About

Of the countless accolades and analyses that surround Blue, no point is more significant than the fact that the 1971 Joni Mitchell album continues to become more popular, revered, referenced, and relevant with each passing day. Such vitality is not only extremely singular; it is the ultimate measure of great art and, in the context of Blue, indisputable proof of the record's accessibility, integrity, and timelessness.

Confessional poetry has always been the province of folk music, but few (if any) albums in history of the genre have proven to be as raw, naked or emotionally honest as this seminal 1971 album. The Canadian singer-songwriter’s fourth record is as unguarded and vulnerable as lyrical storytelling can get. Written and produced entirely by Mitchell after her breakup with Graham Nash and during her relationship with James Taylor, this acoustic album is an introspective rumination on romantic failures, sexual freedom and feminine appetites. Instrumentally, Blue’s sparseness and simplicity - built around minimalist piano, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer arrangements - is not only akin to Mitchell’s isolated melancholy, but also the perfect canvas for her porous, precise and probing reflections on yearning and regret. Filled with hard-earned, heartbroken wisdom, Blue offers bittersweet profundity in spades. 

Deemed the third Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone; universally celebrated by critics, fans, artists, and educators; and defined by a spell of disarmingly vulnerable songs that are at once confessional, intense, spare, honest, painful, hopeful, and exquisite, Blue charts love, spiritualism, independence, and loss like no record before or since. Widely considered the album that established the singer-songwriter template, the largely autobiographical LP changed everything shortly after its original release in June 1971. Amazingly, it continues to do so more than five decades later.

An incalculable influence on generations of artists, it stands as the through-line from Carole King, Elton John, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, and Leonard Cohen to Patti Smith, Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanne Cash to 21st century contemporaries like Brandi Carlile, Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and Courtney Barnett.

Everything about Blue sounds more intimate, involving, and inescapable on this transparent pressing, which benefits from a virtually nonexistent noise floor and superior groove definition. Mitchell's voice, positioned front and center, and primarily accompanied by minimalist acoustic guitar, piano, and dulcimer playing, comes across clearly and prominently. Mitchell navigates, queries, and contemplates throughout the record. The defenselessness the singer once spoke about is laid bare here like never before.

The packaging of the Blue UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, both LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact for listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including the unforgettable cover photograph of a ruminative Mitchell shot by Tim Considine.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 12,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the landmark album with reference-grade detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the beloved LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on definitive-sounding vinyl and SACD sets.

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Limited edition of 12,000
 

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Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Series: UltraDisc One-Step, Original Master Recording
Format: 2x Vinyl, LP, 45 RPM, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue, Remastered, 180g SuperVinyl
Country: US
Reissued: 2024 / Original Release: 1971
Genre: Rock
Style: Acoustic, Ballad, Folk, Folk Rock
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File under: School Of Rock