Quote:
Originally Posted by mitzo
I personally love the album, see it as a quantum leap ahead from BD, and get tingles whenever I hear the first bars of some of the tracks.
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I agree with you about this. The received wisdom is that BD is her crowning achievement, but in terms of a solo statement, TWH is far more convincing. The sound is more unified, the vocals more assured, and most of the songs appear to have been written around the time of its making. Some of the arrangements are a bit precious by comparison to those on BD, but the overall vibe is one of genuine emotional commitment. Stevie holds nothing back here. She’s all in on every song. Whatever she has to give is lavishly spent.
I even love the silly sleeve design. That florid cursive lettering, the pinks and mauves and purples, the preponderance of ellipses...all of this suggests the world of unicorns, leotards, paper flowers, and canopied beds. She goes all in without apology. Whatever Fleetwood Mac vetoed or tempered has been released and runs amuck.
When the album came out, I asked my brother to get it for me on one of his trips to the mall with his pals. He was embarrassed to be seen buying something so girly. But I was a boy who didn’t give a f...k. She was too good then to ignore, too urgent to dismiss. And she’s knew it.
By comparison, RAL is seriously disappointing.