Joni Mitchell Plots Career-Spanning ‘Love Has Many Faces’ Collection
Joni Mitchell penned countless love songs in a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career that has spanned nearly 50 years, but the Canadian singer/songwriter faced a daunting task when she challenged herself to condense her 17 albums into a single disc of her best songs about love and heartbreak. After spending 18 months on the project, Mitchell ended up with Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced, a career-spanning four-disc collection focusing on Mitchell’s most romantic works. The handpicked box set arrives November 17th via Rhino.
“I wanted the music to feel like a total work, a new work. No matter what I did, though, at that length, it remained merely a collection of songs,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I am a painter who writes songs. My songs are very visual. The words create scenes… What I have done here is to gather some of these scenes (like a documentary filmmaker) and by juxtaposition, edit them into a whole new work.
“I had 40 years of footage to review,” Mitchell continued. “Then, suddenly, scenes began to hook up. Then series began to form. Instead of it being an emotional roller coaster ride as it was before—crammed into one disc—themes began to develop. Moods sustained. I was getting there… When this long editorial process (two years) finally came to rest, I had four ballets or a four-act ballet-a quartet. I also had a box set.”
Many of Mitchell’s best cuts, like “River,” “Hejira” and “Carey,” are represented alongside later gems like “Both Sides Now” and “Not to Blame.” All of Love Has Many Faces‘ 53 tracks have been newly remastered. The collection is Mitchell’s first release since 2007’s Shine.
Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced
Disc 1
1. “In France They Kiss On Main Street”
2. “Ray’s Dad’s Cadillac”
3. “You Turn Me On I’m A Radio”
4. “Harlem In Havana”
5. “Car On a Hill”
6. “Dancin Clown”
7. “River”
8. “Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody”
9. “Harry’s House/Centerpiece”
10. “Shades of Scarlett Conquering”
11. “Number One”
12. “The Windfall (Everything For Nothing) “
13. “Come In From the Cold”
Disc 2
1. “Court and Spark”
2. “No Apologies”
3. “Trouble Child”
4. “Not to Blame”
5. “Nothing Can Be Done”
6. “Comes Love”
7. “Moon At the Window”
8. “Blue”
9. “Tax Free”
10. “The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey”
11. “Hana”
12. “Hejira”
13. “Stay In Touch”
14. “Night Ride Home”
Disc 3
1. “You’re My Thrill”
2. “The Crazy Cries of Love”
3. “Love Puts On a New Face”
4. “Borderline”
5. “A Strange Boy”
6. “You Dream Flat Tires”
7. “Love”
8. “All I Want”
9. “Be Cool”
10. “Yvette In English”
11. “Just Like This Train”
12. “Carey”
13. “The Only Joy In Town”
Disc 4
1. “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter”
2. “Two Grey Rooms”
3. “God Must Be a Boogie Man”
4. “Down To You”
5. “A Case of You”
6. “The Last Time I Saw Richard”
7. “Raised on Robbery”
8. “Sweet Sucker Dance”
9. “Lakota”
10. “Cool Water”
11. “Amelia”
12. “Both Sides Now”
13. “My Best To You”