Nf Clouds Full Album
Andree Vandestreek
The album charted at number 22 in Canada and number 31 in the United States. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the US. Clouds was generally well received by music critics.
After moving to New York City and signing to Reprise Records in 1967, Mitchell recorded her 1968 debut album Song to a Seagull with producer David Crosby. The album was a mostly acoustic set of songs, some of which were subsequently covered by more established singers such as Barbra Streisand. Consequently, Mitchell received more outside exposure and began to earn a strong cult following.[1]
Two songs, "Chelsea Morning" and "Both Sides, Now", had already been recorded by other singers by the time Mitchell started work on the album.[5] Mitchell wrote "Both Sides, Now" after reading Saul Bellow's 1959 novel Henderson the Rain King on a plane and drawing on a point in the novel where the protagonist is looking at clouds from a plane.[6] The coincidence inspired the song's lyric about looking at clouds from both sides as a metaphor for life's ambiguities and mysteries, as she explained in a 1967 interview, "I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no generation of men has done, one should be able to accept his death very easily."[6]
Clouds mostly features Mitchell's vocals and acoustic backing.[7] Songs on the album feature unconventional, subtle harmonies, particularly "Songs to Aging Children Come",[4] which employs chromatic harmonies.[8] For the 1969 film Alice's Restaurant by Arthur Penn, Arlo Guthrie, and Venable Herndon, "Songs to Aging Children Come" was re-recorded and performed by Tigger Outlaw in an arrangement for solo vocals and guitar as diegetic music during a funeral service. Mitchell's composition was seen as pivotal for the "extraordinarily cinematic" and "beautiful" character of the scene.[9] Mitchell was originally cast to perform the song herself, but declined after unsuccessful royalties negotiations with the film's producers.[10]
Clouds was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on August 28, 2001, having shipped 500,000 copies in the United States.[15] In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor David Cleary called Clouds an "essential release" and "a stark stunner, a great leap forward for Joni Mitchell", commenting that her vocals "are more forthright and assured than on her debut and exhibit a remarkable level of subtle expressiveness."[4] Although she found Mitchell "a bit too young and chipper to be singing about disillusionment", Pitchfork's Jessica Hopper nonetheless viewed the album as a "landmark" for Mitchell and an "introduction to [her] real deal, shaking folk tradition and giving off a little humor and spirit."[13] Rolling Stone observed an "older-and-wiser tone" and "much-improved second album" after Mitchell's 1968 debut.[14] The magazine ranked the song "Both Sides, Now" number 171 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.[18]
Clouds is considered a contemplative album by Rolling Stone.[14] David Cleary comments that songs such as "Tin Angel", "That Song About the Midway", and "The Gallery" present sketches of lovers,[4] that "I Don't Know Where I Stand" is about the uncertainty of new love, that "The Fiddle and the Drum" likens a warmongering U.S. government during the Vietnam War to a bitter friend, that "Roses Blue" discusses the misuse of the occult, and that "I Think I Understand" deals with mental illness.[4] Jessica Hopper from Pitchfork feels that, "lyrically, [Mitchell] was transitioning from the era's de facto hippie sensualism (colors! the weather! vibes!) to the classically prosodic style (Keats! Cohen!) she'd become known for."[13]
As a matter of fact, it is kind of impressive how good the album is given the lack of thought that was put into it. There are a couple of songs that could have been hits if they had been more fully developed, given titles that were a little more commercial, and then properly promoted. The band apparently felt it had musical ideas to spare and squandering a few of them on a throwaway soundtrack album was no big deal with a surfeit of good material pouring out of them at the time.
One of my favorite albums of hers. She takes you to many different places through each of the songs on here! I love her guitar work on here too. "Chlesea Morning," "The Fiddle and the Drum" and "Both Sides, Now" on here. I had heard Judy Collins' version of "Both Sides Now as a child, but that all changed a few years ago one night before I went to bed. I was listening to an IHeartRadio radio station that I made, and after playing Judy's version of the song, Joni's version of "Both Sides Now" from this album came on and from that point on, I fell in love with her music and her voice. After that, I became a fan of hers. I now cite Joni's version of "Both Sides Now" from this album as my favorite version! This song belongs to her and ONLY her! That night, she walked into my life at the right time!
This album is not as poignant for me as maybe 'Blue' or 'Court and Spark' which took their place in my collection before 'Clouds'; but I have to say 'I Don't Know Where I Stand' is truly outstanding and sets it apart from all other recordings of the time. I have enjoyed moments of solitude and even moments of sharing ideals but what always has remained are the terms of this song echoing and making me face up to what is for me a reoccurring dilemma - who am I?; where am I?; where are we?
So after devouring "Song to a Segull" and becoming completely obsessed with Joni Mitchell back in 1970, I had to purchase this album too and tried learning some of the songs in open tuning on my guitar. Joni Mitchell's early music will always hold a very special place in my heart.
This album was ten times more successful than her debut album. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the US. Clouds was generally well received by music critics.
Steve Scavuzzo: The band was started in 2013 by me (Steve Scavuzzo/guitar). The goal at the time was to record and release vinyl. It evolved into a band that plays shows as well. The band is made up of me, Greg Acampora on drums, Brian Bauhs on guitar and Rob Halstead on bass.
We are big music fans in general. Aside from the seminal bands that strongly influenced us (Bongripper, Pelican, Sleep, Earth), current favorites include Russian Circles and CB3 (labelmates on Majestic Mountain Records).
It exists but keep in mind that we are based in Brooklyn so that at any given moment there are thousands of bands in existence in the city in which we live and play. Of course, we are constantly discovering new Doom/Stoner bands that are based in New York City and the surrounding areas and there are a few clubs that the heavy bands will inevitably end up at but I would not consider it a scene in the classical sense of bands with a similar sound banning together to create shows and support one another. Those types of scenes tend to happen in smaller areas.
Very much so but limited to books and movies. We find all things occult fascinating and a great source of inspiration in regard to writing songs and the concepts around some of the albums. None of us have met Satan but we are big fans.