1. DaveL

   10

   Absolutely fantastic.

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2. DavidF.

   8

   A most welcome return, and her best album in 25 years.

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3. ChuckM.

   7

   Even as an admitted die-hard Jonni fan, my first listens to the new album took me back to trying so hard to like "Taming the Tiger" (I haven't listened to that one in years). And while I will always love Joni, no, I do not look forward to more crankiness. However, after several weeks "Shine" is still in my frequently played CD stack and its mysteries continue to emerge with each listen. Yes, the synth instruments are cheesy, but her arrangements are at times as complex and beautiful as those on "For the Roses" and "Court and Spark". Both "Hana" and "Night of the Iguana" offer some of the most unforced, buoyant pop she has ever created. And that voice - seemingly trapped for years by age and nicotine, is truly relaxing into it a new landscape. There is a verse in "This Place" when she sings "I feel like Geronimo, I used to be as trusting as Cochise, but the white eyes lie..." where her voice drops slides into the bluesy, jazzy growl of a woman who sings from her true age with abandon, now the wise crone no longer needing to pretend that she'll never be the singer she once was and having a blast in the here and now of the song. The album closes with the title song and "If", both bitter and ironic - but keep listening - and you start to here the most authentic expression of compassion that we've heard yet from our Joni.… Expand

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4. ToddW.

   1

   Joni Mitchell is my all-time favorite female artist. So literate and her melodies are always spot-on. But when she starts to rant about society's ills while at the same time cozying up to corporate America, can anyone say 'double standard?' It's time someone told her the queen has no clothes.… Expand

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