This wonderfully varied release shows a number of new tendencies in {$Joni Mitchell}'s work, some of which would come to fuller fruition on subsequent albums. {&"The Arrangement,"} {&"Rainy Night House,"} and {&"Woodstock"} contain lengthy instrumental sections, presaging the extensive non-vocal stretches in later selections such as {&"Down to You"} from {^Court and Spark}. {\Jazz} elements are noticeable in the wind solos of {&"For Free"} and {&"Conversation,"} exhibiting an important influence that would extend as late as {^Mingus}. The unusually poignant desolation of {&"The Arrangement"} would surface more strongly in {^Blue}. A number of the selections here ({&"Willy"} and {&"Blue Boy"}) use piano rather than guitar accompaniment; arrangements here are often more colorful and complex than before, utilizing cello, clarinet, flute, saxophone, and percussion. {$Mitchell} sings more clearly and expressively than on prior albums, most strikingly so on {&"Woodstock,"} her celebration of the pivotal 1960s New York {\rock} festival. This number, given a haunting electric piano accompaniment, is sung in a gutsy, raw, soulful manner; the selection proves amply that {\pop} music anthems don't all have to be loud production numbers. Songs here take many moods, ranging from the sunny, easygoing {&"Morning Morgantown"} (a charming small-town portrait) to the nervously energetic {&"Conversation"} (about a love triangle in the making) to the cryptically spooky {&"The Priest"} (presenting the speaker's love for a Spartan man) to the sweetly sentimental classic {&"The Circle Game"} (denoting the passage of time in touching terms) to the bouncy and vibrant single {&"Big Yellow Taxi"} (with humorous lyrics on ecological matters) to the plummy, sumptuous title track (a celebration of creativity in all its manifestations). This album is yet another essential listen in {$Mitchell}'s recorded canon. ~ David Cleary, All Music Guide