The worst of Stevie

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

How did Beauty and the Beast get lumped into this. It's sophisticated. I would choose many other songs to lump with When I See You Again and Love Is. I'm sure that Lindsey and the other producer did they best could. If they were to change the songs to something interesting they should probably get writing credit.

It is the mystique that those songs carry that makes them superior to a lot of the poppy stuff. What made the woman in WISYA so desperately sad? What are the cryptic lyrics referring to? When she resorts to whispering and sobbing that one line, is she echoing something he said? Something they shared? To me the delivery of the song is a little work of art, a one-off performance of something so intimate, raw, and painful. Love Is is similar, with a weird partial conversation that leads to devastation, and the arrangement forebodes it, the echoing background vocals and slow drama, and the final segment of the song is heartbreaking. How can anyone resist the bizarre off-kilter beauty of these? Nobody else could conceive of songs like these, they are Stevie's special genius. They pull me in and keep me coming back.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by mitzo

It is the mystique that those songs carry that makes them superior to a lot of the poppy stuff. What made the woman in WISYA so desperately sad? What are the cryptic lyrics referring to? When she resorts to whispering and sobbing that one line, is she echoing something he said? Something they shared? To me the delivery of the song is a little work of art, a one-off performance of something so intimate, raw, and painful. Love Is is similar, with a weird partial conversation that leads to devastation, and the arrangement forebodes it, the echoing background vocals and slow drama, and the final segment of the song is heartbreaking. How can anyone resist the bizarre off-kilter beauty of these? Nobody else could conceive of songs like these, they are Stevie's special genius. They pull me in and keep me coming back.

I feel like I should quit posting because my last posts were so negative. And I know, there are people who just love when she farts. Her **** doesn't seem to stink. I"m sooo opinionated. Ugggg!

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

I feel like I should quit posting because my last posts were so negative. And I know, there are people who just love when she farts. Her **** doesn't seem to stink. I"m sooo opinionated. Ugggg!

LOL Well, her worst work is banal and/or annoying, such as Blue Denim, Rose Garden, and much of her first solo album. I never said she was perfect, just that I adore her slow overwrought stuff that many like to trash. So yeah, her ****** indeed does stink.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Love Is is similar, with a weird partial conversation that leads to devastation, and the arrangement forebodes it, the echoing background vocals and slow drama, and the final segment of the song is heartbreaking. How can anyone resist the bizarre off-kilter beauty of these? Nobody else could conceive of songs like these, they are Stevie's special genius. They pull me in and keep me coming back.

I don't see any mystique in WISYA, but I agree with you about Love Is. It is like I am hearing one side of a conversation and concluding what happened and what the other person said, piecing it together, is part of the intrepid joy, lending the song complexity.

Everything that is said and unsaid, summed up with I know you cannot stay. The weariness in her voice and lyrics explain: We've had this conversation so many times before . . . the song takes you through the years in the relationship and all the partings its had. The love doesn't make the separations easier, nor does it make up for them. It just makes them a given.

Michele

[TheWILDheart]

WOW, so many of my favourites are getting a lot of stick. "Doing The Best I Can" is my favourite song on OSOTM and the fact that anybody has mentioned anything from the years between 73 and 82 I find totally mind-bogglingly painful ("Storms" and "Bella Donna" on a WORST list? Call yourself fans!?).

Even the songs that really have always taken a beating are ones I like. "Freedom" is better than any of Stevie's Tango tracks and "The Second Time" is a nice little song with a considerably better vocal than a lot of other stuff from that time. I also really love "Desert Angel", "Paper Doll" and "No Questions Asked".

The ONLY Stevie-penned Fleetwood Mac song that I don't like is "When I See You Again". As for solo songs, here is my complete skip-list:

The Nightmare
Some Become Strangers
Fire Burning
I Still Miss Someone
Unconditional Love
Docklands
Jane
Just Like A Woman
Touched By An Angel
Cheaper Than Free (musically, I think this ends IYD really well, but URGH those lyrics!!)

I've always found ALL of Stevie's songs from 75 - 82 flawless. The only dull moment on The Wild Heart for me is "I Will Run To You", but it's not a bad song. As you can see, the majority of my questionable choices are 87 - 94, but even in this era are some songs I absolutely adore ("Blue Denim" and "Long Way To Go" are 2 of my all time fav's).

[brad975]

A lot of us love Stevie down South, but sometimes we just have to say, "Bless her heart" (which could be translated as "Good lawd, why?!").

These songs make me bless Stevie's heart every time they slip past my filter:

"I Can't Wait": In a cheesy '80s way, this tune boasts some exciting instrumentation. But Stevie sounds frankly confused about how to fit into this Rick Nowels music track. I'm guessing she did a mountain of coke and hoped wailing a lot of "Wells" would carry her through and help it all make sense. She reportedly used her first take, saying some vocals are "magic" even. "Well, bless her heart."

"When I See You Again": This song gets beaten up a lot. Well, it gets my "blessing."

"The Second Time": As with WISYA, the Mac was probably hoping Stevie cook up another tender "Landslide"-style number. But her voice was way too far gone! Around the time this was released, I was joyriding a lot with my oldest friend Stephanie, regularly listening to a mixtape of songs from OSOTM/BTM. I really was trying to get into them (to find some redeeming qualities) until one day Stephanie firmly announced, "No more Stevie Nicks! If you play another Stevie Nicks song, I'm jumping out of this car!" I was frankly startled! But knowing my badass friend Steph, I took her at her word, and there was no "Second Time." In retrospect, I can hardly blame her.

"Desert Angel": You put this on your Best Of. Really? I hope you didn't include this one on the iPods you gave to gave to injured vets. They've been through enough. But you've gotta bless Stevie's heart. It's in the right place.

Like Stevie, I've also gotten my quickie online ordination. So there's probably a lot of other stuff I could "bless" as well. Actually a lot of Disc 2 of the "Enchanted" set falls into that category.

But she had an amazing run from 1973 to 1983, with occasional highlights thereafter. There's only so much I can ask of one of rock 'n roll's greats.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by mitzo

It is the mystique that those songs carry that makes them superior to a lot of the poppy stuff. What made the woman in WISYA so desperately sad? What are the cryptic lyrics referring to? When she resorts to whispering and sobbing that one line, is she echoing something he said? Something they shared? To me the delivery of the song is a little work of art, a one-off performance of something so intimate, raw, and painful. Love Is is similar, with a weird partial conversation that leads to devastation, and the arrangement forebodes it, the echoing background vocals and slow drama, and the final segment of the song is heartbreaking. How can anyone resist the bizarre off-kilter beauty of these? Nobody else could conceive of songs like these, they are Stevie's special genius. They pull me in and keep me coming back.

I agree with you 100%. That's rare. You tend to have very different opinions of Stevie's work from my own. But this hit the nail.