Geffen combined {$Joni Mitchell's} first two albums for the label, 1982's {^Wild Things Run Fast} and 1985's {^Dog Eat Dog}, on one CD in 1996. On {^Wild Things Run Fast}, {$Mitchell} achieved more of a balance between her pop abilities and jazz aspirations, meanwhile rediscovering a more direct, emotional lyrical approach. The result was her best album since the mid-'70s. On {^Dog Eat Dog}, {$Mitchell} turned to guests like {$Michael McDonald}, {$Thomas Dolby}, {$Don Henley}, {$James Taylor}, and {$Wayne Shorter}, continuing to straddle the worlds of California folk/pop and fusion jazz. Musically, it worked, although as a lyricist, {$Mitchell} again took off after abstractions (one song railed against "the three great stimulants of the exhausted ones/Artifice, brutality and innocence"), such that, even when you could figure out what she was talking about, you didn't care. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide