“Liking the Solo albums”
 

I think that the “fans” that dislike (or hate)some of Stevie’s solo albums are the fans that weren’t fans from the beginning. I do have my favorites but being a fan from 1981 I like all of them. I think if you became a fan later and went back into her catalog you can’t appreciate the progression .....agree?

No.

Some of the albums are definitely better than others. Her drug problems became increasingly apparent on her albums and the quality of songs, performances, etc went downhill at times.

Not sure I would personally say that I *hate* any of her albums, but some don't get much play anymore. And I've been a fan since '75.

I was a fan of Stevie from the start when I first got into Fleetwood Mac but her solo work honestly disappointed me at first because I'd only listened to her FM work before which (in my opinion) were works of art in writing and production. Terrific songs from her produced so, so beautifully. Bella Donna is my favorite solo album of hers and I think it's great largely because her songwriting was still fantastic but I thought the production was a downgrade from FM. There was nothing wrong with it but it just wasn't very special if you ask me. And I think that over time her songwriting changed and not exactly in a good way and the production on her solo work grew worse so for me that's why I'm not a particularly big fan of a lot of her later solo albums.

In general, yes.

There’s probably a certain appreciation for each record that those who followed along from the very beginning have, that those of us who weren’t born yet, do not have.

Something that might sound dated now, might have once sounded cutting edge.

Completely disagree. You can love someone unconditionally but are honest and objective enough to know when they have not done their best. There is no purity test of who is a bigger or "real" fan.
I LOVE OSOTM and Street Angel which are probably the most unpopular of the bunch. However, I hate RAL and think its one of the worst albums of the entire 80's. It has nothing to do with being "dated." Its when Stevie sacrificed her craft for a non-stop party atmosphere in the studio. Her voice was raw, the songs were not hers, and slick record company execs pushed for a more pop sound with very few real musical instruments. I always got a deep personal connection to Stevie's songs. I did not want to break dance to Sister Honey :eek:
That honesty makes me more of a fan than some who embrace Stevie when she is not Stevie or very un-Stevie.
To answer the OP's question: I too have been following along since 1981. I loved WH but less than Bella Donna. I pretended to like RAL because I was such an obsessed fan since it was the cult thing to do. OSOTM was such a bounce back IMHO. From the moment I heard Rooms on Fire, I was blown away. OMG a real Stevie song again with real musical instruments! Her voice was not fried and there are much better songs on OSOTM than RAL let alone the music. I even loved Sometimes Its A Bitch. Street Angel is a favorite. I am not thrilled about In Your Dreams and 24K Gold though.

I have been a fan since the Rumours era .Bella Donna is her best solo album . Her songwriting peak was the 1970s no doubt and more than half of that album 's songs were written in that decade. Even Gypsy was written at that end of the 1970s. Since then things have been very patchy and inconsistent.

I don’t agree at all. TOSOTM and Sleeping Angel we’re horrible. But gradually her albums got better a little at a time. Loved 24k.

The problem is, for me, not with disliking one of Stevie's albums. It's the arrogance some have that their opinion is the only opinion that matters and those who act like their opinion is fact. For me RAL is brilliant, it is, to me one of her best (along with the first two). I listened to RAL alot more then her first two albums and it still is played regularly. I did not like half of In Your Dreams and most of 24K Gold.

I like everybody’s perspective on this topic but I’m sticking to my post. I like them all some better than others and still remember how exciting I was when the first three were released. I also listen and enjoy RAL to this day. Becoming a fan in the later years an going back into her catalogue could sound very dated to some.

But your basic premise is false.

you say that fans who dislike any of her solo albums must not be fans from the beginning because fans from the beginning must like all her albums and appreciate the progression of the albums.

Everyone here has said this is not true; we've all been fans from the beginning and we DON'T necessarily like all of her solo albums.

Your premise is if you are a fan from the beginning of her solo days, you can't NOT like any of her solo albums.
We are all fans from the beginning, and we all have albums we don't particularly care for.

As for seeing the progression over time of her albums, we do indeed see a progression, and many (not all) feel that progression went from better to worse over time.


Unless you are still saying we are not fans. :shrug:

No.....I’m not saying that. My point was only if you were a fan from the beginning of her solo releases you may have a different perspective. Period, that’s all.��

I remember everyone loved Bella Donna when it first came out. Not so much with the The Wild Heart. It didn’t flow as well, was darker and the production was muddy and had a lot of synth. Rock a little was the real turning point that signaled a true downward spiral. The album was a mess. No one that I knew at the time liked it.

I came very late to the hardcore fandom. At first, instead of buying her entire catalog, I simply bought Enchanted. I had no idea which songs were on which albums when I picked out my favorites.

My perspective is definitely very different, as it wasn't colored by any expectations or preconceptions of Stevie as someone making a progression. I wasn't listening to one song with the idea in my head that it was done "in her prime" and listening to another song with the mentality that it was done while she was "in decline" or whatever. It was all the same to me; I listened to Enchanted and I judged each song based on its own merit.

As a result, when my favorites emerged, a lot of them had nothing to do with "liking the solo albums." I did love the hits I recognized like Leather and Lace, Edge of Seventeen, Talk to Me, and Stand Back. However, my new favorites were Long Distance Winner, Gold and Braid, Sleeping Angel, Battle of the Dragon, The Highwayman, HAEWAFY, Ooh My Love, and Blue Denim - the last of which I had no idea appeared on an album that was much-disparaged.

Therefore, I care far more about songs than albums, and to this day don't concern myself very much as to whether something appeared on Wild Heart or Rock a Little when it comes up on iPod shuffle (yes, I still have one of those).

I guess the digital age and the divorcement of songs from albums also enables that mentality.

Thus, I don't hate any album. They all have good songs on them - albeit some more than others - and that's what I care about.

I'm pretty sure this thread was aimed at me since I called Stevie's solo albums "garbage" on the Rumours forum. I suppose I do fit the parameters laid out in the first post of this thread- I was born in 1982 & became a fan in 1993, so I definitely wasn't a fan of Stevie's from the beginning of her career; solo or otherwise. However, I do have 25 years of fandom under my belt, and can definitely appreciate the progression of her sound.

I feel like I should qualify my "garbage" statement- it is my personal opinion that when compared side to side, Stevie's albums are largely dated pop fluff vs Fleetwood Mac's albums, which I generally find more sonically substantive & timeless. That being said, each Stevie solo album has excellent tunes. But do any of them truly stand neck and neck with the likes of Gold Dust Woman, Beautiful Child, Gypsy, etc? There's just something special about how the Rumours 5 combined their respective crafts to elevate one another's songs. They had a unique sound, compared Stevie's solo albums which in comparison often feel like they were crafted by corporate executives with slick session musicians, which of course they were. Don't like that last statement? Just watch Stevie's Behind The Music & listen to what Paul Fishkin, Jimmy Iovine, etc had to say.

Not to mention that by the virtue of Stevie only getting a few songs on each FM album, most every FM song of hers was hand picked and extremely high quality. In comparison, her solo works all contain filler material; some more than others. Do I blame Stevie for going solo? Hardly- she had more to say than 3 songs every couple of years would allow. Do I blame her for keeping her solo fare lighter than FM? Again, no... who can blame her for wanting a counter point to the heaviness of the FM experience? But does that mean that I have to blindly accept all of her material since I love her work with FM? Again, no... when she doesn't live up to her own high water mark, I think that's fair game.

For what it's worth, I don't think my opinion is fact... I'm just sharing my thoughts, the way we all do. I might come across feisty at times, but it's just because I'm passionate about Fleetwood Mac, having dedicated 2/3 of my life & 1/4 of a century to loving the band. When I come across as harsh it's because we've all seen what this band is capable of, just how special they can be. And when they don't live up to that potential, I just get rather irritated. And by all means, call me out on my crap & debate me when you think I'm wrong. :D

You might be surprised to hear I agree with you regarding RAL. It might not be as sophisticated as her Mac material, but I find it to be a great pop album. It has a continuity of sound & sustained energy that her other albums just don't. Great house cleaning music!