I mentioned last week in my look back at Joni Mitchell’s album Wild Things Run Fast that it was her first album for Geffen Records and one which left a major impact on me. Mitchell’s subsequent release, 1985’s Dog Eat Dog was not only my first experience with the singer but left an even more lasting impact . Dog Eat Dog also rivals her Mingus album for being her most polarizing work. Dog Eat Dog finds Mitchell newly married to bassist and co-producer Larry Klein. It also finds her setting aside her innovative guitar tunings for the use of the Fairlight CMI sythn and the use of sampling. Mitchell and Klein also engage synthesizer guru Thomas Dolby ( of “She Blinded Me with Science”  fame). Her core band featuring Michael Landau and guitar, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Larry Klein on bass and Mitchell and Dolby handling sampler and keyboards. The result is an intentionally cold and stark sound with an undisputable rock edge. Part to the reason for the sound of the album goes to the fact that Mitchell wanted to record the bad, then use various samples of them to shape the songs. Also Mitchell, while in one of the happiest periods of her life, was majorly pissed off about the world around her. The environment, lawyer, politician, TV evangelist , materialism are all subjects of her songs. The fact that during the making of the album she and Klein were involved in a serious head on accident didn’t help her mood.

In the kick off track, “Good Friends” Mitchell starts off in a fine mood and the melody is supported by Michael McDonald’s soothing tenor, but the song seems to end as a pleading rather than a statement of friendship. The next track, “Fiction” co-written with Klein is Mitchell calling bullshit on a lot of pop culture and materialism. Beefy lyrics served up over a sampled Vinnie Colaiuta drum pattern. The next track, “The Three Great Stimulants” goes down in my book as one of the worse songs she’s ever recorded. Preachy, selfrightous and best skipped; however, “Tax Free” is an unlikely gem. The song slaps televangelist in the face with their hypocrisy while serving use great sample rock licks from Landau and effectively uses sampled spoken vocals from Rod Steiger . The side ends with a weird track featuring a cigarette machine, Mitchell’s vocals and power chords by guitar ringer, Steve Lukather. The ‘second side’ of the album kicks off with the total track where Mitchell gets vocal support from sometime buddies, Don Henley and James Taylor. Interesting casting considering the songs basically says the world is a corrupt shithole. At least Mitchell makes the message sound inventive and interesting. “Shiny Toys” continues the theme but uses a sampled Thomas Dolby spoken part and a uplifting drum pattern while covering men’s desire for bigger, more expensive and ultimately less satisfying things. The track is also a slice of seeing the modern electronic world through Mitchell’s eyes. “Ethiopia “ is a mostly piano based rant on world hunger but the final two tracks, “Impossible Dreamer” and “Lucky Girl” show signs of optimism and hope.

After all the vitriol, on Dog Eat Dog there is a turn for the better which is touched on in the remaining two albums of her Geffen era quartet. A fan of Mitchell should not skip Dog Eat Dog though I wouldn’t recommend it as being representative of all her work.