Some Street Angel love

[PenguinHead]

I have to admit , like many others I was a little disappointed when Street Angel came out in 1994. But I did appreciate the "earthy" sound of it. I was unaware of all of the problems and issues Stevie had while recording it.

I was bored tonight, and I popped the CD in my computer and listened to selected songs at full volume with headphones. Isolating the songs I think come off best (as an EP) let me really appreciate certain songs.

Blue Denim
Listen to the Rain
Love is Like a River
Rose Garden
Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind
Kick It

I don't dislike the other songs, but collectively they dragged the entire album down.
Of the limited songs from the album she performed, she made some poor choices: Docklands and Destiny!

It's too bad some of of the interesting and decent songs in her catalog are obscured by the bad blood, execution and reputation of the record. Thankfully Chris Nick's career as an art director/graphic designer started and ended quickly (except for some really awful tour books).

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

I have to admit , like many others I was a little disappointed when Street Angel came out in 1994. But I did appreciate the "earthy" sound of it. I was unaware of all of the problems and issues Stevie had while recording it.

I was bored tonight, and I popped the CD in my computer and listened to selected songs at full volume with headphones. Isolating the songs I think come off best (as an EP) let me really appreciate certain songs.

Blue Denim
Listen to the Rain
Love is Like a River
Rose Garden
Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind
Kick It

I don't dislike the other songs, but collectively they dragged the entire album down.
Of the limited songs from the album she performed, she made some poor choices: Docklands and Destiny!

It's too bad some of of the interesting and decent songs in her catalog are obscured by the bad blood, execution and reputation of the record. Thankfully Chris Nick's career as an art director/graphic designer started and ended quickly (except for some really awful tour books).

I too was very disappointed when Street Angel was released, especially because the release date was delayed a couple of times, which only served to amplify my anticipation. It collected dust for a number of years, and it was only in the following decade that I really grew to appreciate the songs, and the production, and the overall mood of the record.

I like most of the album, excluding Listen To The Rain (which has great vocals, but just isn't appealing to me) and Unconditional Love (though I like some of the early takes with more stripped down instrumentation). I *love* Destiny, and Street Angel is probably my favorite track. Docklands is OK, but not *great*, and was an unconventional choice for her to have made. I really like Love Is Like A River, but don't care for the excessive backing vocals from Lori and Sharon, and all the repetition of 'hey hey' really annoys me. I would have used Thousand Days on the album, and relegated Unconditional Love to being the b-side instead.

The fact that Stevie started the tour with Docklands in her setlist really speaks to how much the song meant to her...the fact that she dropped it and replaced it with Rooms On Fire speaks volumes about her sensitivity to audience reaction.

I'm really glad that both of the Ethan Johns tracks were omitted from the album. Admittedly, Inspiration isn't a bad song and might have been a better choice than Docklands, but God's Garden is just...no. Tacky.

The artwork could have been better, but I do like the album cover. I wish the black-and-white promo poster shot would have been used for the cover. This one: http://stevie-nicks.info/wp-content/...omo-poster.jpg The pink shots would have been good for the art space normally reserved for the album inserts.

A vinyl reissue of this album is a Stevie holy-grail item for me, and I have pestered Rhino and Warner about it numerous times. I envision white vinyl, 180 gram double LP, with pink custom labels that have the STREET ANGEL lettering, and a gatefold sleeve, of course.

[pattyfan]

It always fascinates me how different people have different likes and dislikes.

I love
Kick It (it's one of my all time favorite Stevie songs, go figure)

I like a lot
Blue Denim
Street Angel
Rose Garden
Jane (I know that a lot of people hate this song, but I'm not one of them)

I kind of like
Destiny
Inspiration (I have the Japanese version)

I don't like
Gretta
Docklands
Listen to the Rain
Unconditional Love
Love is LIke a River
Maybe Love
Just Like a Woman
God's Garden

So the songs that I don't like, I really don't like and never listen to. So it's probably my least favorite CD, but not without its moments.

Kevin

[StreetAngel86]

aaaaah my favorite topic

i really dislike Unconditional Love, Just Like a Woman and the album version of Jane.
Greta is okay ... but the demo is better.

I utterly love Docklands ... yes I know she didn't write it and people have a problem with the laundromat line, but I think you need to understand why these songs appealed to her in the first place and why she identified with it enough to even bother recording it let alone include it on the album. Just like Inspiration and God's Garden ... terribly sad songs but I like both of them too.

Best 4 songs on the record are Blue Denim, Street Angel, Love Is Like a River & Rose Garden. include Kick It and that would have been a great EP

[TheWILDheart]

I do love me some "Street Angel". Much more so than OSOTM. I prefer the Chris Lord-Alge single remixes of "Blue Denim" and "Maybe Love" - they pack so much more of a punch, especially BD. The album versions sound a bit pathetic and half-finished in comparison.

I really do not like "Docklands", "Jane", or "Just Like A Woman" and "Unconditional Love" is one of the worst songs she's ever recorded. How this could have been selected as a first single initially is beyond me.

Like others, I listen to an edited version of the album:

1. Blue Denim (single remix)
2. Greta
3. Street Angel
4. Listen to the Rain
5. Destiny
6. Love is like a River
7. Inspiration
8. Rose Garden
9. Maybe Love (single remix)
10. Kick It
11. God's Garden

[nightbird28]

Street Angel was the first cd I remember playing of Stevie's for my brother who fell in love with it. Even my youngest 3 year old loves Greta. I really think Stevie should go in and re-record this entire album. It's always been a sore spot in her career, I would enjoy hearing her mixes of what she wanted for these songs. Aside from that,

I love:
Greta
Blue Demin
Street Angel
Maybe Love
Listen to the Rain
Inspiration

I like:
Unconditional Love
Destiny
Docklands
Kick It
Love is Like A River

Dislike:
Jane
Just Like A Woman
God's Garden

I would have traded these for "Mirror Mirror", "If you were my Love" or "Thousand Days".

[Kena]

The black and white promo poster would have been an excellent choice for the album cover, especially considering "Street Angel" was inspired by an old black and white movie. This would have been very fitting indeed. On another note, the title "Street Angel" has always bothered me, as a "street angel" is a hooker. But anywho, I could very well be missing Stevie's point with the album title and song inspiration (feel free to educate me on this if you know!)
Rose Garden is one of my favorite Stevie songs. (I especially love the live performance from Woodstock 99).

Oh we, this part is my favorite:


Now...I've a big house
With pillars standing tall all around
Yeah, and I've got a garden
And it's got roses dangling down to the ground
Yes, and I've got money
Men to love me...and acres of land
Well, I've got all these things...
All these things but a small gold band
On my finger...on my left hand

Destiny is another favorite...because Love don't mean what it says at all....I'm destined to fall.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by StreetAngel86

I utterly love Docklands ... yes I know she didn't write it and people have a problem with the laundromat line, but I think you need to understand why these songs appealed to her in the first place and why she identified with it enough to even bother recording it let alone include it on the album.

Interestingly, I think Stevie misunderstood the original song, and thought Docklands was Darklands. I've seen it written in her handwriting as Darklands. And..it makes sense. Give me your hand - come in out of the darkness. It's quite a statement about her own life at the time, and the heaviness she must have felt, especially after the 1992 Clinton innauguration where she last saw Lindsey. And those years she spent ordering takeout from the deli down the street, sitting at home, doing nothing. I'm sure in retrospect, she was indeed in the Darklands.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by StreetAngel86

aaaaah my favorite topic

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

I did appreciate the "earthy" sound of it.

...It's too bad some of of the interesting and decent songs in her catalog are obscured by the bad blood, execution and reputation of the record.

Street Angel is a favorite topic of mine as well. It honestly tickles me that most Stevie fans loathe the album with such vehemence because Stevie herself has dismissed it. Street Angel has some truly great tracks on it. I too love the earthy, back to basics classic rock sound many of the songs exhibit. It's a crying shame that some of these songs will never be performed live again.

I just love the rocking tracks, such as: Blue Denim, Listen To The Rain, Love Is Like A River, and Kick It.

Docklands, with it's admittedly un-Stevie lyrics, has some fantastic Stevie vocals.

Greta is wonderfully quirky, and just plain fun.

The title track is eerie, atmospheric, moody, and the subject matter is heartbreaking. How many other Stevie songs encompass all of those things in one track?

Yes, there are turds... but every single Stevie solo album has them. Street Angel has Jane, In Your Dreams has Cheaper Than Free, Rock A Little has Sister Honey, The Other Side Of The Mirror has I Still Miss Someone, Trouble In Shangri-La has Love Changes, etc.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by Kena

The black and white promo poster would have been an excellent choice for the album cover, especially considering "Street Angel" was inspired by an old black and white movie. This would have been very fitting indeed. .

I have the that black and white poster! It is so much better than the cover. I also have a color poster, with a different pose.

I get livid when I look at the booklet. What a hack job! I tend to rail against piss-poor lyric sheets. More often than not, they are not presented properly. And let it known, ellipses have no place in lyrics. You don't sing ellipses, nor are they indicative of anything. Chris Nicks took the whole thing to a new low hackneyed level.
And repeating the chorus three times is not needed. The standard is to identify the chorus with "Chorus:" and then "Repeat chorus."

On the Nix Fix, most her song lyrics are there. It kills me to see how badly they are presented. I want to go in and clean them up for the sake of integrity. Most people don't see or care. I do.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

Wow that is just one sad Stevie face. She looks…unhappy, tired, beat down….sumthin'.

At first I thought, well maybe she was trying to look alluring, but… all I see is tired and sad.

[sorcerer999]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Yes, there are turds... but every single Stevie solo album has them. Street Angel has Jane, In Your Dreams has Cheaper Than Free, Rock A Little has Sister Honey, The Other Side Of The Mirror has I Still Miss Someone, Trouble In Shangri-La has Love Changes, etc.

GASP!!!! BLASPHEMY!!!

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by sorcerer999

GASP!!!! BLASPHEMY!!!

Iknowright?

[Neal]

I actually really like everything about Street Angel, with the exception of the title track () and "Docklands".

And "Jane" would probably be one of my top tracks on the album if not for that one single word that almost kills it for me... you know which one.

[Neal]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Yes, there are turds... but every single Stevie solo album has them. Street Angel has Jane, In Your Dreams has Cheaper Than Free, Rock A Little has Sister Honey, The Other Side Of The Mirror has I Still Miss Someone, Trouble In Shangri-La has That Made Me Stronger, etc.

Fixed that for ya...