| Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) | |
| Type: | box set |
| Artist: | Joni Mitchell |
| Cover: | Joni Mitchell Archives Vol 2.jpg |
| Recorded: | 1968–1971 |
| Genre: | Folk |
| Label: | Rhino |
| Prev Title: | The Reprise Albums (1968–1971) |
| Prev Year: | 2021 |
| Next Title: | Live at Carnegie Hall – 1969 |
| Next Year: | 2021 |
Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) is a five-disc box set by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on November 12, 2021, by Rhino Records.[1] The box set is the seventh overall release and second 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 second volume of the series consists of the archived material that was recorded during Mitchell's tenure at Reprise Records, which includes the years between the release of her debut studio album, Song to a Seagull (1968) and her fourth studio album, Blue (1971).[2] [3] [4]
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.[5] [6] [7] The first round of releases featured a box set of previously unreleased material (), 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.[7] On April 8, 2021, Rhino announced Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) was scheduled to be released in October of that year (the box set was later pushed back to November 12). An alteration to the yearly release schedule was also announced in the press release; releasing earlier that same year would be a box set of remastered albums titled The Reprise Albums (1968–1971), and all "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."[8] [9] [10]
Upon release, Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) 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 92 based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted.
Credits adapted from Discogs.[11]
| Peak position | ||
| UK Album Sales Chart(OCC)[12] | 46 |
|---|
| Blue Highlights | |
| Type: | compilation |
| Artist: | Joni Mitchell |
| Cover: | JoniMitchell BlueHighlights Cover.jpg |
| Recorded: | 1970 |
| Genre: | Folk |
| Length: | 44:05 |
| Label: | Rhino |
| Prev Title: | Live at Carnegie Hall – 1969 |
| Prev Year: | 2021 |
| Next Title: | The Asylum Albums (1972–1975) |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
A condensed version of Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971), titled Blue Highlights, was released on April 23, 2022, by Rhino Records.[13] [14] The sampler album was released exclusively as a vinyl LP for Record Store Day 2022, and was made with "Joni’s insight, cooperation and creative input". Blue Highlights is the ninth overall release and fourth auxiliary release of the Joni Mitchell Archives, and like the album its material is derived from, features a track listing that is in chronological order. The vinyl release is limited to 9,000 copies in the United States and 16,000 copies worldwide.[13] [14] It debuted at number 150 on the Billboard 200, making it the first release from the archive series to appear on the chart.
| Peak position | ||
| UK Album Sales Chart(OCC)[15] | 54 |
|---|