Consumer Guide Album

Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark [Asylum, 1974]
The first album she's ever made that doesn't sound like a musical departure--it's almost standard rock, For the Roses gone mainstream. But the relative smoothness is a respite rather than a copout, the cover version of "Twisted" suggests a brave future, and she's the best singer-songwriter there is right now. Even the decrease in verbal daring--the lyrics are quite personal and literal--makes for a winning directness in songs like "Help Me" and "Raised on Robbery." Now all I want to know is whether "Free Man in Paris" is about David Geffen. A