IYD Press Reviews & Discussion

[Macfanforever]

Hum.When did Fleetwood Mac breakup.This really gets me unglued.When they print the word {former} .They did not break up.They are on break.

[Jondalar]

Christian Science Monitor, June 13, 2011
http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2011/0613/Top-Picks-Stevie-Nicks-True-Grit-on-DVD-Britain-s-brightest-and-more

Give Stevie Nicks her due: She's not buying into any musical fads. Before you even hear her new music, a glance at her CD In Your Dreams demonstrates the veteran pop-rocker's unabated love of ethereal stagecraft. From the cover shot of Nicks posing with a horse to a CD booklet with photos of her decked out in frills and laces– Rhiannon reigns. And she's delivered a solid solo set, helped by former Eurythmic Dave Stewart, who produced the album, as well as Fleetwood Mac bandmates Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham. Sure, Nicks's lyrics often lapse into angels, ghosts, and vampires, but she retains one of rock's most intriguing and unique voices. The album may not be a total landslide, but this is grown-up pop done well.

Solid is exactly the way I would describe this album.

[michelej1]

David Bowling, for Blogcritics.org, June 14, 2011

Stevie Nicks, she of Fleetwood Mac, the mystical witch persona, and a loyal fan base, released the seventh studio album of her 30 year solo career, May 3, 2011. It was her first studio album since Trouble In Shangri La and quickly proved that her popularity remained intact, as it reached number six on the Billboard Magazine Pop Album Chart.

In Your Dreams was produced by veteran Glen Ballad and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame. Stewart co-wrote, with Nicks; seven of the albums' 13 tracks. Also on hand are Waddy Wachtel, Steve Ferrone, Mike Campbell, Mike Rowe, and Michael Bradford plus the usual guest star appearances.

Nicks seems to have been very involved as she wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks. The album lacks cohesiveness as the music does not fall into any one style. Despite the music traveling in diverse directions, it is an excellent listen and proves there is still some life left in the "Gold Dust Woman."

There are a lot of musical styles and forms to like here. "Secret Love" is an upbeat song that was issued as a successful single. She originally composed the song for Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album but it failed to make the final cut. She followed this pop creation with the gentle folk of "For What It's Worth."

You can't have a Stevie Nicks album without a doomed relationship and the title song fills that role well. On the other hand "New Orleans" looks back at her leather, lace, and feathers days. "Soldier's Angel" expresses her thoughts about war but it is Lindsey Buckingham's guitar work that stands out.

The albums most interesting track was "Annabel Lee." She effectively uses Edgar Allan Poe's poetry as a part of her lyrics. Poe died at the age of 40 during 1849 and now his name returns as the co-writer of a Stevie Nicks song 162 years later.

The albums best track is "Italian Summer." It is one of those seductive love ballads that Nicks is so good at creating. The strings give it a full sound and Nicks proves that her voice can still hit notes that are unreachable to others.

I have the feeling that Stevie Nicks basically recorded material that pleased her, which ultimately gives the album its charm. Her new album may not be of the overall quality of Bella Donna or The Wild Heart but that's okay as it is a mature work, which stands on its own and contains a lot of good music. Stevie Nicks is now 63 and In Your Dreams proves she is aging well.

View the original article on blogcritics.org

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-Stevie-Nicks-In-Your-Dreams-1424544.php#ixzz1PNr3KTwP

[talazam]

http://www.liveguide.com.au/Forums/tabid/98/forumid/8/tpage/1/view/topic/postid/36574/Default.aspx#36574


Album Review: Stevie Nicks
In Your Dreams
Reprise/Warner 2011

By Liveguide Contributor - Trent Schupp

Thirty years after her first solo album Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks’ latest work In Your Dreams is an inspired collection of songs co-written and produced by the accomplished Dave Stewart – most noted for his work with the Eurythmics. While unlikely to reach the popularity of anything bearing the Fleetwood Mac brand, this album deserves to be rated as one of the finest pieces of work to come out so far this year.

Still largely known as “from Fleetwood Mac” – Nicks hasn’t been able to define herself as an artist whose solo success matches her past achievements. However, she definitely can do it on her own – Rolling Stone dubbed her “The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll” after her first solo album. With the mix of rock, Italian ballad and folk on In Your Dreams, perhaps that title should be extended.

'Secret Love', the album’s first track, is a solid start with an unmistakable Stevie Nicks / Fleetwood Mac melody you know could easily be found on one of their albums – indeed it’s a relic of hers from the 70s. Although having to accommodate two other songwriters on a Fleetwood album was a severe constraint at the time, one of the advantages now is the quality of her held-onto 'leftovers'.

In Your Dreams with a few exceptions does without Mick Fleetwood’s booming drums or Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar inspiration. This is the product of Nicks having matured through the ups and downs of the Fleetwood Mac years and then her solo career – from the dizzying heights of Rumours, to the lows of her highly publicised cocaine addiction.

This album is refreshingly varied but the focus is on her vocals – and that’s no shame for Nicks' voice still sounds amazing – albeit with a stronger husk to it these days. 'For What It’s Worth' is a catchy folk track and 'Wide Sargasso Sea' offers a drum dominated beat that gently reminds of Mick Fleetwood. There is even a touching tribute to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem 'Annabel Lee' written in 1849.

This is one of those releases in which everyone will find a different favourite. However, for me, it’s 'Soldier’s Angel' and Lindsey Buckingham’s contribution to it. The modern day Fleetwood Mac formula is very evident in its similar structure to some of the Say You Will tracks (such as 'Illume' and 'Smile At You'). Although the Nicks / Buckingham relationship is clearly more strained now than it was in the beginning of the Fleetwood Mac era, when these two get together there is a lasting tenderness in what they do that makes their work very powerful.

Penultimate track, a powerful romantic ballad 'Italian Summer', left me amazed at the variety in the album and the versatility of Nicks who is indeed no doubt one of the finest ever musicians.

Rating: 8/10 stars

In Your Dreams is out now, for more information visit the official Stevie Nicks website here

[Livia]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5c3q


BBC Review
There’s still only one Stevie Nicks – witchy, mystical and romantic.

Nick Levine 2011-06-17

If her first solo record in a decade proves anything, it's that there's still only one Stevie Nicks. A few tunes feature country-ish flourishes, and Italian Summer is an orchestral ballad that sways with the blowsy elegance of a half-soaked matriarch, but otherwise In Your Dreams sticks to the slick, melodic soft rock template set by Nicks on her first effort away from Fleetwood Mac, 1981's Bella Donna.

So while the production is as solid and glossy as a polished mahogany worktop – what else would you expect from Dave ‘Eurythmics’ Stewart and Glen ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Ballard? – the Nicks shtick, that familiar mix of the witchy, the mystical and the romantic, ensures that In Your Dreams only slips into vapidity on two or three occasions.

It's the romantic element of her well-honed persona that's the most prevalent across these 14 tracks. Written in the mid-70s, Secret Love is a paean to a clandestine liaison with a rock lothario whose identity, showbiz pro that she is, Nicks claims not to remember; Annabel Lee's lyrics are adapted from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe about love that lasts beyond the grave; and Cheaper Than Free features a cavalcade of couplets every bit as corny as the Green Giant's toothpick. An example: "What's deeper than a deep well? / The love into which I fell."

One song, the almost Evanescence-esque Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream), is even inspired by the Twilight series, a pop culture phenomenon that the uncharitable might note is targeted not at a 63-year-old (gold dust) woman of the world, but bewildered sexual innocents on the edge of 17.

But perhaps even more remarkably, 34 years on from Rumours, Nicks is still capable of extracting emotional heft from her relationship with Mac comrade and former flame Lindsey Buckingham. "We cause each other such pain everywhere we go now / At home or on the stage," she sings on Everybody Loves You, sounding more throatily goat-like than ever. Yes, if In Your Dreams proves anything...

[chiliD]

But perhaps even more remarkably, 34 years on from Rumours, Nicks is still capable of extracting emotional heft from her relationship with Mac comrade and former flame Lindsey Buckingham. "We cause each other such pain everywhere we go now / At home or on the stage," she sings on Everybody Loves You, sounding more throatily goat-like than ever. Yes, if In Your Dreams proves anything...

That's BS...:cool: That was one of the things that I LIKED about the album was how Dave's production "de-goated" her voice throughout the album. :shrug:

Oh, and another case of "yes, I use lyrics over & over again" recycling.

"We cause each other such pain"...nice "borrow" from "Not Make Believe". :nod:

[tabruns]

That's BS...:cool: That was one of the things that I LIKED about the album was how Dave's production "de-goated" her voice throughout the album. :shrug:

Oh, and another case of "yes, I use lyrics over & over again" recycling.

"We cause each other such pain"...nice "borrow" from "Not Make Believe". :nod:

I agree. Her voice on IYD sounds the smoothest its been since The Wild Heart.

Well this reviewer also totally misreads the Twilight phenom. It's aimed at middle aged women as well, which seems to totally escape him.

[bombaysaffires]

By Tom Malder, May 26, 2011, Village Soup
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/blog/blogpost/still-magical-stevie-nicks-the-cars/402940

“Soldier’s Angel,” a highlight track that easily could have fit on Fleetwood Mac’s smash “Rumours” album. Mick Fleetwood himself contributes drums to the album. However, the core group that made the album was Nicks, Stewart, her longtime friend and musical director Waddy Wachtel and her girls, Sharon Celani and Lori Nicks.



Soldier's Angel fitting in on Rumours?? Egads, hardly. LIke the song, but can't ever imagine it fitting in on Rumours.

Also, this has been bugging me....Stevie refers to Soldier's Angel as her "most revered" song. Revered means respected, admired...by OTHERS. The song wasn't even public when she was writing the liner notes for this album, so who was revering it?? What she means is it is her most REVERENT or REVERENTIAL song, as in, it's her song that most honors another, i.e., that is serious and respectful towards the soldiers. Sorry to nitpick, but it's been driving me crazy.

[bombaysaffires]

I agree. Her voice on IYD sounds the smoothest its been since The Wild Heart.


I was most surprised at the lack of echo on her voice on this album. Usually she loves a pretty fair amount of echo on her vocals. I think it would have improved the sounds of her vocals on the opening verse of Wide Sargasso Sea immensely. YMMV.

[louielouie2000]

I was most surprised at the lack of echo on her voice on this album. Usually she loves a pretty fair amount of echo on her vocals.

I noticed that as well. I actually think the lack of echo is part of what makes this album so effective, though. The album in many ways is very literal (for Stevie Nicks), and so I think dreamy echo sounds would be out of place. I think it's good they didn't alter Stevie's voice to death and hide it behind gimmicks for this album. Instead, they showcased her voice exactly how it is. Put it on the platter as the main event without any distractions. The lack of stereotypical Stevie touches such as echoed vocals is probably why the album has received such critical acclaim, too. In Your Dreams proves Stevie has remained much the same in many ways, yet she stripped away the cliche touches (such as liberal abuse of echo) which made her fodder for much of her career.

[michelej1]

Also, this has been bugging me....Stevie refers to Soldier's Angel as her "most revered" song. Revered means respected, admired...by OTHERS. The song wasn't even public when she was writing the liner notes for this album, so who was revering it?? What she means is it is her most REVERENT or REVERENTIAL song, as in, it's her song that most honors another, i.e., that is serious and respectful towards the soldiers. Sorry to nitpick, but it's been driving me crazy.

I think Stevie means that it is the song that she most revers.

I think the song does rever the soldiers, but I also think it is less reverent than Desert Angel and that it's purpose is to indict through tragedy. That's why I think she discusses it in terms of brutality and ominousness and not as a tribute.

Michele

[Jondalar]

I think Stevie means that it is the song that she most revers.

I think the song does rever the soldiers, but I also think it is less reverent than Desert Angel and that it's purpose is to indict through tragedy. That's why I think she discusses it in terms of brutality and ominousness and not as a tribute.

Michele

Desert Angel was an embarrassment. This song is good.

[Livia]

http://www.musicomh.com/albums/stevie-nicks_0611.htm

Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
(Warner) UK release date: 27 June 2011

by Farah Ishaq

A lynchpin in Fleetwood Mac’s success, eight-time Grammy winner Stevie Nicks' status as a rock icon, a living legend, has never been in question. With a formidable reputation within and without the band and fiercely loyal fans who worship the ground she walks on, she's nonetheless kept diehard fans waiting a solid 10 years for a new album. Perhaps the time lapse is due to a mixed reaction from critics for 2001’s Trouble In Shangri-La effort; perhaps it's because the Mac have just finished up a blisteringly lengthy live reunion concert schedule.

Now that the band have - with the Unleashed world tour - put their past grievances to one side for the time being (a reunion in the studio is now optimistically touted), Nicks has been free to put her energies in creating new music on her own again. But Nicks is so synonymously wrapped up with the mighty Mac that it is a piece of track list mastery that new album In Your Dreams begins with Secret Love, an outtake originally demoed for the band's seminal Rumours LP.

It might be the shortest track on the album but it is a gentle reminder of what Nicks’ songwriting capabilities were and still are. After a decade away, it is a good vehicle for her uniquely dauntless vocal delivery to wash back over you. You can tell, however that it is an out-take from the 40 million-selling album: similar words, similar melodies, similar feel. But that is not to detract from the fact it is a very good song.

Combined with the second track, the Landslide-esque For What It’s Worth, it makes up a perfect duo to draw you in to the album. On some of what follows (My Heart, Italian Summer, Wide Sargasso Sea) the poetics of her anguished heart can get quite repetitive within the lyrics, and the music arrangements can be so laid back as to be barely there. In these moments it’s a good job Nicks’ voice is the main instrument here; to imagine the majority of these songs working for literally anybody else is hard.

Eurhythmics lynchpin and producer Dave Stewart has paired up with Nicks for this album, and there is some spark to the co-written tracks (the majority of the album’s 13 parts). But there is also a sense that the two of the them were having so much ‘fun’ – indicated by a barrage of tweets from the LA studio last year – that an unbiased ear might not have gone amiss in the final stages of editing.

There are some absolute gems here too though, and it is the sole writing credits on In Your Dreams that stand out. Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), a modernised version of an older Nicks track, with cultural references to the Twilight film franchise, and Annabel Lee, a song based on words by Edgar Allen Poe, are both twinkly, brooding and quite beautiful. Soldier’s Angel, too, is revved out of reverie with a guitar cameo by Mac sparring partner and former beau Lindsey Buckingham.

Should the rumoured studio reunion of Fleetwood Mac occur in the near future, In Your Dreams is, despite what it lacks, a bold affair. At the grand age of 63, when most people in the normal world would be thinking of retiring, Nicks demonstrates that she still has much to contribute. Of course, Nicks is not most people and doesn’t reside in our world; she is still the stuff of rock star legend, even if the evidence here suggestions she's beginning to slow down. Those fiercely loyal fans will be very pleased with In Your Dreams, a pit stop in her canon of rock folklore.

[RockALittle250]

http://www.musicomh.com/albums/stevie-nicks_0611.htm

Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
(Warner) UK release date: 27 June 2011

by Farah Ishaq

A lynchpin in Fleetwood Mac’s success, eight-time Grammy winner Stevie Nicks' status as a rock icon, a living legend, has never been in question. With a formidable reputation within and without the band and fiercely loyal fans who worship the ground she walks on, she's nonetheless kept diehard fans waiting a solid 10 years for a new album. Perhaps the time lapse is due to a mixed reaction from critics for 2001’s Trouble In Shangri-La effort; perhaps it's because the Mac have just finished up a blisteringly lengthy live reunion concert schedule.

Now that the band have - with the Unleashed world tour - put their past grievances to one side for the time being (a reunion in the studio is now optimistically touted), Nicks has been free to put her energies in creating new music on her own again. But Nicks is so synonymously wrapped up with the mighty Mac that it is a piece of track list mastery that new album In Your Dreams begins with Secret Love, an outtake originally demoed for the band's seminal Rumours LP.

It might be the shortest track on the album but it is a gentle reminder of what Nicks’ songwriting capabilities were and still are. After a decade away, it is a good vehicle for her uniquely dauntless vocal delivery to wash back over you. You can tell, however that it is an out-take from the 40 million-selling album: similar words, similar melodies, similar feel. But that is not to detract from the fact it is a very good song.

Combined with the second track, the Landslide-esque For What It’s Worth, it makes up a perfect duo to draw you in to the album. On some of what follows (My Heart, Italian Summer, Wide Sargasso Sea) the poetics of her anguished heart can get quite repetitive within the lyrics, and the music arrangements can be so laid back as to be barely there. In these moments it’s a good job Nicks’ voice is the main instrument here; to imagine the majority of these songs working for literally anybody else is hard.

Eurhythmics lynchpin and producer Dave Stewart has paired up with Nicks for this album, and there is some spark to the co-written tracks (the majority of the album’s 13 parts). But there is also a sense that the two of the them were having so much ‘fun’ – indicated by a barrage of tweets from the LA studio last year – that an unbiased ear might not have gone amiss in the final stages of editing.

There are some absolute gems here too though, and it is the sole writing credits on In Your Dreams that stand out. Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), a modernised version of an older Nicks track, with cultural references to the Twilight film franchise, and Annabel Lee, a song based on words by Edgar Allen Poe, are both twinkly, brooding and quite beautiful. Soldier’s Angel, too, is revved out of reverie with a guitar cameo by Mac sparring partner and former beau Lindsey Buckingham.

Should the rumoured studio reunion of Fleetwood Mac occur in the near future, In Your Dreams is, despite what it lacks, a bold affair. At the grand age of 63, when most people in the normal world would be thinking of retiring, Nicks demonstrates that she still has much to contribute. Of course, Nicks is not most people and doesn’t reside in our world; she is still the stuff of rock star legend, even if the evidence here suggestions she's beginning to slow down. Those fiercely loyal fans will be very pleased with In Your Dreams, a pit stop in her canon of rock folklore.

I guess they're trying to say her eight nominations should have been wins! :lol:

[Livia]

Ha, I didn't notice that. I did notice their love of the word "lynchpin." Someone needs a Thesaurus.

[Phil]

Jondalar:
Desert Angel was an embarrassment. This song is good.

Other way around mate...

[Livia]

CD: Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
Tuesday, 21 June 2011 23:10 Written by Adam Sweeting

http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3951:cd-stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams&Itemid=107

Dame Stevie taps into the 'Sleepy Hollow' vibe on her first album of new songs in a decade

It's been a decade since Stevie Nicks's last album of new songs, Trouble in Shangri-La, but In Your Dreams proves that there's creative life in the old girl yet. Fans of the wispy tunestrel will be pleased to hear that she hasn't strayed far from her familiar stomping grounds of melodious folk-rockism and tales of love and yearning, the focus (in fine Seventies style) fixing on the singer's emotional trials and torments. The voice that sang "Rhiannon" remains suitably ghostly, and even with an overlay of mild croakiness, it sounds pretty good for a 63-year-old. The disc is crammed with a phone-book's worth of LA session veterans, from Steve Ferrone to Waddy Wachtel, and there are appearances by Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood. The Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell plays an assortment of instruments and co-wrote a couple of tracks, though not as many as Dave Stewart, who also co-produced the disc with Glenn Ballard.
The best songs work very well indeed. Nicks opens with "Secret Love", a sturdily pulsing piece blitzed by growling powerchords as she sings of "a timeless search for a love that might work". Vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars underpin the affecting "For What It's Worth" (no relation to the Stephen Stills one), while the pick of the bunch may be the title track, a scintillating blast of jangle-rock which harks back to the days when Nicks used to hang around with Tom Petty and his crew.
That's not all. Nicks, still festooned in hats, feathers and bodice-ripper gowns after all these years, channels Edgar Allan Poe in "Annabel Lee", runs with the Undead in "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)", and evokes vampire chronicler Anne Rice in "New Orleans".
Her only problem was knowing when to stop. In Your Dreams lasts half an hour longer than Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, and the longer it goes on, the more you want to start pelting it with rotten fruit. "Everybody Loves You" is drab electro-pop, "Italian Summer" is cloying schmaltz, and "Ghosts Are Gone" should have been called "The Day the Music Died". It'll all boil down into a nice playlist though.

[BombaySapphire3]

NME review



Drippy ballads and gag-worthy soft rock






As the floaty-dress-loving gypsy queen of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks commands a war chest of guilty pleasures the size of a small nation.

We’ve all had a good drunken dance to ‘Edge Of Seventeen’ and ‘Little Lies’ in our time but, sadly, ‘In Your Dreams’ is little more than a soggy biscuit next to those veritable Turkish delights, and the presence of erstwhile bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood does little to help.

Featuring the likes of the mawkish and rather belated ode to ‘New Orleans’, it’s an album full of the sort of drippy ballads and droopy soft rock that should induce an involuntary gag reflex in anyone under the age of 45.

Tom Edwards


3 out of 10

[Macfanforever]

NME review



Drippy ballads and gag-worthy soft rock






As the floaty-dress-loving gypsy queen of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks commands a war chest of guilty pleasures the size of a small nation.

We’ve all had a good drunken dance to ‘Edge Of Seventeen’ and ‘Little Lies’ in our time but, sadly, ‘In Your Dreams’ is little more than a soggy biscuit next to those veritable Turkish delights, and the presence of erstwhile bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood does little to help.

Featuring the likes of the mawkish and rather belated ode to ‘New Orleans’, it’s an album full of the sort of drippy ballads and droopy soft rock that should induce an involuntary gag reflex in anyone under the age of 45.

Tom Edwards


3 out of 10

Holy crap.I guess he does not like Stevie Nicks.

[LiquidDiamonds]

NME review



Drippy ballads and gag-worthy soft rock






As the floaty-dress-loving gypsy queen of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks commands a war chest of guilty pleasures the size of a small nation.

We’ve all had a good drunken dance to ‘Edge Of Seventeen’ and ‘Little Lies’ in our time but, sadly, ‘In Your Dreams’ is little more than a soggy biscuit next to those veritable Turkish delights, and the presence of erstwhile bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood does little to help.

Featuring the likes of the mawkish and rather belated ode to ‘New Orleans’, it’s an album full of the sort of drippy ballads and droopy soft rock that should induce an involuntary gag reflex in anyone under the age of 45.

Tom Edwards


3 out of 10

I can't take any reviewer who says " floaty-dress" seriously.

[WildHearted]

Just because HE doesn't like ballads or soft rock doesn't mean it's a bad album?

[Jondalar]

NME review



Drippy ballads and gag-worthy soft rock






As the floaty-dress-loving gypsy queen of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks commands a war chest of guilty pleasures the size of a small nation.

We’ve all had a good drunken dance to ‘Edge Of Seventeen’ and ‘Little Lies’ in our time but, sadly, ‘In Your Dreams’ is little more than a soggy biscuit next to those veritable Turkish delights, and the presence of erstwhile bandmates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood does little to help.

Featuring the likes of the mawkish and rather belated ode to ‘New Orleans’, it’s an album full of the sort of drippy ballads and droopy soft rock that should induce an involuntary gag reflex in anyone under the age of 45.

Tom Edwards


3 out of 10

what kind of review is this

[BombaySapphire3]

what kind of review is this

It's from the New Musical Express which I always thought of as the UK version of Rolling Stone..a silly review though. The rag might be on the skids

[tabruns]

This is the kind of reviewer who thinks the review is more about him than it is about the music - it makes him "critical" and "relevant" to slam something that all the other Brit reviewers are praising.

[Jondalar]

This is the kind of reviewer who thinks the review is more about him than it is about the music - it makes him "critical" and "relevant" to slam something that all the other Brit reviewers are praising.

It's not really a review. I understand though that Stevie is doing well in the UK. I hope she does better there than in Australia. I was disappointed that she didn't do better over there. I thought she would go gold easy over there.

[seekerj]

This is the kind of reviewer who thinks the review is more about him than it is about the music - it makes him "critical" and "relevant" to slam something that all the other Brit reviewers are praising.

Isn't it possible that he might just not like the album?

[WildHearted]

Isn't it possible that he might just not like the album?

It sounds to me like he just doesn't like the genre, and is basing his opinion of the album off that. He thinks soft-rock is for old folks apparently.

[MrStevie]

He thinks soft-rock is for old folks apparently.

It isn't? :shocked: :laugh: :xoxo:

[jellyman10]

Isn't it possible that he might just not like the album?

Of course. And the idea of an NME review of a Stevie Nicks album not reading like this is preposterous. It's just a waste of everybody's time: his in writing it, ours in reading it, mine in writing this post about it on a fan forum. But mainly his, in whoring his ears out and then having to a write all those words for - oh, let's be generous - £85. And he'd better enjoy that while he can, too.

[BrownEyedGirl26]

It's not really a review. I understand though that Stevie is doing well in the UK. I hope she does better there than in Australia. I was disappointed that she didn't do better over there. I thought she would go gold easy over there.

I think it has a lot to do with lack of promotion Jondalar! I was very dissapointed with the lack of promotion for "Say You Will" and "In Your Dreams"! I remember when "Say You Will" was released here in Australia it was playing in JB Hifi and as soon as "Come" came on they stopped the cd and replaced it with some other new release! When I recently bought my copy of "In Your Dreams" I asked why there was no real promotion to be seen anywhere in the store, I was told that it was because "Stevie was already an established artist" and Warners Music, as it is known here in Australia, think that because of this fact they don't need to do any promotion! Which sounds like a compliment but it doesn't help the artist in reality, because they have to compete with all of the newer "artists" constantly!:shrug:

[BrownEyedGirl26]

what kind of review is this

He is probably about 20 so what would he know!:shrug:

[tabruns]

Of course. And the idea of an NME review of a Stevie Nicks album not reading like this is preposterous. It's just a waste of everybody's time: his in writing it, ours in reading it, mine in writing this post about it on a fan forum. But mainly his, in whoring his ears out and then having to a write all those words for - oh, let's be generous - £85. And he'd better enjoy that while he can, too.

:laugh: Love it.

[Livia]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/article-23964009-cds-of-the-week-beyonce-and-stevie-nicks.do

STEVIE NICKS
In Your Dreams
(Reprise)
★★★★✩
The pop world goes through its phases but it's good to find that Miss Nicks stays resolutely the same. In Your Dreams has on its cover a photograph of Stevie in flowing skirt leading a pure white horse through a forest, the sun flaring behind them. In Stevie's world, it's always Avalon or Camelot, fair maids and dashing knights. The soft rock is still in place, this time masterminded by our very own Dave Stewart. But what has always set Stevie apart continues to do so: that sexy, sassy voice is never drowned in a flood of cheap, hippy sentiment. Thus, songs such as Wide Sargasso Sea, Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream), Secret Love and the title track are borne along on undercurrents of sex and memories of wild times.
PETE CLARK

[Livia]

Nicks, the eccentric Fleetwood Mac vocalist, is back with her first album in a decade to prove that her strange, iconic voice is everything it ever was, even at the age of 63.

The first single from the album Secret Love was originally written in 1976 for Mac’s masterpiece Rumours.

Put together with new songs such as the one she was inspired to write when a group of British soldiers were killed in Iraq, it forms a real thing of beauty. Poetic, majestic, delicious.

Verdict: 4/5

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/254575/Review-Stevie-Nicks-In-Your-dreams-Reprise-

[Livia]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1288e0b4-9bb1-11e0-98f2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1QKUABGOY


There’s a certain nostalgic pleasure in hearing Stevie Nicks on her first album in 10 years.

The Fleetwood Mac frontwoman, now 63, remains the perfect Californian mix of mysticism and materialism, delivering in a quavering voice lines like “She was a child and I was a child/In this kingdom by the sea” over glossy soft-rock. But In Your Dreams suffers from too many plodders; a rare exception is the moody “Soldier’s Angel”, featuring Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham on guitar.

[Livia]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams-warner-2302773.html

The caprine warble of solo Steve Nicks has broken its silence after 10 years to explore the idea that nothing lasts forever, especially in affairs of the heart.

In her comeback single, "Secret Love" – originally written for the Rumours sessions in 1976 – Nicks touchingly pleads "I'm not asking for forever from you/ I just want to be held for a while". It's a theme she returns to again and again here. There are also typically romantic references to maidens, Camelot and kingdoms by the sea, and the supernatural looms large. The one bum note is "Cheaper Than Free", a slightly naff, lachrymose pedal-steel duet with producer Dave Stewart. Which is a shame, because Stewart's unfussy, country-flavoured production is the perfect backing for Stevie to do what she does best, namely bleat like a goat in heat.

[johnnystorms]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams-warner-2302773.html

The caprine warble of solo Steve Nicks has broken its silence after 10 years to explore the idea that nothing lasts forever, especially in affairs of the heart.

In her comeback single, "Secret Love" – originally written for the Rumours sessions in 1976 – Nicks touchingly pleads "I'm not asking for forever from you/ I just want to be held for a while". It's a theme she returns to again and again here. There are also typically romantic references to maidens, Camelot and kingdoms by the sea, and the supernatural looms large. The one bum note is "Cheaper Than Free", a slightly naff, lachrymose pedal-steel duet with producer Dave Stewart. Which is a shame, because Stewart's unfussy, country-flavoured production is the perfect backing for Stevie to do what she does best, namely bleat like a goat in heat.

a goat in heat??? pretty merciless!

[Artemis]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams-warner-2302773.html

The caprine warble of solo Steve Nicks has broken its silence after 10 years to explore the idea that nothing lasts forever, especially in affairs of the heart.

In her comeback single, "Secret Love" – originally written for the Rumours sessions in 1976 – Nicks touchingly pleads "I'm not asking for forever from you/ I just want to be held for a while". It's a theme she returns to again and again here. There are also typically romantic references to maidens, Camelot and kingdoms by the sea, and the supernatural looms large. The one bum note is "Cheaper Than Free", a slightly naff, lachrymose pedal-steel duet with producer Dave Stewart. Which is a shame, because Stewart's unfussy, country-flavoured production is the perfect backing for Stevie to do what she does best, namely bleat like a goat in heat.

Miaow. Kitty has claws. I'll never forgive South Park for starting off this whole goat thing. I guess it makes sense within the confines of Rock A Little, but not IYD. :shrug:

[jellyman10]

I'll never forgive South Park for starting off this whole goat thing. I guess it makes sense within the confines of Rock A Little, but not IYD. :shrug:

It's just bone idleness on the part of the writer, of whom we can ask: how much extra effort would it have taken you to make the point that despite the widely held caricature of Stevie-as-Goat, it is not very much in evidence here? :rolleyes:

[windbecame]

actually, she was referred to as a goat years before south park ever came out. one instance for sure is a review for other side of the mirror. it's either in rolling stone or people magazine ...they say "her nanny goat with a head cold voice..while no one's textbook instrument conveys the passion of her language" (pretty sure that's verbatim) but i have always loved her vibrato!!!

[WildHearted]

Her voice was really getting "Goaty" in parts of The Wild Heart, and then it was in full effect for a lot of Rock a Little.

But I don't really mind it, to be honest. In fact, I think the husky vibrato was a lot more pleasant than the sharper and shriller stuff we started getting after (although Stevie's voice, now, is sounding pretty awesome actually). It had a weight and a warmth to it that was rough but could be downright beautiful.

[michelej1]

Her voice was really getting "Goaty" in parts of The Wild Heart, and then it was in full effect for a lot of Rock a Little.

But I don't really mind it, to be honest. In fact, I think the husky vibrato was a lot more pleasant than the sharper and shriller stuff we started getting after (although Stevie's voice, now, is sounding pretty awesome actually).

I actually think her voice was the best during Wild Heart or maybe it was the fearless way she used it. Michele

[WildHearted]

I actually think her voice was the best during Wild Heart or maybe it was the fearless way she used it. Michele

Oh, I don't use 'goaty' in a negative sense haha. I just mean you could hear that the vibrato was starting to get more prominent and I guess looser in parts of some songs, such as the end of BATB. Her voice was extremely powerful and she did things with it on that album that, to be honest, amaze me.

[michelej1]

Oh, I don't use 'goaty' in a negative sense haha.

No, I didn't think you did mean anything negative, judging from your screen name:nod:. I was just agreeing with you.

Michele

[darklinensuit]

I don't remember goat references in the RAL days, but I heard them a lot when TITN came out. That was also the year that one of the reviewers of her "Silent Night" said she sounded like Elmer Fudd, which also got a lot of mileage.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

to prove that her strange, iconic voice is everything it ever was, even at the age of 63.

Heaven knows I'm a fan, but I can only wish this were true. :sorry:

- Jake

[Bandon]

Her voice was really getting "Goaty" in parts of The Wild Heart, and then it was in full effect for a lot of Rock a Little.

But I don't really mind it, to be honest. In fact, I think the husky vibrato was a lot more pleasant than the sharper and shriller stuff we started getting after (although Stevie's voice, now, is sounding pretty awesome actually). It had a weight and a warmth to it that was rough but could be downright beautiful.

It you really want to hear her voice in full "goat" form, the best example was "Gypsy" during the 1982 Mirage Tour. :nod:

[michelej1]

The Music Fix
http://www.themusicfix.co.uk/content/review/14669/stevie-nicks.html

“I’m not asking forever from you…” sings Stevie Nicks on red-blooded opener ‘Secret Love’. And yet, on the evidence of this, her seventh solo album, that is exactly what she’s doing. A re-awakening of some magnitude, In Your Dreams, completed under the sage direction of one Dave Stewart, is her most invigorating sans-Mac work to date. It may not be as startling as certain other key re-inventions where trad rockers have sought left-field guidance to inject mainstream careers with a phial of street grade cred (Rick Rubin’s arm around the likes of Neil Diamond and The Dixie Chicks, for example) but Stewart is no fool and he buys into the Nicks mythology with guile. Nearly forty years since she and Lindsey Buckingham changed the shape, and the fortunes, of a British blues-rock band, the group’s most enigmatic member finally delivers an album worthy of her ever-idealised boho romaticism and the equal of the diamonds she’s studded into her band’s deeper legacy.

Because Nicks’s latest foray into the netherworld dreamscapes of her flighty imaginings comes after a decade of solo silence, it’s tempting to lower expectations. Is she bored? Is that next Mac re-grouping – next year, allegedly – too far off for the IRS ? Park the cynicism. In Your Dreams dispenses with much of the skirts-swirling, howling-at-the-moon imagery of her canon and replaces it with as solid a set of songs as she’s ever conjured. That Stewart is there to keep her wild furies on track is testament to the pairing and the absolute sense in the Eurythmics man taking his direction to her mansion-cum-studio. Out go the heavily programmed, synth-soaked radio beats, the haunted balladry; in their place, a nod to the AOR sensibilities that spawned the likes of ‘Sara’ and ‘Dreams’ and a pared down approach that delivers heavy hitters in the shape of ‘New Orleans’ and ‘Soldier’s Angel’. Buckingham appears on the latter, a tribute to the armed forces that skirts lazy hero worship, posits a close-up picture of love and (pointless) loss. The former, a tribute to a ruined city is bleak but over-brimming with the madness of hope.

Elsewhere, it’s the stock-in-trade that thrills, that epic faerie tale night vision that deposited the likes of ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Only absence from the planet would leave you wondering what Nicks has been reading to cause her to dream up the beguiling ‘Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)’ but it sprinkles dark matter on the Nicks template and blends kinetics and mood. Similarly, ‘Italian Summer’ came after a trip to the Med that sent her senses spinning, and ‘Annabel Lee’, a re-telling of the Edgar Allen Poe poem sets course for the graveyard on the album’s heftiest hook. A rule of thumb here: the dafter the song title, the greater the reward. Stripped back simplicity gives the whirring, heaven-scent stuff a run, too. The driving title track plays tricks with elements of Dave Edmunds’ ‘Queen of Hearts’ and you’d need a heart of stone to stay strong in the face of the closing ‘Cheaper Than Free’, an acoustic duet with Stewart that rubber stamps four decades of growing up and trying to grow up smart (“What’s cheaper than free? / You and me…”)

Hey, they say she been around a bit. Hell, yeah. And she fascinates still, if only because the ribaldry of 70s rock ‘n’ roll abandon – the cocaine, the years on the road, the inter-band affairs – remain lit by a rare candour, whether that be in open heart interview or the songwriting for which she is, surely, slightly under-appreciated. It’s all too easy to return to her soul mate Buckingham’s oft-quoted regret that they ever even joined Fleetwood Mac, that they would have found themselves an audience regardless. On this form, finally harnessing the best of her wandering muse, in strange tandem with Buckingham’s most productive period since the 80s, who could argue?

Despite her protests, she remains irrevocably, unwittingly gothic in the truest sense, a proper mythical creature from near legendary times. She’s no more a witch than my mother-in-law but the spirit of ‘Rhiannon’ takes hold in this superb album’s deepest, darkest corners and invests in its smooth grooves an irresistible other-worldy sense of time and place. A decade since she last left band camp, and now a mere 63, her latest album stands as her best by some distance. A hefty, lengthy work that clocks in at over an hour, In Your Dreams is worth your time and your effort and, no doubt, your continuing love. It offers ample evidence that, even over 14 songs, Nicks lacks padding tracks.

[michelej1]

Indie London, by Jack Foley Rating: 4 out of 5
http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Music-Review/stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams

STEVIE Nicks’ In Your Dreams is the singer’s first LP of new material for a decade and, for fans in particular, it’s well worth the wait.

Nicks’ distinct vocals retain the same power as her Fleetwood Mac days, while her song-writing demonstrates a wealth of ambition, taking in everything from New Orleans and Twilight tributes to tracks inspired by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Edgar Allan Poe.

In doing so, she’s also amassed a strong army of supporting talent, including Mac band-mate Lindsey Buckingham, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, long-term guitarist buddy Waddy Wachtel and Dave Stewart.

In truth, it’s debatable whether Nicks will win any new fans, such is the classic (and familiar) traits she brings to proceedings (there are moments this could pass for a Fleetwood Mac record). But given the length of time it has taken to emerge, In Your Dreams has to go down as a welcome comeback for the artist.

And there are plenty of highlights among the 14 tracks, starting with the opener, Secret Love, an oldie she wrote way back in ’76 and which could easily have ended up on a Fleetwood LP. It’s steeped in classic values… guitar backing, strong sense of melody, folk-rock tendencies and a notable chorus. And it gets things started in suitably assured fashion.

Nicks herself describes the LP as “a full blown rock ‘n’ roll album with some beautiful ballads’ but early on it’s more ballad driven. Secret Love isn’t really a rock song, while For What It’s Worth is a Dylan-esque folk ballad with country elements that showcases a tender side to the singer that’s welcome, but perhaps too early. It does, however, mark one of Campbell’s contributions.

Fortunately, that rock vibe drops with the rousing foot-stomper that is title track In Your Dreams, the sort of offering that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Petty record. It’s a real good time.

The ambition of her song-writing then becomes evident on Wild Sargasso Sea, a song that is based upon the novel of the same name that Jean Rhys wrote as a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It’s a brooding slow-burner that contains plenty of atmosphere and some cracking lyrics. And yes, it has to rate as another highlight.

New Orleans, like its name suggests, is a belated tribute to the spirit of that city and its ability to recover from everything thrown at it, while the piano backed Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream) is the Twilight homage – and it’s suitably cinematic and another ballad.

But while both songs are good, former fan favourite Annabel Lee emerges as the next real highlight, a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe that offers another classy throwback to Dreams-era Mac that lasts for six minutes and quotes Poe.

It’s a great, great rendition of a song that has long been available in various bootleg forms, especially given the orchestral touches Nicks also imbues into proceedings.

Another highlight, Soldier’s Angel, follows in a couple of songs time… a bluesy tribute to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that deserves to stand alongside PJ Harvey’s The Hands That Maketh Murder as a great war record.

I wasn’t overly convinced by the sudden drift towards a synth sound (and a pop moment) on Everybody Loves You but fortunately Nicks chooses not to pursue that line and straight away comes back strong with the rousing guitar rocker Ghosts Are Gone, another highlight, and You May Be The One, which cleverly combines a bluegrass opening with a retro piano pop vibe and a great deal of romanticism.

Italian Summer, meanwhile, draws things to a close amid swirling strings and more romantic leanings, before Dave Stewart duets on the solid album closer Cheaper Than Free.

But if these final two songs don’t quite measure up to the highlight status of the album’s best work, then it’s still a supremely satisfying end to what is an undoubtedly well crafted comeback. Like we said, it’s been worth the wait.

[jellyman10]

^^^ Most of the UK reviews have been really good, haven't they? I think she is a lot of people's guilty pleasure and now they're all outing themselves like crazy! :lol:

[michelej1]

The Observer, June 26, 2011 by Kitty Empire
Rating 2 out of 5 stars
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/26/stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams-review

It would be naive to expect anything other than a slick album from the big-hatted queen of 70s AOR, flanked by a white horse on the album's cover. But the combined forces of producers Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard make this seventh solo offering from the former Fleetwood Mac singer far more of a blanched listen than Stevie Nicks deserves. The songs can be intriguing (the coyly autobiographical "Secret Love"); "New Orleans" reiterates her raison d'etre amid the wreckage of the city: "I wanna dress up, I wanna wear beads, I wanna wear feathers and lace…" The least overcooked song, "Soldier's Angel", meanwhile, leaves Nicks's trademark nasal vocal alone. If only there were more like it.

[jellyman10]

^^^ Sigh. Spoke too soon, didn't I? I'm going to bed. :mad:

[PenguinHead]

The Observer, June 26, 2011 by Kitty Empire
Rating 2 out of 5 stars
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/26/stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams-review

It would be naive to expect anything other than a slick album from the big-hatted queen of 70s AOR, flanked by a white horse on the album's cover. But the combined forces of producers Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard make this seventh solo offering from the former Fleetwood Mac singer far more of a blanched listen than Stevie Nicks deserves. The songs can be intriguing (the coyly autobiographical "Secret Love"); "New Orleans" reiterates her raison d'etre amid the wreckage of the city: "I wanna dress up, I wanna wear beads, I wanna wear feathers and lace…" The least overcooked song, "Soldier's Angel", meanwhile, leaves Nicks's trademark nasal vocal alone. If only there were more like it.

I'm truly surprised that many of the reviews are so negative. What do they expect from her? Obviously they have a tentative, limited awareness about her solo work. Otherwise they would understand what this album represents in terms of her history.

I have a bitter, pathological, caustic, alcoholic friend, who makes snap judgements based on negative assumptions. He's not a die-hard fan of Stevie or Fleetwood Mac, but we've attended several Fleetwood Mac shows together. I sent him the In Your Dreams CD to him, thinking he would really enjoy it. I told him to listen to it several times before making any judgements.

Of course he only listened to it once and called to tell me "it's not good." "She needs to do songs like Stop Dragging My Heart Around." I failed to mention that was a Tom Petty song.

Really, no redeeming value at all? It's then, after 31 years of a rocky friendship, I've come to realize there will be nothing in his life that will escape his negative perspective. I must relieve myself of his presence in my life. Of course he, in his myoptic manner, will think it's over Stevie's album, but that was just a catalyst.

**** him. **** the critics.

[vivfox]

It's then after 31 years of a rocky friendship, I've come to realize there will be nothing in his life that will escape his negative perspective. I must relieve myself of his presence in my life. Of course he, in his myotic manner, will think it's over Stevie's album, but that was just a catalyst.

**** him. **** the critics.


Is this the friend of yours that told you I was gonna try to get into your pants?

[jellyman10]

I'm truly surprised that many of the reviews are so negative. What do they expect from her? Obviously they have a tentative, limited awareness about her solo work. Otherwise they would understand what this album represents in terms her history.



No, trust me: these reviews are far, far better than anyone could have expected from the too-cool-for-school British media. I was bracing myself for them all to be on the level of the NME, but of the ones I've seen I'd say they're mostly great, good or mixed, with only the odd stinker. Maybe I've not seen them all, though.

Even this one from the Observer is typically irritating. The writer has issues with Dave's production, mainly. The writer clearly likes Stevie - or at least her voice - on some level. So you'd think that might make her not bury or backslant her praise quite as much as she does. But no. And these 'reviews' are so short, they're designed to be scanned in a few seconds so the reader can make a(nother) snap judgement.

I sympathise with you over your friend, Penguinhead. His loss, though.

Loz

[Macfanforever]

I dont listen or read reviews about any artists.most of them are full of baloney.they have their favorites or artists they hate.

[David]

Reading the reviews in the press is no different an experience from reading Ledgie reviews. I like hearing everybody's opinion, whether that of Ledgie or of newspaper reviewer. That's why I hang out at the Ledge & why I blog.

[PenguinHead]

Is this the friend of yours that told you I was gonna try to get into your pants?

You got it! You super slueth! He's such an ass. I told to use the CD as a coaster for his cocktails.

(correction: misspelled myopic)

[PenguinHead]

No, trust me: these reviews are far, far better than anyone could have expected from the too-cool-for-school British media. I was bracing myself for them all to be on the level of the NME, but of the ones I've seen I'd say they're mostly great, good or mixed, with only the odd stinker. Maybe I've not seen them all, though.

Even this one from the Observer is typically irritating. The writer has issues with Dave's production, mainly. The writer clearly likes Stevie - or at least her voice - on some level. So you'd think that might make her not bury or backslant her praise quite as much as she does. But no. And these 'reviews' are so short, they're designed to be scanned in a few seconds so the reader can make a(nother) snap judgement.

I sympathise with you over your friend, Penguinhead. His loss, though.

Loz

Thank you. Like Stevie said, I'm gracious!

[Artemis]

A rule of thumb here: the dafter the song title, the greater the reward.

Ahahaha. I just laughed like a Japanese Schoolgirl at that. It's quite true for most of Stevie's work as well :laugh:

[llb]

I don't know a whole lot about her recent friend Vanessa Carlton's music, but is anyone picking up any similar singing/songwriting style influencing the new IYD CD?

[Livia]

STEVIE NICKS: In Your Dreams.The granite-voiced one has kept up a decent consistency over many years – and there’s some strong stuff in here as she veers from thumping soft rock through acoustic troubadouring to just plain storytelling. If Cliff Richard is the Peter Pan of Pop, she’s the Petra Pan of Rock.

Read More http://www.examiner.co.uk/leisure-and-entertainment/entertainment-west-yorkshire/2011/07/22/wolf-gang-absorb-influences-at-a-sponge-like-rate-86081-29097813/#ixzz1Squ9yRDs

[Livia]

http://www.jambands.com/reviews/cds/2011/07/26/stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams

Published: 2011/07/26
by Tina Haase Findlay

Stevie Nicks
In Your Dreams

She could have twirled off to golden-oldie land, resting comfortably on her Gold Dust laurels. She could have taken her forty years’ worth of credentials and retired to a castle in the hills, like her one-time Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie. But Stevie Nicks shows us with her seventh solo release, In Your Dreams, that she and her mysterious glamour aren’t leaving anytime soon, offering her finest collection of tunes since her breakthrough solo debut, Bella Donna, in 1981.

Faithful followers of this melodic enchantress are well aware that two key ingredients of the Nicks appeal are singular lyric lines and scattered breathtaking moments, as much as entire songs. This principle is in full force here, from her sensual opening line in “Secret Love”, an invitation to “come on, it’s time to go upstairs,” all the way to the wistful coos in the two closing gems, “Italian Summer” and “Cheaper Than Free,” the latter a duet with the project’s main producer, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame. Always to his credit, Stewart artfully demonstrates a universal knack for bringing out the best in a female musical partner.

A mid-tempo, mid-album block of three songs- “New Orleans,” “Moonlight (Vampire’s Dream)” (inspired by the Bella and Edward “Twilight” romance), and a newly-arranged take on Poe’s “Annabel Lee,”- sounds sufficiently pleasant, yet somewhat repetitive at first, given the fact that all are in the same musical key with similar rhythm and pacing. Eventually, the unique poetic nuances of each do emerge, aided by the ever-stellar harmony vocals of Stevie’s longtime ladies-in-waiting, Sharon Celani and Lori Nicks.

The choice of a first single can make or break any album, and the pristine vanilla pop of “Secret Love” may not have been the best choice. Some critics would identify such choices as familiar tactical errors of past Stevie solo projects as well. It’s a nice enough, largely undemanding volley into today’s postmodern, musically-eclectic arena; designed as an effort to blend in with the perceived “hip and relevant” sonic palette and undoubtedly helped along by her recent pop culture star power moments on Dancing With The Stars, The Voice, the Fleetwood Mac episode of Glee, and even The Oprah Winfrey Show.

However, where Miss Nicks has always excelled is in the visiting of her extremes. On the ballad side, the new original “For What It’s Worth” possesses gentle “Landslide”-esque loveliness. And the album’s most potent emotional highlight is “Soldier’s Angel”, featuring her legendary romantic partner-in-rhyme Lindsey Buckingham, and is a stunning reminder of the greatness that transpires when the stars of Buckingham Nicks collide. At the other extreme of uptempo vigor and sass, Nicks gives it in spades on the straight-ahead rocker “Ghosts Are Gone” and the unexpectedly peppy title cut which defies its dreamy pedigree and is much more “in-your-face” than “in-your-sleep.”

All in all, kudos are due to Stevie for this stand-out addition to her catalog. Praise must also go to Dave Stewart for his infusions of creativity and playfulness into these proceedings. He’s such a hero of this project that his picture is on the back cover, right next to the still ravishingly alluring Stevie who, along with Kirstie Alley, could be a spokesmodel for the slogan, “60 is the new 40.” Her voice and mystique are showcased in all their gypsy glory, wrapped up in her signature fierce, yet feminine, storytelling style. And every so often, for those who are listening most closely, there are vocal moments that truly recall the sheer brilliance of the chart-topping, globe-trotting Stevie days gone by. Simply put, she continues after all these years to ring like a bell through the night, and her international legion of fans still love to love her.

[BrownEyedGirl26]

http://www.jambands.com/reviews/cds/2011/07/26/stevie-nicks-in-your-dreams

Published: 2011/07/26
by Tina Haase Findlay

Stevie Nicks
In Your Dreams

She could have twirled off to golden-oldie land, resting comfortably on her Gold Dust laurels. She could have taken her forty years’ worth of credentials and retired to a castle in the hills, like her one-time Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie. But Stevie Nicks shows us with her seventh solo release, In Your Dreams, that she and her mysterious glamour aren’t leaving anytime soon, offering her finest collection of tunes since her breakthrough solo debut, Bella Donna, in 1981.

Faithful followers of this melodic enchantress are well aware that two key ingredients of the Nicks appeal are singular lyric lines and scattered breathtaking moments, as much as entire songs. This principle is in full force here, from her sensual opening line in “Secret Love”, an invitation to “come on, it’s time to go upstairs,” all the way to the wistful coos in the two closing gems, “Italian Summer” and “Cheaper Than Free,” the latter a duet with the project’s main producer, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame. Always to his credit, Stewart artfully demonstrates a universal knack for bringing out the best in a female musical partner.

A mid-tempo, mid-album block of three songs- “New Orleans,” “Moonlight (Vampire’s Dream)” (inspired by the Bella and Edward “Twilight” romance), and a newly-arranged take on Poe’s “Annabel Lee,”- sounds sufficiently pleasant, yet somewhat repetitive at first, given the fact that all are in the same musical key with similar rhythm and pacing. Eventually, the unique poetic nuances of each do emerge, aided by the ever-stellar harmony vocals of Stevie’s longtime ladies-in-waiting, Sharon Celani and Lori Nicks.

The choice of a first single can make or break any album, and the pristine vanilla pop of “Secret Love” may not have been the best choice. Some critics would identify such choices as familiar tactical errors of past Stevie solo projects as well. It’s a nice enough, largely undemanding volley into today’s postmodern, musically-eclectic arena; designed as an effort to blend in with the perceived “hip and relevant” sonic palette and undoubtedly helped along by her recent pop culture star power moments on Dancing With The Stars, The Voice, the Fleetwood Mac episode of Glee, and even The Oprah Winfrey Show.

However, where Miss Nicks has always excelled is in the visiting of her extremes. On the ballad side, the new original “For What It’s Worth” possesses gentle “Landslide”-esque loveliness. And the album’s most potent emotional highlight is “Soldier’s Angel”, featuring her legendary romantic partner-in-rhyme Lindsey Buckingham, and is a stunning reminder of the greatness that transpires when the stars of Buckingham Nicks collide. At the other extreme of uptempo vigor and sass, Nicks gives it in spades on the straight-ahead rocker “Ghosts Are Gone” and the unexpectedly peppy title cut which defies its dreamy pedigree and is much more “in-your-face” than “in-your-sleep.”

All in all, kudos are due to Stevie for this stand-out addition to her catalog. Praise must also go to Dave Stewart for his infusions of creativity and playfulness into these proceedings. He’s such a hero of this project that his picture is on the back cover, right next to the still ravishingly alluring Stevie who, along with Kirstie Alley, could be a spokesmodel for the slogan, “60 is the new 40.” Her voice and mystique are showcased in all their gypsy glory, wrapped up in her signature fierce, yet feminine, storytelling style. And every so often, for those who are listening most closely, there are vocal moments that truly recall the sheer brilliance of the chart-topping, globe-trotting Stevie days gone by. Simply put, she continues after all these years to ring like a bell through the night, and her international legion of fans still love to love her.

Tina Haase Findlay really knows how to write a great review and has captured the essence of Stevie, her image and her songs imho! :)

[michelej1]

Highland Community News
http://www.highlandnews.net/articles/2011/07/28/entertainment/doc4e31f2707c8ae653413118.txt

Stevie Nicks and Dave Stewart make a good team


Stevie Nicks
By Jules E. Beuck
Published: Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:27 PM PDT

Stevie Nicks is best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac.

She has also had quite a solo career as well. This year saw her touring with Rod Stewart and marked the release of a new Stevie Nicks album. The title of the album is “In Your Dreams” and features thirteen tracks.

Nicks’ back-up musicians include Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Dave Stewart guitar, and Mike Campbell (from Tom Petty’s band) guitar and bass. What helps this album the most is the producers. It is co-produced by Glen Ballard and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

Ballard is well known in the business for his songwriting and producing talents. He has worked with many major artists including Alanis Morissette and Aerosmith.


However, Stewart’s influence is felt much more than Ballard’s. For example, he co-wrote seven of the songs on the album.

The first song on the album and first single “Secret Love” has Stewart’s stamp as it starts and ends as if in the middle. “Ghosts Are Gone” has a Eurhythmics feel to it. It also is a very energetic Rocker.

“In Your Dreams” also has the energy that Stewart brings to his work.

Nicks stated in a number of interviews that writing with Stewart was an eye-opening experience for her.

“I understood why Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote together … because each had something the other didn’t have.”

“For What Its Worth” has nothing to do with the old Buffalo Springfield song. This is a classic Stevie Nicks soft rocker.

“Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” was inspired by the Twilight movies.

The song “Soldiers Angel” was very important to her. She wrote the lyrics while visiting military in military hospitals.

Nicks brought Lindsey Buckingham in to help with the song. They are the only performers on the song.

According to Nicks, this brought them closer than they had been since “Rumors.” This was closer to how they used to work before joining Fleetwood Mac when they were just Buckingham Nicks.

Nicks said that this is the most fun she has ever had recording an album and it comes out in her singing which is more relaxed than it has sounded in awhile.

They would record for four or five hours, have dinner for about an hour and a half and then go back for two more hours for recording which took place in her own home. She states that when it was over she wanted to cry because she did not want it to end.

“In Your Dreams” is on Reprise Records. It only spent four weeks on the charts but did rise as high as number six. This is an easy album to listen to, whether in the background or if you are giving it your full attention.

[PenguinHead]

I don't know a whole lot about her recent friend Vanessa Carlton's music, but is anyone picking up any similar singing/songwriting style influencing the new IYD CD?

If anything, Vanessa has been influenced by Stevie's writing/style -- not the other way around.

[UnwindedDreams]

Stevie's coming up @ 9 on good day new york. Rosanna just mentioned it. played stand back and used if anyone falls video.

[UnwindedDreams]

the interview was less than a minute. pathetic. i'll never watch good day again. not many people watch it anyway.

[Amlyn]

the interview was less than a minute. pathetic. i'll never watch good day again. not many people watch it anyway.

That was the worst interview I've ever seen. Midway into the 2nd question the entertainment reporter cuts her off and starts singing Landslide to Stevie. WTF????

I hope that there was some malfunction and the rest of the interview gets posted or something, otherwise, why bother wasting Stevie's time when she could have been interviewed by someone with some interest in her. Like the host of the show who was giving Tusk some lip service. There's a fan.

[UnwindedDreams]

That was the worst interview I've ever seen. Midway into the 2nd question the entertainment reporter cuts her off and starts singing Landslide to Stevie. WTF????

I hope that there was some malfunction and the rest of the interview gets posted or something, otherwise, why bother wasting Stevie's time when she could have been interviewed by someone with some interest in her. Like the host of the show who was giving Tusk some lip service. There's a fan.
except he kept mentioning fleetwood mac. he didn't even know if Stevie was still in fleetwood mac. neither did Rosanna.

they didn't mention the exact dates of jones beach and PNC.

greg even said that steven tyler isn't a big name. :shocked:

[WildHearted]

Whaaat.

This sounds positively awful.

Is it on Youtube?

[Amlyn]

except he kept mentioning fleetwood mac. he didn't even know if Stevie was still in fleetwood mac. neither did Rosanna.

they didn't mention the exact dates of jones beach and PNC.

greg even said that steven tyler isn't a big name. :shocked:

Oh yeah good point. You're right. I was just trying to say that the host, even though that he didn't know she was still in FM, still new more then the stupid reporter.

It's Fox news. Take it for what it is. Thank goodness we have people like Jim Ladd who interview her.

[UnwindedDreams]

julie Chang tweeted that the satellite window was too short and it killed her that the interview was so short.

[Livia]

Just ran across the Parade page I tore out weeks ago, with this:

Parade Picks

Nicks's husky voice and eclectic poetry - her inspirations range from Italy to the Twilight films - lend weight to the ethereal rock melodies on her fist studio album in 10 years. Especially memorable: "Secret Love," written in the 1970s, and the moody, Dylan-esque "New Orleans."

[David]

I hope that there was some malfunction and the rest of the interview gets posted or something, otherwise, why bother wasting Stevie's time when she could have been interviewed by someone with some interest in her. Like the host of the show who was giving Tusk some lip service. There's a fan.That's been the problem with so many interviews with her through the years: the numbnutz talking to her has no interest, & thus doesn't ask the "right" questions.

I've always considered DJs the lowest form of life in the entertainment industry (an industry rife with bottom feeders). They'd rather listen to the sound of their own irritating voices than anything else, including writers, singers, or songs.

[Macfanforever]

Know what kills my with these interviews.I cant stand when they say "Former singer of Fleetwood Mac"She did not quit.They should say "Lead singer of Fleetwood Mac".

[WildHearted]

Know what kills my with these interviews.I cant stand when they say "Former singer of Fleetwood Mac"She did not quit.They should say "Lead singer of Fleetwood Mac".

I think "frontwoman" would be a more appropriate term. Because she's not THE lead singer, she's just ONE of them. However, with Christine now gone, she is the only female, therefore frontwoman fits.

[Macfanforever]

I think "frontwoman" would be a more appropriate term. Because she's not THE lead singer, she's just ONE of them. However, with Christine now gone, she is the only female, therefore frontwoman fits.

Yes thats right.I agree.

[PolishStevieFan]

I've been waiting for a Stevie Nicks new album for a long time. When it finally came out I had to buy it through Internet shop as it wasn't available in the place where I live. "In Your Dreams" ranks as one of the best albums of Stevie's career and I mean it. It's not that I'm just happy to have her new album and feelings of excitement overwhelms my objectivity. What I like the most about this release is that Stevie and Dave didn't try to reach for so-called "younger" audiences. If they did so, probably we would have had a chance to listen to Stevie sings through vocoder to the disco or hip/hop beat (which of course wouldn't be pleasant experience at all). Instead of searching for "new ground" they found it by going back to the roots. The idea of employing live instruments instead of just computer gimmicks works magic on the album and serves as a proof that with all these ultra-popular technologies of today, still it's music that matters after all. For exapmle guitar solo in "Everybody Loves You" sounds ten times better than pretensiously modern R&B intro. I won't say, that this album is organically produced or something, but comparing to contemporary music scene, it sounds like the one :) And then, there's "For What It's Worth". The song that never ceases to amaze me. Perfect piece of country/rock! No matter what category you use to describe it, this song is just...well...beauty beyond the words...