Joni Mitchell Both Sides Now

3 stars out of 5 - "...[She] sings atop a velvety orchestra, sounding buoyant one minute and betrayed the next....she's telling these stories with a repertoire of gingerly placed inflections and anguished sighs, tools she's always had but never flaunted."
"...one of America's most respected singer-songwriters rents an orchestra and tries her hand at some standards....It's tough to argue with the spirit of the set, a song cycle tracing the arc of love gone wrong..." - Rating: B
4 stars out of 5 - "...Mitchell moves gracefully through 12 standards....the songs are perfectly executed....singing with thought-provoking resonance."
"...Somber, soulful readings of 12 romantic standards....retaining much of her lonely storyteller's charm, keeping her...readings honest and heartfelt while the myriad instruments swoon behind her..."
"...Vocals wreathed in grey-blue cigarette smoke, she follows the arc of a love affair in 12 exquisitely sequenced episodes....in her maturity those old songs of hers...are closer than ever to the terrain that great performers occupy."
6 out of 10 - "...reeks of bohemian opulence....The arrangements are fluent reconstructions of a bygone sound and under such heavy manners Mitchell sings like a singer for the first time in her career....Nice enough..."