Joni Mitchell: The Asylum Albums Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Joni Mitchell: The Asylum Albums Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 25, 2024

If there's a heaven on earth, I may have finally made it through the veritable pearly gates. If I may be allowed to liberally paraphrase a quote which, while actually technically misattributed (he evidently said it somewhat differently), has been linked to a certain Mark Twain, the reports of the death of audio Blu-ray may have been greatly exaggerated, as evidenced by a whole continuing slate of really fantastic reissues by Rhino and its associated Warner Music Group labels. That fact alone would be enough to shoot me at least into the figurative stratosphere as a longtime unabashed champion of the format, but with this first release of what is evidently going to be a continuing series culled from the Joni Mitchell Archives, Mitchell's first four Asylum albums have been collected here, all with gorgeous reproductions of the original (in all four cases, gatefold) LP covers, and with Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. Joni Mitchell's first quartet of albums on Reprise were all rightly celebrated and helped to introduce audiences to a distinctive new voice in what was initially a kind of folk pop idiom, but none of them were huge successes, to the point that in 1972, when Mitchell migrated to Asylum Records (and despite what I'd personally term the epochal 1971 release of Blue, her last album for Reprise), Mitchell was still arguably best known for having written that big hit for Judy Collins, "Both Sides Now". That perception definitely began to change probably admittedly starting with Blue, but then gained considerable force with Mitchell's audacious one two opening salvo on Asylum, 1972's For the Roses and then the monumentally successful Court and Spark in early 1974, which helped to firmly establish Mitchell as the paramount post-Carole King Tapestry female singer songwriter superstar.

After David Geffen was allegedly walked on a leash like a dog by Laura Nyro in Central Park, he perhaps understandably left for greener pastures (and/or dog parks) in Los Angeles, ultimately setting up Asylum and becoming a central part of, as Mitchell herself calls it in "Free Man in Paris", reportedly about Geffen, "the star making machinery behind the popular song". Asylum was a kind of "it" label in its heyday, and as this Wikipedia article clearly documents, it had an A-list roster of talent that included several legends. Still, I'd rate Joni Mitchell as maybe easily the most "important" solo artist (at least) the label ever released, and while I might frankly not include either Miles of Aisles or (forgive me) The Hissing of Summer Lawns at the apex of her achievements, this collection is going to be an aural goldmine for any fan of this legendary writer and performer.

Mitchell has rightly been lionized over the past year or so after experiencing a kind of miraculous recovery from some pretty serious health concerns, and for any younger types who may wonder what the fuss was all about, I'd simply suggest putting on a "double feature" of For the Roses and Court and Spark from this first collection. While some of Mitchell's arranging prowess and (again, frankly) piano chops definitely improved on the second Asylum album, there is so much spirit suffusing For the Roses that even that first Asylum album has indelible delights. While the album provided Mitchell with her first substantial hit with "You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)" (kind of surprisingly, "Big Yellow Taxi" from her Reprise effort Ladies of the Canyon didn't really make much of an impact on the charts), and introduced a wide audience to Mitchell's impeccable backup vocals and whimsical lyric writing, some of the other tunes on the album may have a deeper resonance, including the gorgeously wrought "Electricity" and Mitchell's portrait of Beethoven, "Judgment of the Moon and Stars".

The self confessional angle Mitchell had really started to employ in Blue finds at least a few examples in For the Roses ("Blonde in the Bleachers", "Woman of Heart and Mind"), but it probably reached full flower in Court and Spark, which may remain the single best example of Mitchell's long tenure at Asylum to this day. Despite that roiling, warts and all approach, Court and Spark is an ebullient album at times, including (in quite different ways) the two biggest hits from the album, "Help Me" and "Raised on Robbery". Both the musical and lyrical content are superb throughout this album, and Mitchell's ongoing collaboration with what later became known as the L.A. Express gives the band arrangements unbelievable glisten and nuance.

The immense success of Court and Spark suddenly thrust Mitchell into an orbit she probably hadn't quite experienced previously, and Miles of Aisles finds her in "arena rock" mode with that aforementioned instrumental group called L.A. Express. The album is a worthy historical record, but I have to say as off putting to some Mitchell fans as this may be, I've never really loved this album as much as the other relatively early Asylum efforts. You can hear Mitchell kind of slowly moving (stumbling?) toward more of the jazz sound she'd later exploit, but after the polish of Court and Spark, the arrangements on this album, while energetic and enjoyable, may not be as inspirational or maybe even aspirational.

With an album so practically perfect in every way as Court and Spark, it's completely understandable why even some diehard fans (like yours truly) felt a bit let down by The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Mitchell's first studio album after Miles of Aisles. Though arguably more audacious than anything Mitchell had attempted up until then, including in such patently outré outings as "The Jungle Line", there just may not be the same consistency in musical content that graced Court and Spark, though Mitchell's sometimes acerbic lyric writing can still be a marvel to behold. In its strongest moments, though, like in "Edith and the Kingpin", the album serves as a kind of musical dessert to the "main course" of Court and Spark. Some of you may have seen my very recent Air: Moon Safari Blu-ray review (another fantastic audio Blu-ray from Rhino), and for any fans of that album I'd highly recommend Beth Hirsch's really evocative and moody cover version of "Edith and the Kingpin", which she did with ace arranger and multi-instrumentalist D-Note.

Joni Mitchell: The Asylum Albums Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

All four albums feature AVC encoded menu screens, and they all include some kind of whimsical animated elements that can be discerned if you parse through the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review.

Joni Mitchell: The Asylum Albums Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Wow, just wow. This first set of audio Blu-rays of Mitchell's Asylum releases offers Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and 2.0 options, as mentioned above. The cellophane wrapper on this set has a little sticker stating this release "features original 1970s Quadraphonic mixes of Court and Spark, Miles of Aisles (newly unearthed from the vault), and The Hissing of Summer Lawns - plus a 2024 Quad mix of For the Roses. Also includes Dolby Atmos and High-Resolution Stereo Mixes of all 4 albums". This is another release that clearly utilizes the Dolby Atmos format to attain a really at times breathtaking spaciousness and recreation of the recording studio and/or live performance ambience, but that may actually be a slight detriment at times. While the Atmos mixes are almost thrillingly immersive and Mitchell's plaintive voice literally floats in the center of the soundstage, there is so much hall ambience at times that songs like "Court and Spark" can actually suffer from some quasi-echo effects (if you get this set, stand by one of the rear speakers to hear what I'm talking about). That one qualm aside, these Atmos mixes offer some incredible engagement of all the surround channels at various moments, plus really fun discrete channelization of individual instruments. Quite often in the Atmos mixes, Joni's vocals will be mixed forward, and at times (as in the opening of "Court and Spark"), so will her piano, whereas the Quad mixes tend to evenly split vocals and piano between all four channels. This may be surprising for some, but I think I actually preferred the Quad mix on Court and Spark in particular, but also at moments on all three of the other albums. One way or the other, though, I can't imagine anyone who has ever loved any of these albums not generally approving of these mixes, even if some may have some passing curmudgeonly quibbles about how "wet" the Atmos mixes are.

One slightly annoying authoring choice on all discs is the fact that it's impossible to toggle between audio codecs, which means you have to navigate through all the tracks to get to the audio choices at the bottom of the menu, and even more annoyingly, once you choose a different codec, the album starts over instead of continuing on with whatever song you were listening to.

Joni Mitchell: The Asylum Albums Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While there are no on disc supplements, this release comes beautifully packaged. As mentioned above, all four discs are housed in cool reproductions of the original gatefold LP covers (and further housed in sleeves), with all discs silkscreened with the Asylum logo. An insert offers a bit of information on the Joni Mitchell Archives, and there's a very sweet folded poster with a kind of beautiful letter from Neil Young talking about how important these albums have been to him.

Joni Mitchell: The Asylum Albums Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm beyond thrilled to see that Rhino is evidently going to continue with this series, with the next batch of Mitchell Asylum outings due in about a month as this review is being written. If arriving in heaven on earth evidently still hasn't stopped me from complaining about things, wouldn't it be great if Rhino went back and gave us hi-res audio versions of Joni's early archival and then initial Reprise recordings (thus far, they've only released CDs and LPs)? That sidebar qualm aside, this is simply an A+ release all around, one that I can't imagine isn't going to make my Top 10 list at the end of this year. Highly recommended.