Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (2000)

Taking its title from one of Joni Mitchell's best-known songs, this atmospheric album traces the arc of a relationship: from first excited flush, through resigned closure, to the next real thing. Two of the tracks are re-recordings of early Mitchell songs--the title track and the lesser-known "A Case Of You", but otherwise the tales are told in the words of others. The self-painted cover gives a clue to the album's mood: lush and lavish, with a 70-piece orchestra accompanying songs popularised by Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. This is Joni Mitchell as torch singer, with well-chosen songs ("Stormy Weather", "Don't Go To Strangers", "Answer Me My Love") brightly arranged and beautifully sung. But from a singer whose reputation as one of rock's most respected songwriters was established by early, folk-influenced albums such as Clouds and Blue and the crowd-pleasing Court And Spark, the lack of new material on Both Sides Now is inevitably disappointing. --Patrick Humphries