The magical, hypnotic singing and songwriting style of Mitchell here gets one of its most fully-rounded, deepest-conceptualized workouts yet. The sound is purely distilled Joni: the high, ethereal voice; the slightly eerie chord tunings and Mitchell's rolling guitar arpeggios; the increasingly inventive use of spare, jazzy rhythm combo backings. The melody lines swirl and cascade like oriental tapestry patterns as Mitchell's voice smoothly fits seemingly impossible-to-sing lyric phrases into a distinctive music. The underlying idea here that holds together the songs and the surrealistic black-and-white cover photography is that of the wanderings of a free-spirited female who must always look back half-yearningly at the chances for lasting security she has passed up. A key image song in the LP development is "Black Crow," where the singer compares herself to a bird always "diving down to pick up on every shiny thing." Her cover photo costume emphasizes this black-wing look, along with other song images of the endless highway, childhood ice skating and dreams of the pertect marriage. Best cuts: "Blue Motel Room, " "Black Crow," "Song For Sharon," "Coyote," "Hejira."

- Billboard, 1976.

Bonus Reviews!

Album eight is most impressive for the cunning with which Mitchell subjugates melody to the natural music of language itself. Whereas in the past only her naive intensity has made it possible to overlook her old-fashioned prosody, here she achieves a sinuous lyricism that is genuinely innovative. Unfortunately, the chief satisfaction of Mitchell's words -- the way they map a woman's reality -- seems to diminish as her autonomy increases. The reflections of a rich, faithless, compulsively mobile, and compulsively romantic female are only marginally more valuable than those of her marginally more privileged male counterparts, especially the third or fourth time around. It ain't her, bub, it ain't her you're looking for. B+

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

Spare recordings prominently featuring the bass of Jaco Pastorius. Mitchell sings of life on the road, literally and figuratively. * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

The former folkie hits the road on this dreamy, jazz-inflected spiritual journey, and with Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorius and guitarist Larry Carlton riding shotgun, the musicianship is raised to dizzying heights. Gliding through this cathartic, ethereal wandering she revels in vapor trails and irascible bluesmen, spinning the odd lyric that haunts your sleep and songs that wrap you in warmth and melody. Utterly unique, spare and delicious, it's another bull's-eye for Joni. * * * * *

- Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003.

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