaphor and symbolism, as stated above, require full attention to truly absorb the arc of this album. Short attention spans will lose most of its significance. As a sidebar, the CD has been criticized for lack of melody, which is nonsense. There is so much musicianship the less attentive might have trouble with the nuance.

The juxtaposition between the bland comfort mainstream society provides and the courage it takes to be true to oneself and escape its trappings makes this a philosophical entree into seventies culture. Ahead of it's time, " Hissing" is a CD that changes the formula, but aren't artists given that license?

Average customer rating:

Ladder to greatness

Hissing of Summer Lawns

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Court & Spark
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ASIN: B000GW88X8
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Customer Reviews:

Ladder to greatness.......2007-03-27

We all (should) know the story: Geffin was orgasming to Dylan's Planet Waves and didn't give Hissing of Summer Lawns its proper respect; JM has bitterly rued the lack of critical attention this transitional work engendered.

Hindsight: Planet Waves is a bore, for sure, but Hissing falls a little short of the Sgt. Pepper Waterloo JM once claimed of this album. (She apparently downgraded it since then: notice on Travelogue, there is not a single Hissing track.)

That said, there are astounding tracks here!

"Jungle Line," with its Burundi tapeloop and rumbling Moog (played by JM), still sounds insane; it's way further out than Graceland, almost as avantgarde as (PiL's) Flowers of Romance. Also, "Shadows and Light," icy and discontented with nitrogen synths - left field, and smart.

"Harry's House - Centerpiece" is another important tune (a definite proto mashup for the later "Chinese Cafe - Melody of Love"), JM sardonic and jazzy, deconstructing bourgeois gender discontents. Then there's the (shoulda been) hit single, "In France They Kiss On Main Street," sensual and incisive; nice fusion guitar licks from Jeff Baxter.

Um, the rest pales - the smooth session band was just the warmup for Heavy Weather ahead, but, certainly, this album had to come first, then on to the greatest of JM's works. Hissing is essential, but only sporadically immortal.

In crass market terms, buy it anyway; "Jungle Line" is so utmost.