"Like Veils Said Lorraine" Released: September 7, 2023
Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) is a five-disc box set by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on October 6, 2023, by Rhino Records. The box set is the eleventh overall release and third offering of unreleased material from the Joni Mitchell Archives, a planned series of releases containing remastered material from the singer's personal archives. Formatted in chronological order, the third volume of the series consists of the archived material that was recorded during the first half of Mitchell's tenure at Asylum Records, which includes the years between the release of her fifth studio album, For the Roses (1972) and her seventh studio album, The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975).[1][2]
On September 10, 2020, Rhino Records announced the creation of the Joni Mitchell Archives, a planned years-long effort by Mitchell and her late manager Elliot Roberts to finally release and remaster previously unreleased recordings in Mitchell's archives.[3][4][5] The first round of releases featured a box set of previously unreleased material (Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967)), a condensed version subtitled Highlights, an auxiliary compilation album of the earliest material in the box set (Early Joni – 1963), and a separate release of the live sets featured on the box's last two discs (Live at Canterbury House – 1967). The press release announcing the archive's creation indicated a similar release structure would be followed on a yearly basis, with each release round moving through Mitchell's career in chronological order.[5] On April 8, 2021, an alteration to the yearly release schedule was disclosed in the press release announcing Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971), saying "future releases in the archive series will arrive in a similar manner, with a box set focused on studio albums from a specific era, followed by an official 'Archives' release looking at unreleased audio from the same period."[6][7][8]
The second box set of remasters to be released under the 'Archives' banner, The Asylum Albums (1972–1975), was released on September 23, 2022.[9][10][11] Following the cadence laid out in the Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) press release, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) was the next 'Archives' boxset to be released. However, approximately two months before the release of The Asylum Albums (1972–1975), Mitchell appeared unannounced as a special guest in the closing performance of the final day of the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island as part of a set billed as "Brandi Carlile and Friends".[12][13] After her successful return to the stage, Mitchell indicated that she wanted to perform live again, and later announced a headline concert, billed as "Joni Jam 2", which took place at Washington State's Gorge Amphitheatre on June 9–10, 2023. She also performed live at a concert on March 2, 2023, in Washington D.C. to celebrate being awarded the 2023 Gershwin Prize for her lifetime contributions to popular music.[14] Mitchell's yearlong return to performing live was bookended by the release of her surprise Newport set as a live album, titled Joni Mitchell at Newport, on July 28, 2023.[15] One month after, on August 17, 2023, it was announced that Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) was scheduled to be released on October 6, 2023.[2]
Upon release, Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 90 based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[16]
Andy Cush of Pitchfork wrote that "as demonstrated on Archives, Vol. 3, the excellent latest entry in a series of releases that collect previously unreleased demos and alternate versions from her back catalog, [Mitchell] already had a germ of the Court and Spark sound in mind when she began recording its predecessor" and Mitchell's "commitment to simple truth [...] was already firmly in place by the period covered by Asylum Years, which is marked primarily by her development as a musician rather than a writer".[17]
The first six tracks of disc three of Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) were given their own release on November 24, 2023 as Court and Spark Demos.[25] The half-hour vinyl LP for Record Store Day 2023 Black Friday. Court and Spark Demos is the thirteenth overall release and fifth auxiliary release of the Joni Mitchell Archives, and is listed in the same order as the six tracks off of the box set.[26]
