Wow! Stevie Nicks Is Back
Album: The Soundstage Sessions / Artist: Stevie Nicks / 10 tracks / Rock
Reviewed by Joe Montague
More than any other female vocalist, when I was in my teenage and university years, Stevie Nicks impacted my life, so imagine the tremendous adrenaline rush which I experienced when Nicks’ new CD The Soundstage Sessions arrived in the mail. Stevie Nicks’ familiar vibrato is still omni present, on this lush, beautifully orchestrated project, on which she penned all, but two of the ten tunes, the exceptions being the second track, Dave Matthews’, “Crash Into Me,” and the seventh track, Bonnie Raitt’s, “Circle Dance.” Some of the songs are older and more familiar, others less so.
The album opens with the hard hitting rock tune, “Stand Back,” before moving into a mellow, acoustic cover of, “Crash Into Me,” featuring the splendid guitar work of Waddy Wachtel, who also acted as the Musical Director for The Soundstage Sessions.
Down through the Fleetwood Mac years and on her previous solo projects, Stevie Nicks’ ability to infuse her vocals with passion, has been one of her greatest strengths, and that quality is evident once again in the songs from The Soundstage Sessions, a testament to an artist who still ‘gets it,’ and is not simply relying on the legend that she has become, as a result of past musical conquests. The third, fourth, and fifth tracks, in order, “Sara,” “If Anyone Falls In Love,” and “Landslide,” all evoke from the listener powerful emotional responses. Nicks captures so well that feeling of being overwhelmed by the passions of love, as she sings, “Drowning in the sea of love / Where everyone would love to drown,” and the heart wrenching, feeling of helplessness, when that love is lost, “And Now it’s gone / They say it doesn’t matter what for / When you build your house / Call me.” The backing vocals for, “Sara,” are provided by Jana Anderson, Sharon Celani and her sister-in-law Lori Nicks, and all three singers deliver beautifully.
The Soundstage Sessions was co-produced by Joe Thomas, Stevie Nicks and her longtime friend Waddy Wachtel, and the trio did an excellent job of enveloping Nicks’ vocals with sensitive instrumentation, particularly from Wachtel (guitar), percussionist Lenny Castro, bassist Al Ortiz, drummer Jimmy Paxson, guitarist Carlos Rios and keyboardist Darrell Smith, all of whom bring a gentle demeanor to songs such as, “Sara,” and “Landslide.” Pretty acoustic guitar introduces us to, “Landslide,” a song that reflects the passages of life and wonders out loud if the singer can handle the changes that come, as she grows older, and her relationships with others change. The strings arrangements for, “Landslide,” are breathtaking, and violinists, Guillaume Combet, Jennifer Cappelli, Carmen Llop-Kassinger and Christine Keiko Abe, along with violist Carol Cook and cellist Jocelyn Davis-Beck, are to be commended for turning in a spectacular performance throughout this CD. In Stevie Nicks’ vocals you hear complete vulnerability, a woman who is confident enough at this stage of her life, to open her heart and to share what she is feeling with those who listen to her music.
Another jewel from The Soundstage Sessions is the tune, “If Anyone Falls In Love,” a song that Nicks co-wrote with Sandy Stewart. There are several youtube clips of Nicks singing this song, some dating back to 1983 and yet, she has never sounded as emotive and vocally strong as she does with her The Soundstage Sessions rendition of, “If Anyone Falls In Love.” Nicks’s vocals soar, and she inspires the listener to sing along with her, and to make the words their own.
The album ends with a hauntingly beautiful vocal performance of the song, “Beauty And The Beast,” which is matched by the equally pretty orchestration, once again highlighting the strings section.
Although some of the tracks on this album will not be new to you, Stevie Nicks performs them on The Soundstage Sessions, in a way that you will not have heard them before; as she ranges from breathtaking, to powerfully emotive, and at other times she simply bares her soul.
Go out and buy this album, because it will be one of the better decisions that you made in 2009.
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