Is Street Angel really that bad?

[nicole21290]

I THINK this is the place I should post it. Got a message on Tumblr from Joe and apparently I'm now Hermes...

Hey Nicole, would you mind telling James on the ledge that many songs such as "Desiree", "Blue Denim", "Twisted", "Maybe Love" and other songs charted in Canada! thanks!

[AnthonyMI]

Originally Posted by nicole21290

I THINK this is the place I should post it. Got a message on Tumblr from Joe and apparently I'm now Hermes...

Hey Nicole, would you mind telling James on the ledge that many songs such as "Desiree", "Blue Denim", "Twisted", "Maybe Love" and other songs charted in Canada! thanks!

Everyone knows Canadians do not have the best taste when it comes to music. I mean... they gave us Anne Murray and Celine Dion. I rest my case.

[lilyfee]

I'm listening to Street Angel all the way through for the first time on Youtube right now, inspired by this thread. I've avoided it for a very long time due to all the hate it's received on fansites and from Stevie herself... I guess I didn't want to hear the zonked out Stevie and bad lyrics and production that everyone talked about.

Now I could be listening to different versions of the songs than are actually on the album, but it's way better than I expected it to be! I think it sounds more like Buckingham Nicks era Stevie, in the simplicity and feel of the songs. Not unlike her exactly, just unlike the majority of her oeuvre. Blue Denim, Street Angel and Just Like a Woman really stick out to me. I even like Docklands... The laundromat part, yeah, it's cringeworthy, but the song as a whole has a nice groove... I like it.

Kick It, on the other hand...

For the most part I am wowed by her vocals. I think technically the Rock A Little vocals are her worst (although I love RAL to pieces). Her voice seems healthy and in its prime on Street Angel, IMHO. She seems to strain a lot for some notes, but overall not awful by a long shot.

Maybe it's just because I had such low expectations but this album is a million times better than I expected based on everyone's comments about it. I can't believe I never gave it a chance!

[pattyfan]

I hate all of the non-Stevie penned songs on this CD. And I guess I'm sticking my neck out here but Kick It is on my very best of Stevie Nicks home burned CD. And I don't hate Jane, though I wonder what Ms. Goodall thinks about it, assuming someone told her about it.

Kevin

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by pattyfan

I hate all of the non-Stevie penned songs on this CD. And I guess I'm sticking my neck out here but Kick It is on my very best of Stevie Nicks home burned CD. And I don't hate Jane, though I wonder what Ms. Goodall thinks about it, assuming someone told her about it.

Kevin

Kick It is also my only salvaged track from this album, and I am also quite comfortable with Jane. They both show hints of Stevie, whereas the rest of the album is so... I dunno, just disappointing and ...annoying, and smells of desperation and boredom. I remain puzzled and a bit unsettled as to why anyone would want to listen to even the Ledge forum faves Rose Garden or Blue Denim or Love is Like a River, but hey, whatever.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Kick It is also my only salvaged track from this album, and I am also quite comfortable with Jane. They both show hints of Stevie, whereas the rest of the album is so... I dunno, just disappointing and ...annoying, and smells of desperation and boredom. I remain puzzled and a bit unsettled as to why anyone would want to listen to even the Ledge forum faves Rose Garden or Blue Denim or Love is Like a River, but hey, whatever.

They say opposites attract so we must be perfect for eachother
Listen to the Rain is the best track on Street Angel IMHO and Kick it is one of the worst Stevie songs ever recorded IMHO

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

In my opinion, the best song from Street Angel never made it on a Street Angel and that was the atmospheric gem, Inspiration. Why she knocked it off the album in favor of that bland crap is beyond me.

Got to agree with Jondalar on this very polarizing inspiration debate. I have just listened to,it for the first time and have Listened 3 timed already. I think it would be Better then every song on street angel except the title song and love us like a river.


And I don't see how anyone could listen to inspiration and unconditional love back to back and ever think UL is better. Atmospheric is a great adjective to use. Even if both have somewhat lousy vocals the music in the background of inspiration is better then anything on street angel and OSOTM combined.

[Hawkeye]

So yeah If street angle consisted of:

1. Blue Denim
2. Greta
3. Street Amgel
4. Docklands
5. Thousand Days
6. Inspiration
7. Love a Like a River
8. Rose Garden
9. Mirror Mirror
10.Kick Out
11. Destiny

That's better then Bella Donna to me!

[The Juggler]

Originally Posted by BLY

It is all a matter of opinion and personal taste.....my least favorite tracks on this disc is Love is Like a River and Listen to the Rain...so go figure!

Which is why I said "in my opinion"

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Kick It is also my only salvaged track from this album, and I am also quite comfortable with Jane. They both show hints of Stevie, whereas the rest of the album is so...

I think I've gushed about Kick It about a thousand times. The people who've been here a while should, rightfully, roll their eyes now. But I will gush about it yet again, this time for the newbies.

Kick It all about personal sacrifice. Letting go of the things that you thought were important, things that you thought represented the meaning of love, things that you seemed to love more than life itself. But you're prepared to surrender and kick it. In the context of Stevie's life at the time, drugs were obviously the big habit to kick. I love how addiction is compared to "a strange kind love affair."

The rest of the song is about the relationship between the bird and the prince statue (Oscar Wilde's The Little Prince), but it ties in perfectly with the illusions of love, beauty, and status.

So glad Stevie didn't kick this song off the album!

[johnnystorms]

i think Street Angel, much like Behind the Mask, primarily suffered from lack-luster production. I recall the pre-release press on both records touting them (BtM, SA) as "returns to roots" type albums. (Rumours in the case of BtM, BD, in the case of SA). the early 90s were a time of incredible inventiveness and change within the music industry. Yet, they decided to produce/market/ sell them as "throwbacks".
I don't think many of the songs on either record are BAD, they were just lacking in deft, modern, inventive production. Grunge was bubbling up, hip hop was exploding, dance music (disco) was coming back, but they tried to re-capture the late 70's. early 80's sound of their heyday.
The tracks Patrick Leonard produced on The Chain box-set were incredible.
The biggest reason for both discs failure was the production
(and both records had DREADFUL cover art)
Behind the Mask had high-gloss, expensive look, but didn't show the band, and Street Angel just looked cheap!

[iamnotafraid]

Originally Posted by johnnystorms

i think Street Angel, much like Behind the Mask, primarily suffered from lack-luster production.

I don't think many of the songs on either record are BAD, they were just lacking in deft, modern, inventive production.

The biggest reason for both discs failure was the production

Behind the Mask had high-gloss, expensive look, but didn't show the band, and Street Angel just looked cheap!

I don't think any amount of modern inventive production could
have saved Street Angel.

How can you produce something good from an artist that was
in the physical and mental shape she was in from the mid-80's
to the mid-90's?

The fiasco that was Red Rocks led us right to The Other Side Of The
Mirror. If those two projects weren't warning enough, she then releases
Timespace which is supposed to be a best of album. Best of what I might
ask?

Then she releases the worst solo album of her career. And to make matters
even worse she appears on Letterman and Leno almost unrecognizable. It
would have been better for her to have shelved Street Angel and have taken
that time to get healthy, so to speak.

Drugs, obesity and age were the perfect storm for her downward
spiral. Though difficult, two out of three of those things are controllable.

[johnnystorms]

Originally Posted by iamnotafraid

I don't think any amount of modern inventive production could
have saved Street Angel.

How can you produce something good from an artist that was
in the physical and mental shape she was in from the mid-80's
to the mid-90's?

The fiasco that was Red Rocks led us right to The Other Side Of The
Mirror. If those two projects weren't warning enough, she then releases
Timespace which is supposed to be a best of album. Best of what I might
ask?

Then she releases the worst solo album of her career. And to make matters
even worse she appears on Letterman and Leno almost unrecognizable. It
would have been better for her to have shelved Street Angel and have taken
that time to get healthy, so to speak.

Drugs, obesity and age were the perfect storm for her downward
spiral. Though difficult, two out of three of those things are controllable.

God forbid anyone go through a rough patch in her life! age is uncontrollable, addiction is one of the most difficult ILLNESSES to overcome, and I would hardly consider her "obese". She packed on some pounds, but was far from "obese" . Pass me your judgemental cup, I want a sip of your perfection.

[SisterNightroad]

Originally Posted by iamnotafraid

I don't think any amount of modern inventive production could
have saved Street Angel.

How can you produce something good from an artist that was
in the physical and mental shape she was in from the mid-80's
to the mid-90's?

The fiasco that was Red Rocks led us right to The Other Side Of The
Mirror. If those two projects weren't warning enough, she then releases
Timespace which is supposed to be a best of album. Best of what I might
ask?

Then she releases the worst solo album of her career. And to make matters
even worse she appears on Letterman and Leno almost unrecognizable. It
would have been better for her to have shelved Street Angel and have taken
that time to get healthy, so to speak.

Drugs, obesity and age were the perfect storm for her downward
spiral. Though difficult, two out of three of those things are controllable.

God, I don't know why men are always so judgemental first and foremost about a woman's appearance. Is beauty or thinnes the only thermometer with which you measure success or desirabilty?
Her appearances on Leno and Letterman were GREAT and her performance was just FIERY on both occasions. 90s fashion wasn't the most elegant but she pulled it off well, but her voice during the tour was again almost at the top.
As you said she was unhealthy but not because she was fat, it's the complete opposite. It was a moment in her life in which she was still recovering from a consuming addiction, the Epstein Barr disease and probably depression, I'd say that was the main problem and that also led her to gain weight, not the weight itself.

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by SisterNightroad

God, I don't know why men are always so judgemental first and foremost about a woman's appearance. Is beauty or thinnes the only thermometer with which you measure success or desirabilty?

It's because women are objectified in our society (and many others). Those sexist attitudes creep in early in life. For men, appearance is paramount in a mate. Women will play out that role because it's expected. (That why straight women and gay men often get along so well because they can identify with each other when it comes to dating.) I think as most men get older and lonelier, they rise above these attitudes and realize that the quality of the relationship far exceeds the value they place on physical attractiveness.

I don't think Stevie was ever obese. Some fans and her Stevie herself were not happy with the extra weight, but I never thought it was unattractive. If anything, she had curves with her more voluptuous figure!