Challenged by her friend David Geffen to write a hit song, Mitchell turned in a glossy bit of pop confection called “You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio”; far worse things have resulted from dares. Though blatantly commercial and not well regarded by Joni diehards, the song is a fitting microcosm for For The Roses, an album that showcases Mitchell’s growing strengths as a melodist and architect of unpredictable, byzantine arrangements. The real feat of For The Roses, however, is in how its sophisticated time signatures and lilting, acrobatic melodies become imprinted on the psyche despite their intricacy. Elsewhere, the ominous “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” (which boasts an actual, bonafide guitar riff!), with its knotty acoustic guitars and jutting polyrhythms, sounds like Big Sur’s answer to Pentangle, while the stately “Banquet” and the melancholy “See You Sometime” retain some of the torch song tendencies of Blue. For The Roses sits between two masterpieces, and, as a result, tends to get overlooked.