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Old 03-22-2009, 12:46 PM
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Default The Soundstage Sessions: Reviews

I'm making this post so all of The Soundstage Sessions reviews can be compiled into this one thread as they come in.


Album: Stevie Nicks, The Soundstage Sessions, (Reprise)

Reviewed by Simon Price

Sunday, 22 March 2009

Stevie Nicks' voice is one of the musical wonders of the world – she's almost alone in making the concept of adult oriented rock seem enticing and not a soul-crushing bore – so any opportunity to hear it in full flight, such as this televised concert, is welcome.

Though slightly ravaged, her voice remains a miraculous thing, able to make even a Dave Matthews Band song tolerable ("Crash"). Nicks's stripped-down versions of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" and "Sara" are things of traffic-stopping beauty.

Pick of the album: Where everyone would love to drown: 'Sara'

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...e-1651513.html
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Old 03-22-2009, 12:52 PM
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Stevie Nicks, rocking it her way

Stevie Nicks is on the road in the US with Fleetwood Mac. She's also got a new album and DVD due out at the end of this month. The DVD is Live In Chicago and from it comes The Soundstage Sessions album -- ten tracks from the concert which have had additional arrangements and vocals added in Nashville. Both are released March 31st.



Ten tracks on the album proper. Amazon will offer one bonus track ("Enchanted") and iTunes will offer two bonus tracks ("Gold Dust Woman" and "Edge of Seventeen").



Stevie's released only one solo studio album this decade (Trouble in Shangri-La). She's also released a studio album with Fleetwood Mac (Say You Will). So for Nicks fans (and we are), this new live release is of huge interest.



And if it interests you, you may want to check out the single Amazon is offering as a download currently, Stevie performing her "Landslide" and Dave Matthews' "Crash Into Me." You can purchase either for ninety-nine cents or both for $1.89.



"Crash Into Me" is a five minute and thirty-three seconds live track that Stevie owns from the moment she tosses "You've got your ball, you've got your chains" up and to the back of her throat. She could have sang the entire song that way and we (and many others would have loved it) but she brings it down lower and manages to honor the original while owning her cover.

The music in her version makes clear the debt Dave Matthews owes to Tom Petty ("Free Falling"). Three minutes the backup vocals come in and that's a Stevie hallmark. It's been a hallmark of many a great singer, interplay with backup vocalists, but you clink and they're on tour and on album with nothing but their own multi-tracked vocals.



Stevie was a Mamas and Papas fan as a young girl and her love of vocals (plural) and the elements they can create in harmony and counter-point has led to some of her finest work ("Nightbird," for example). Between her lead vocals, the backing vocals, the guitar playing and some amazing drum work, "Crash Into Me" is a must-have for any Stevie fan.



And "Landslide?"



This Stevie Nicks song first appears on Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album. Along with "Rhiannon" (also written and sung by Nicks) and "Say You Love Me" (written and sung by Christine McVie), it would become a big hit for the group and enter their canon. 1980's Fleetwood Mac Live and 1997's The Dance feature the song. (As do various best-ofs, anthologies and greatest hits put out by the Mac.)



She's reconfigured this song. It's nothing like the intense revitalization she gave "Rhiannon" for her three-disc, boxed set Enchanted but it's still fairly amazing. You'll enjoy the song throughout, she's doing a softer vocal on the verses and there's a wonderful backing joining her for the chorus. But it's at 2 minutes and fifty-three seconds that you especially want to start paying attention. From that moment on to the end, you'll be cursing your bad luck that you didn't see this performed live. (But you can purchase the DVD.)



Stevie Nicks is a one of a kind original. As such, she was relentlessly attacked by male rock critics at the start of her career. Why didn't she do it that way, why didn't she record something more like . . . She rocked it on her own terms and, in doing so, became one of rock's most distinctive and memorable artists. The bulk of male rock critics faves and raves from 1975 to 1979 are forgotten today -- and for good reason. Stevie's a living testament to the strength needed to be a real artist and, listening to her, you never forget it. She rocked it on her own terms and she had the last laugh. Listening to her, you never forget that either. (March 31st, you do not want to miss the live version of "Sara.")

http://thirdestatesundayreview.blogs...t-her-way.html
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Old 03-22-2009, 08:38 PM
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These are wonderful. Im glad these reviewers enjoyed soundstage as much as i did. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 03-23-2009, 08:07 AM
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Default Soundstage Review - The Independent UK

See link on the Independents review of Soundstage in the UK -

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...e-1651513.html

Also this week on BBC Radio 2 Soundstage is the Album of the week and this morning they played Standback and it sounded really rocking. Great to hear Stevie on the radio.
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Old 03-25-2009, 07:13 AM
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Default Soundstage Album of the Week BBC Radio 2

Yesterday they played Landslide from Soundstage and it sounded so good, and at the end the DJ was chatting to another DJ about Stevie and one of them commented on what an amazing life Stevie has had, and then they went on to talk about Rumours and Dreams and they seemed to think that Dreams was written by Stevie and Lindsey!

Today they played Sarah from Soundstage - I love that version.

Sooooooo good to hear Stevie on BBC Radio
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Old 03-28-2009, 01:23 PM
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California Chronicle, March 27, 2009

http://www.californiachronicle.com/a...s/yb/128130591

STEVIE NICKS

Live In Chicago **

Still giving it plenty with the hippy scarves and flouncy dresses, erstwhile Fleetwood Mac chanteuse Nicks turns in a fairly sterile show without her mega-platinum selling famous bandmates. Her brand of easy-listening FM rock fails to stir much excitement and the highpoints of this rather thin package (no extras at all) are Mac's Rumours-era hits.
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Old 03-28-2009, 01:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Liza View Post
and they seemed to think that Dreams was written by Stevie and Lindsey!
Well, that probably has some truth in it.
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Old 03-28-2009, 02:01 PM
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Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17 View Post
Well, that probably has some truth in it.
That's what I'm sayin'... just because his name isn't on it, doesn't mean his signature isn't all over it... along with many, many others... musically speaking of course, the lyrics are all hers.
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Old 03-28-2009, 02:06 PM
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Originally Posted by CADreaming View Post
That's what I'm sayin'... just because his name isn't on it, doesn't mean his signature isn't all over it... along with many, many others... musically speaking of course, the lyrics are all hers.
"All over it" is a bit of a stretch. The version sans him on the rumors re-issue is Basically exactly the same, only no guitar.
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Old 03-28-2009, 03:12 PM
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"All over it" is a bit of a stretch. The version sans him on the rumors re-issue is Basically exactly the same, only no guitar.
Ok. I hear ya.
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Old 03-28-2009, 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted by RockALittle250 View Post
As such, she was relentlessly attacked by male rock critics at the start of her career.
Does he mean guys like Ken Tucker, John Swenson, Bob Hilburn, Steve Morse, Dennis Hunt, Timothy White, & Howard Cohen?
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Old 03-31-2009, 05:51 PM
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This is from the Common Ills blog, March 31, 2009

http://thecommonills.blogdrive.com/a...-2009_o-0.html


Stevie Nicks, rocking it her way

Stevie Nicks is on the road in the US with Fleetwood Mac. She's also got a new album and DVD due out at the end of this month. The DVD is Live In Chicago and from it comes The Soundstage Sessions album -- ten tracks from the concert which have had additional arrangements and vocals added in Nashville. Both are released March 31st.

Ten tracks on the album proper. Amazon will offer one bonus track ("Enchanted") and iTunes will offer two bonus tracks ("Gold Dust Woman" and "Edge of Seventeen").

Stevie's released only one solo studio album this decade (Trouble in Shangri-La). She's also released a studio album with Fleetwood Mac (Say You Will). So for Nicks fans (and we are), this new live release is of huge interest.

And if it interests you, you may want to check out the single Amazon is offering as a download currently, Stevie performing her "Landslide" and Dave Matthews' "Crash Into Me." You can purchase either for ninety-nine cents or both for $1.89.

"Crash Into Me" is a five minute and thirty-three seconds live track that Stevie owns from the moment she tosses "You've got your ball, you've got your chains" up and to the back of her throat. She could have sang the entire song that way and we (and many others would have loved it) but she brings it down lower and manages to honor the original while owning her cover.

The music in her version makes clear the debt Dave Matthews owes to Tom Petty ("Free Falling"). Three minutes the backup vocals come in and that's a Stevie hallmark. It's been a hallmark of many a great singer, interplay with backup vocalists, but you clink and they're on tour and on album with nothing but their own multi-tracked vocals.

Stevie was a Mamas and Papas fan as a young girl and her love of vocals (plural) and the elements they can create in harmony and counter-point has led to some of her finest work ("Nightbird," for example). Between her lead vocals, the backing vocals, the guitar playing and some amazing drum work, "Crash Into Me" is a must-have for any Stevie fan.

And "Landslide?"

This Stevie Nicks song first appears on Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album. Along with "Rhiannon" (also written and sung by Nicks) and "Say You Love Me" (written and sung by Christine McVie), it would become a big hit for the group and enter their canon. 1980's Fleetwood Mac Live and 1997's The Dance feature the song. (As do various best-ofs, anthologies and greatest hits put out by the Mac.)

She's reconfigured this song. It's nothing like the intense revitalization she gave "Rhiannon" for her three-disc, boxed set Enchanted but it's still fairly amazing. You'll enjoy the song throughout, she's doing a softer vocal on the verses and there's a wonderful backing joining her for the chorus. But it's at 2 minutes and fifty-three seconds that you especially want to start paying attention. From that moment on to the end, you'll be cursing your bad luck that you didn't see this performed live. (But you can purchase the DVD.)

Stevie Nicks is a one of a kind original. As such, she was relentlessly attacked by male rock critics at the start of her career. Why didn't she do it that way, why didn't she record something more like . . . She rocked it on her own terms and, in doing so, became one of rock's most distinctive and memorable artists. The bulk of male rock critics faves and raves from 1975 to 1979 are forgotten today -- and for good reason. Stevie's a living testament to the strength needed to be a real artist and, listening to her, you never forget it. She rocked it on her own terms and she had the last laugh. Listening to her, you never forget that either. (March 31st, you do not want to miss the live version of "Sara.")

[Posted by Third Estate Sunday Review at Sunday, March 22, 2009]

As Elaine observed last night, "In a world that offers increasingly little and a government that promised 'change' but delivered none, I'll place my bets on Stevie." Indeed. The DVD and CD are available in stores today, both can be downloaded as well and Kat says to check out the bargain for both (plus a litograph) offered at Stevie's website. "Would you swallow your pride, could you speak a little louder, and the wind became . . ." You don't want to miss the live version of "Sara."
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Old 04-03-2009, 04:25 PM
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New Haven Register, April 3, 2009

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2...4091530339.txt

Stevie Nicks — “The Soundstage Sessions” (Reprise): Recorded in the fall of 2007 in front of a small, rapturous audience, the 10-song “The Soundstage Sessions” is Fleetwood mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks’ first solo live album. Those looking for something dazzling or overly memorable will be disappointed.
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Old 04-03-2009, 04:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by michelej1 View Post
New Haven Register, April 3, 2009

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2...4091530339.txt

Stevie Nicks — “The Soundstage Sessions” (Reprise): Recorded in the fall of 2007 in front of a small, rapturous audience, the 10-song “The Soundstage Sessions” is Fleetwood mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks’ first solo live album. Those looking for something dazzling or overly memorable will be disappointed.
I love the reviews that blow her off and give no explanation as to why...
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Old 04-10-2009, 02:43 PM
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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.

http://www.rivetingriffs.com/stevie_nicks.htm
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