The Other Side Of The Mirror Appreciation Thread

[teedeerocks]

Originally Posted by Rod~A~Little

Agreed! Probably not the best album to listen to if you're already in a dark place.

Yes, the album should have ended with this song. I always stop at this song and never really listen to Blue Eyes.

Love the funky little groove of Juliet! I didn't know there was a "crazy Tango version." Looks like I'll be on YouTube searching for this one!

So funny you said that - I just wrote a little note to remind myself to check YouTube for the Tango version!GMTA! Happy searching and I hope you enjoy it

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by Rod~A~Little

Agreed! Probably not the best album to listen to if you're already in a dark place.

Yes, the album should have ended with this song. I always stop at this song and never really listen to Blue Eyes.

Love the funky little groove of Juliet! I didn't know there was a "crazy Tango version." Looks like I'll be on YouTube searching for this one!

Fleetwood Mac's b-side Book of Miracles is the instrumental track that would have been their version of Juliet.

[sorcerer999]

Is this the one that everyone's talking about?



I love how at 3:42 it starts to sound like Michael Jackson's "Black Or White".

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by sorcerer999

Is this the one that everyone's talking about?



I love how at 3:42 it starts to sound like Michael Jackson's "Black Or White".

You're so right about that!

This could have been a great song on Tango. But on this work-in-progress is a mess. And this was post-rehab? Why does she sound so manic? It appears she doesn't have the lyric structure nailed down. She's just wailing out various lines at random. And her ad-lib phrasing is so messy.

The band sounds solid. I wonder at what point they decided to give up on this song. Is the Book of Miracles b-side instrumental exactly the backing intended for Juliet? Or did Lindsey decide to salvage the song and finished it for release. Is Book of Miracles credited to Stevie?

[DauphineMarie]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

You're so right about that!

This could have been a great song on Tango. But on this work-in-progress is a mess. And this was post-rehab? Why does she sound so manic? It appears she doesn't have the lyric structure nailed down. She's just wailing out various lines at random. And her ad-lib phrasing is so messy.

The band sounds solid. I wonder at what point they decided to give up on this song. Is the Book of Miracles b-side instrumental exactly the backing intended for Juliet? Or did Lindsey decide to salvage the song and finished it for release. Is Book of Miracles credited to Stevie?

I think this was pre-Rehab, because honestly post-Rehab Stevie couldn't have pulled off those vocals in such a manic, drugged-out fashion... I believe Book of Miracles is credited to Stevie and Lindsey.

[sorcerer999]

I remember both Mick and Stevie mentioning somewhere that they had started to work on demos and pre-production for "Tango" even before the "Rock A Little" tour started, and judging from her erratic vocals here, I would speculate that, yes indeed, this recording is "pre-rehab".

My bff Diana saw Stevie at Jones Beach during the RAL tour and got to go backstage. She said that Stevie was so "out of it" after the show that she had to have two security guards on both sides of her helping her stand. She also said Stevie was holding a small tape recorder that was playing "Family Man" and that when they brought her out to greet the fans, she was singing along to the call and response part, "I am what I am, I am what I am..." which also suggests that Tango was continuing to progress as Stevie was on tour.

[Macfan4life]

So love this thread. TOSOTM is not appreciated enough. I did not care for Rock A Little. Stevie hardly wrote any of the songs and was so messed up. When I heard Rooms on Fire, I was like WOW, Stevie is writing again, real drums and real guitars.... so happy. Some of her best written songs are on this album besides Bella Donna. Stevie rented a mansion and paid $100k per month to record it there. It surely was her "magic" album. According to Stevie luckily most of the album was already written because it was just after its release the lights went out on her. She claims she cant remember much of the tour. I saw her live in Pittsburgh Sept 1, 1989 and the lights were definitely out at this point. She had no interaction with the audience and the newspaper the next day commented why she moved so little on stage.
But some songs are amazing. I agree Blue Eyes seems out of place. While I like Cry Wolf, its very demo like. Laura Brannigan sang the song a few years earlier. It seemed Stevie was desperate for a few songs to finish the album.
LOVE
Rooms on Fire
Long Way To Go a real rocker
Two Kinds of Love
Ghosts (great writing)
Whole Lotta Trouble
Doing the Best that I can AKA Escape from Berlin (remember the Berlin wall had not fallen yet) Once you know the context of the song.... Escape from Berlin makes sense. Stevie ran away from Betty Ford. I know today she claims she finished the complete stint. But I remember on MTV news it claimed she ditched the place and said it was really stupid.

Anyway....... IMHO Stevie did get back on her feet for this album and it was the last of her great writing for many years to come.

[sorcerer999]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Stevie ran away from Betty Ford. I know today she claims she finished the complete stint. But I remember on MTV news it claimed she ditched the place and said it was really stupid.

Wow. Really? I've never heard this.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by sorcerer999

Wow. Really? I've never heard this.

yes the story has changed over the years. In Micks 1990 book he claims Stevie completed the successful 30 day detox or something. When I read that I was like wow, that is not was reported several years ago. I think she left only a few days before she was supposed to. Not implying she relapsed or anything.
But the lyrics from Escape from Berlin say it all. If you left rehab happy and changed, I doubt you would call the song Escape from Berlin LOL
"I just played the part, I did not win or lose....... I just threw the cards"
IMHO those lyrics sort of hint of giving up and getting out

[Rod~A~Little]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

yes the story has changed over the years. In Micks 1990 book he claims Stevie completed the successful 30 day detox or something. When I read that I was like wow, that is not was reported several years ago. I think she left only a few days before she was supposed to. Not implying she relapsed or anything.
But the lyrics from Escape from Berlin say it all. If you left rehab happy and changed, I doubt you would call the song Escape from Berlin LOL
"I just played the part, I did not win or lose....... I just threw the cards"
IMHO those lyrics sort of hint of giving up and getting out

I read the same thing somewhere. Your theory about (Escape From Berlin) would make sense. I've always wondered about the (Escape From Berlin) in the title.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by Rod~A~Little

I read the same thing somewhere. Your theory about (Escape From Berlin) would make sense. I've always wondered about the (Escape From Berlin) in the title.

Exactly. I was a HUGE fan at the time. I remember the MTV news announcing Stevie went to the Betty Ford Clinic and when she left and I remember the quote was "it was really stupid."
Escaping from Berlin was probably the toughest thing to do since it was like a prison with barbed wiring on the inside with guards instructed shoot to kill.
I think that could be a reason for the Klonopin. Her friends could have been concerned that she left or "escaped" (lol) and needed better professional help. Who knows. But the story has completely changed and it all started with Micks 1990 book. But that was so long ago. Even if she left early on her own it still impacted her with getting off cocaine. But maybe if she would have competed everything successfully maybe the Klonopin era would not have happened.

[UndoingTheLaces]

I was still forming my music tastes at the time and I've always embraced all types of music so the adult contemporary feel of the album didn't bother me at the time. I'm a huge fan of the Alice books so I loved that Stevie used that imagery. I always thought the bridge in Alice was so telling of Fleetwood Mac even before reading Mick's biography. "Each had their own charm, buried beneath of solid piece of armor or a steel plated vest, some carry a stiletto in their garter along with everything else that they carry". Although looking back I suppose that's more about the men in her life rather than her band members, but I can certainly see how it could be either.

The song Ghosts is always on my iPod even when other songs come and go. It's just so haunting and that ethereal part near the end with the backwards vocals always gives me chills.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by DauphineMarie

I think this was pre-Rehab, because honestly post-Rehab Stevie couldn't have pulled off those vocals in such a manic, drugged-out fashion... I believe Book of Miracles is credited to Stevie and Lindsey.

Stevie went to rehab after the Rock A Little tour. So she was fresh out of rehab during the Tango sessions. Her singing was still manic post rehab. But it's still possible that she cut the demo pre- rehab.

[johnnystorms]

I just think (escape from Berlin) is her whacky way of inserting herself into the historical "Fall of the Berlin Wall" since FM was touring Europe and in Germany at the time

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by johnnystorms

I just think (escape from Berlin) is her whacky way of inserting herself into the historical "Fall of the Berlin Wall" since FM was touring Europe and in Germany at the time

Have you read the lyrics to Doing the best that I can?
Its all about the Betty Ford experience. The Berlin wall did not fall until late 1989. TOSOTM was released much earlier in 1989. Fleetwood Mac was not touring Europe during the fall of the wall. Stevie was on tour in the United States promoting TOSOTM.