JONI MITCHELL Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (Asylum)

Why a double studio album and why such a short one (not quite an hour long)? The intention is not at all clear. Although there is an overture, there is no connecting motif, only the ones that have occupied Joni ever since she began recording —one-sided love, irony, the poetry of sensuality, elliptical biography. It's become a cliche but once again it's true—this is a double album that would have made an excellent single album.