Few female artists have managed to remain as consistently interesting or as musically progressive as Joni Mitchell in the past ten years. Apart from the brief marking time with Miles Of Aisles, she has surged confidently forward, setting her floating, agile voice against increasingly complex and jazz-tinged backings. With this latest double album she continues the evolution to produce yet another new sound, this time driven very much from the front by master bassist Jaco Pastorius. Sides One and Four carry on in the direction of the last LP Hejeira [sic], with Mitchell's lyrics continuing to explore and analyze personal relationships with increasing candour and adventurous melody lines. Sides two and three are more experimental with a throwaway Latin instrumental called The Tenth World and what many are claiming to be the singer/songwriter's masterwork, Paprika Plains, a 16-minute biographical Odyssey featuring piano, bass and sax improvisations. This album is bound to be a sure-fire target for the album-token market as well as being snapped up by Ms. Mitchell's army of fans.