The 70s weren't all about cheap disco music and glam rock. Some quite remarkable music was being made in album form and Joni Mitchell helped set the standard for female singer-songwriters throughout the 1970s. She surfed the trend for folky angst-riddled acoustic music when she left Canada for LA in the late 60s, but her individual voice and introspective lyrics marked her out as someone to watch. Her ability as a painter is echoed in the choice of light, shade and colour through all of her best music.

BLUE (1971)

Having proved she could do 'accessible' with songs like Both Sides Now and Woodstock becoming minor hits, Joni Mitchell's fourth album was autobiography of the deeply melancholic kind. The ultimate break-up album, Blue is probably also Joni Mitchell's masterpiece. Songs such as All I Want, Carey, California and A Case of You work equally well as poetry, with carefully chosen vignettes and perfect phrasing. Importantly, Mitchell does not offer answers, or philosophy, or politics and, because this album visits the greatest common theme in art - that of love lost - it is utterly timeless.

COURT AND SPARK (1974)

Mitchell's most accessible and successful album ever, Court and Spark defines musical sophistication, marrying poetic lyricism with a folk-pop-jazz groove. This album brought her bang up-to-date after the earlier folk leanings, and revealed a witty and clever insight into human behaviour. The album is the way dinner parties sounded for decades, the resonant light jazz incorporating easy melody and blue reflection. Although Blue is her zenith, Court and Spark provides a perfect entry point for anyone new to Joni Mitchell. It paved the way for most of the female singer-songwriters we enjoy today.

HEJIRA (1976)

The great albums do not always appeal on first listening, and Hejira is one of those. Mitchell had expanded her instrumental scale and sonic experimentation on Court and Spark and the subsequent The Hissing of Summer Lawns, but here reverses that flow for more intimate, inward music. Mitchell's distinctive acoustic guitar and piano again take centre-stage, and the brilliant, lyrical bass of Jaco Pastorius, together with the perfect work of guitar genius Larry Carlton, weave an album at once atmospheric and beautiful. This album demands attention, moving folk beyond its roots to a new place.

TAMING THE TIGER (1998)

Mitchell didn't exactly retire during the 80s and early 90s, but released albums intermittently. We waited until 1994 for a proper comeback in the Grammy-winning Turbulent Indigo, and Taming The Tiger picks up where that album left off. Full of reminiscences about family, her new boyfriend and the music business, Taming the Tiger is as finely drawn a set of portraits as she has ever created. There's an airiness and joy to Taming The Tiger that had been missing in Mitchell's music for a long time, and proves that maturity has added wisdom to the raw talent she began her career with.