Best Stevie Nicks Title Track

[tabruns]

Out of Stevie Nicks' eight solo albums, which has the best title track?

[louielouie2000]

I think they're all phenomenal, sans the last couple minutes of Wild Heart. Bella Donna is iconic. Rock A Little is hazy drugged out goodness. Street Angel is so heartbreaking & spooky. Trouble In Shangri La is epic. In Your Dreams is so damned catchy. I even adore Alice. But there's something special about 24k Gold. It's basically all of the best parts of the other title tracks combined into one. It's easily among the best solo songs she's ever released.

[tabruns]

I think they're all phenomenal, sans the last couple minutes of Wild Heart. Bella Donna is iconic. Rock A Little is hazy drugged out goodness. Street Angel is so heartbreaking & spooky. Trouble In Shangri La is epic. In Your Dreams is so damned catchy. I even adore Alice. But there's something special about 24k Gold. It's basically all of the best parts of the other title tracks combined into one. It's easily among the best solo songs she's ever released.

I agree completely. All of her title tracks are great (there isn't one that I dislike), but I think "24 Karat Gold" hits a whole new level. I'm expecting "Wild Heart" to get some nods, there seems to be a core group of people that just really love that song.

[sorcerer999]

This was REALLY tough, as I am currently in LUST with 24KG...however, I couldn't give up my "Wild Heart" so I voted for it. THAT SONG was basically my introduction to Stevie's solo work. I was 7 years old and from that moment on, it was over! The obsession began!

"Wild Heart" is a sweeping legend of a song! It was a moment in time! Monumental! A little too ambitious, even, but that's why I LOVE IT!!! The sentiment still resonates with me...and now even more so that I am currently Stevie's age when she recorded the song.

For all the reasons you guys listed above, I also adore "24KG" and agree with you two that it is one of the best and DESTINED to be a classic! Hell, it already IS!!!

Third place would be "Rock A Little", but the 12" version with the great bass line bridge that got omitted in the album version. There are many great lines/moments in that version that I sorely miss whenever the regular version comes on.

But you're right! Stevie really hasn't written a bad title track. I've loved all of them! :nod:

[gypsy333]

24 Karat Gold...it is my fav of all the title tracks...."there were dreams to be sold"

[tabruns]

I love "Bella Donna", I thought it could have been a possible fifth single from that album. But I'm still surprised that it's currently winning the vote....I honestly thought "Wild Heart" or "24 Karat Gold" would. But we'll see where it ends up!

No love yet for "Alice," "Street Angel," or "In Your Dreams".

[Artemis]

Trouble in Shangri-La remains my favourite with Wild Heart a close second (she loses me when she rambles about angels - but otherwise, wow what a song!). 24 Karat Gold is up there as well, instant classic.

[StreetAngel86]

I CANNOT CHOOSE D A M M I T

i actually like all the title tracks except Wild Heart

i vote ROck a Little

although it's a 4 way tie with Street Angel, TISL, Alice :thumbsup:

[ViscountViktor]

I went for TISL.

First song that got me into Stevie.

Up there is 24 Karat Gold and Bella Donna.

[Jondalar]

TISL is my pick. It is the only song that has stuck with me from that album. Love the imagery, the harmonies and the unusual structure.

[michelej1]

I would have said Trouble In Shangri-la, but no one was talking about Wild Heart, so I gave it my vote.

I like the TISL track for its sense of mystery and I think that's a great representative for the album. It has atmosphere. Moody, tenderness.

But the vocals on Wild Heart are what that album's about as well. It captures exhilaration that is found throughout the album.

I think most of the other title tracks are bad ones.

Michele

[sorcerer999]

...but no one was talking about Wild Heart, so I gave it my vote.


Um...HI! :wavey:

I guess I'm "no one".

[DauphineMarie]

This was SO HARD! I also couldn't give up my Wild Heart, but Rock a Little (rock on 12") has to be my favourite. It never really gets old. I also love Bella Donna, but I have to be in a somewhat optimistic mood to listen to it. Alice, TISL, and even Street Angel have really grown on me recently as well. But, 24 Karat Gold is the finest work of Stevie's in probably 20 years. ;)

[Frankenstein]

Oh gosh. I love all of them except Alice and Street Angel. I went with Wild Heart though because it's the first one that I really loved.

[He's So Unusual]

Bella Donna

I love the lyrics.

[StreetAngel86]

Um...HI! :wavey:

I guess I'm "no one".

second me to that list
i guess NOT liking it doesn't count as talking about it :lol:

[Turn It On]

I find it very hard to take any song which starts with the lyrics
"You can ride high atop your pony
I know you won't fall...
'cause the whole thing's phoney." seriously, I'm afraid.

TISL gets my vote.

[welcomechris]

Even in the darkest places of your mind - Wild Heart gets my vote!

[michelej1]

Um...HI! :wavey:

I guess I'm "no one".

Looked like TISL was getting the lion's share of commentary and WH needed the help.

Michele

[tabruns]

I voted "24 Karat Gold" as I honestly think it's only the second title track (after "Trouble In Shangri-La") that sounds like it really could have been a hit single in Nicks' heyday...."Bella Donna" could too, but only from sheer momentum of that album and the fact that a fifth single probably would still have made the Hot 100.

Were I to rank them:

1. 24 Karat Gold
2. Trouble In Shangri-La
3. Bella Donna
4. Rock A Little
5. Wild Heart
6. In Your Dreams
7. Alice
8. Street Angel

[Andyleo]

It's such a close call for me between Bella Donna and Trouble In Shangri-La. Love them both immensely but went with TISL because of the powerful and epic last minute of that song... ...Show me the way back, honeeeeey...:p

[StevieNicksfann]

I find it very hard to take any song which starts with the lyrics
"You can ride high atop your pony
I know you won't fall...
'cause the whole thing's phoney." seriously, I'm afraid.

TISL gets my vote.

completely agree. This is the reason Bella Donna is among the worst title tracks for me. Only Street Angel is worse

[snroxman]

Best(and favorite) - TISL, of course!
Worst - Street Angel (I almost forgot about it, having blocked that completely. :))
Missed Opportunity - Rock a Little - the outtake :(

[KarmaContestant]

Blame it on my WILD HEART!

[PoetofRhiannon]

Here's how I would rank them:


1. Wild Heart
2. Bella Donna
3. Trouble in Shangri-La
4. 24 Karat Gold
5. Rock A Little
6. In Your Dreams / Alice
8. Street Angel.

[GypsySorcerer]

I'm between "Bella Donna" and TISL. Yes, I know about the phoney/pony line in BD, but that vocal! :nod: And TISL is among the best things she ever wrote.

[MoonSister75]

Wild Heart

closely followed by Bella Donna, TISL and 24KG

[WatchChain]

Best Solo Album Title Tracks

1) Bella Donna
2) Wild Heart
3) 24 Karat Gold
4) Rock A Little (Go Ahead Lily)
5) In Your Dreams
6) Trouble In Shangri La
7) Alice (The Other Side of the Mirror)
8) Street Angel

[On Ice]

Some great songs to choose from but I'm going with the Wild Heart, it's just so epic and she sings it so well I forgive the "hopelessly enchanted children" line. She took some risks with her voice on this record and got off to a roaring start with the title track.

I agree with most posts that Trouble in Shangri La is also a great song, one of her best songwriting moments but I don't like the vocal as much.

Now 24 K Gold is a such a well executed song, concise, memorable and so very Stevie that I almost went with that, as my first choice but Wild Heart is a such a moment vocally for her that I couldn't let it pass by without some recognition for her passion and devotion to her craft (despite the added rocket fuel at the time :p

[tabruns]

Looks like it's turning into a slugfest between Wild Heart and Trouble In Shangri-La. :) Bella Donna is doing a bit better than I expected.....24 Karat Gold not as good as I expected, given how new it is and how much everyone seems to love it.

[bombaysaffires]

I find it very hard to take any song which starts with the lyrics
"You can ride high atop your pony
I know you won't fall...
'cause the whole thing's phoney." seriously, I'm afraid.

TISL gets my vote.

oh those are totally serious lyrics, in the context of the song. It's about fame. She has said that although 'bella donna' translates as 'beautiful woman', her song was about how easy it is to become, in her words, "not a beautiful woman" in rock and roll. She then pointed out the line "and the woman may be so awestruck/and the woman may truly care/but the woman is so tired/the woman just disappears" as being about how the grind of recording and touring and everything can make you lose your womanly or feminine side, can make you hard and brittle.

The song is one of those Stevie-talking-to-herself songs-- the side of her that sees how much trouble she's in talking to the side that doesn't. That opening line is her down to earth side talking to her wild heart, crazy rock and roll side… riding high atop your pony is about being all full of yourself, and the whole thing's phony referring to how it's all illusory, it's not what matters, it's not who you really are, it's an act.

I think it's a great insight into her back and forth with fame. She said after the Tusk tour she went off to Chile for 6 weeks to think about her life and what she really wanted. She said she was really unhappy, and had to decide whether she wanted "to continue in that unhappy vein or be lifted up out of it". Hence the "come in out of the darkness" line.

That said, I was torn between BD and TISL. Both are amazing.

[DauphineMarie]

oh those are totally serious lyrics, in the context of the song. It's about fame. She has said that although 'bella donna' translates as 'beautiful woman', her song was about how easy it is to become, in her words, "not a beautiful woman" in rock and roll. She then pointed out the line "and the woman may be so awestruck/and the woman may truly care/but the woman is so tired/the woman just disappears" as being about how the grind of recording and touring and everything can make you lose your womanly or feminine side, can make you hard and brittle.

The song is one of those Stevie-talking-to-herself songs-- the side of her that sees how much trouble she's in talking to the side that doesn't. That opening line is her down to earth side talking to her wild heart, crazy rock and roll side… riding high atop your pony is about being all full of yourself, and the whole thing's phony referring to how it's all illusory, it's not what matters, it's not who you really are, it's an act.

I think it's a great insight into her back and forth with fame. She said after the Tusk tour she went off to Chile for 6 weeks to think about her life and what she really wanted. She said she was really unhappy, and had to decide whether she wanted "to continue in that unhappy vein or be lifted up out of it". Hence the "come in out of the darkness" line.

That said, I was torn between BD and TISL. Both are amazing.

Thank you ^^^ :thumbsup:

[jwd]

After all these years I still have a soft spot in my heart for Bella Donna.......it's just a feeling.......

[Jondalar]

oh those are totally serious lyrics, in the context of the song. It's about fame. She has said that although 'bella donna' translates as 'beautiful woman', her song was about how easy it is to become, in her words, "not a beautiful woman" in rock and roll. She then pointed out the line "and the woman may be so awestruck/and the woman may truly care/but the woman is so tired/the woman just disappears" as being about how the grind of recording and touring and everything can make you lose your womanly or feminine side, can make you hard and brittle.

The song is one of those Stevie-talking-to-herself songs-- the side of her that sees how much trouble she's in talking to the side that doesn't. That opening line is her down to earth side talking to her wild heart, crazy rock and roll side… riding high atop your pony is about being all full of yourself, and the whole thing's phony referring to how it's all illusory, it's not what matters, it's not who you really are, it's an act.

I think it's a great insight into her back and forth with fame. She said after the Tusk tour she went off to Chile for 6 weeks to think about her life and what she really wanted. She said she was really unhappy, and had to decide whether she wanted "to continue in that unhappy vein or be lifted up out of it". Hence the "come in out of the darkness" line.

That said, I was torn between BD and TISL. Both are amazing.



I like the imagery in this song - pillars of color, brings up the wind rises around you

[brad975]

TISL? Really?

Well I guess I can make accommodations for you.

I vote WH.

[Jondalar]

I like the WH but talk about repetitive. It goes on like the Energizer Bunny. Same lyrics over and over again...

[michelej1]

When I voted, I was thinking of the song as representing the album too, not just as a song itself.

I mean, I don't think of Alice as a title track, but even if I did, I would never vote for it. I don't think that song represents the album. I think OSOTM is an excellent title, however.

But if I named that album after a song, it would be Rooms on Fire. I not only like the phrase, but I think it represents the spirit of the album, songs, cover and video.

Michele

[sorcerer999]

Poor "Street Angel". :(

[michelej1]

Poor "Street Angel". :(

That's funny. Now someone will vote for it.

Michele

[KarmaContestant]

Poor "Street Angel". :(

I love Street Angel - it's a great song with brilliant instrumentation, but doesn't stand up to the competition.

Take away BD, WH, TISL, and 24KG and Street Angel would get my vote from what is left.

[sorcerer999]

My "order" from fav to "least fav" (because I happen to love all these songs) would be

1. WH
2. 24KG
3. RAL
4. TISL
5. BD
6. SA
7. IYD
8. Alice

[BlueLight]

1) WH
2) 24KG (choosing between this and BD was HARD)
3) BD
4) RAL
5) TISL
6) IYD

(huge gap)

7) Alice

(bigger gap)

8) SA

[tabruns]

When I voted, I was thinking of the song as representing the album too, not just as a song itself.



Interesting take. The poll was really about the songs themselves, but I think one can't help but think of the entire album as well.

[dontlookdown]

Great question.
I love them all.
I've always thought her title tracks were often
much stronger than many of her singles.


I'll always remember my sister walking in the
room when Wild Heart was playing for the first
time in our house. She sat down and when the song finished
she got up and said "that's the best thing she's ever done".

For me it's a close tie between Bella Donna and Wild Heart.
Then Trouble In Shangri-La.
Then Rock A Little, then Street Angel.

I love 24 K, but its a little too derivative of older
songs. Which is probably why it never landed on a FM album.

[tabruns]

I love 24 K, but its a little too derivative of older
songs. Which is probably why it never landed on a FM album.

Meh, I seriously doubt this. I think it never landed for the same reason "Blue Water", "Dealer", etc., didn't - just no room.

[tabruns]

When I first posted this poll I figured "Trouble in Shangri-La" and "Wild Heart" would both do very well.

I'm surprised that "Bella Donna" has done as well as it has, and also surprised "24 Karat Gold" hasn't done better, considering that nearly everyone cites the song as a favorite off the new album.

"Rock A Little" came in about where I thought it would....not as popular as WH or TISL, but with a solid showing.

Also surprised that "Alice" and "In Your Dreams" got votes as a best Nicks title track, but variety is a the spice of life.

Unless there's a sudden surge of more votes, it looks like TISL is going to win.

[PenguinHead]

Poor "Street Angel". :(

So sad. Someone needs to try to bring her in, out of the cold!

[sorcerer999]

also surprised "24 Karat Gold" hasn't done better, considering that nearly everyone cites the song as a favorite off the new album.

Well it IS my personal favorite off the new record. It's gotten quite a lot of votes, which is great...but I don't think a lot of diehard fans (such as myself) are going to forsake some of the amazing title tracks from the last 30 years of her career. We've listened to them a lot longer than "24KG" and they are ingrained in our subconscious as "forever favorites" and "go-to songs" that make us happy.

Perhaps as the years go by, and we've had a chance to slide 24KG into our playlists and our lives, it might surpass our current favorite title tracks. :)

[Johnny Stew]

"Wild Heart" is my favorite title-track, but "Trouble In Shangri-La" is a very close second. They're both epic.

If the 5+ minute version of "Rock A Little" had been used on the album, as opposed to the 3 & a half minute edit, that track might be getting a little more love. The longer version definitely feels far more "title-track worthy."

My ranking:

#1. "Wild Heart"
#2. "Trouble In Shangri-La"
#3. "Rock A Little"
#4. "24 Karat Gold"
#5. "Bella Donna"
#6. "Alice"
#7. "In Your Dreams"
#8. "Street Angel"

[Rachelclaire]

I chose Alice, even though it was a hard pick, It is the song that I most identify with and I will always be in love with that song. TOSOTM was the first album I ever heard, so it will always have a special place in my heart forever. xx

[tabruns]

Does someone have a link to the longer version of "Rock A Little"? I didn't even know one existed.

The longer version of "Planets of the Universe" is superior too....that should have been the album version on TISL.

[Johnny Stew]

Does someone have a link to the longer version of "Rock A Little"? I didn't even know one existed.

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[KarmaContestant]

Does someone have a link to the longer version of "Rock A Little"? I didn't even know one existed.

It's interesting because it's not an extended version, but is rather the whole song, without being chopped up and taped back together awkwardly to fit on a vinyl record. The first time you hear it, you sing along because you're brain says 'oh it's Rock A Little' but then you'll hear pieces of the song that aren't in your mental playback.

[tabruns]

Oh wow, the poll closed and we have:

A three-way tie! LOL

Bella Donna/Wild Heart/Trouble In Shangri-La.

Good thing this isn't Florida in 2000. :P

[KarmaContestant]

Oh wow, the poll closed and we have:

A three-way tie! LOL

Bella Donna/Wild Heart/Trouble In Shangri-La.



TRIAD. :eek: :lol:

[~*BellaDonna*~]

It will always be Bella Donna for me. :)

[sadmabelnormand]

It's a tie for me between Bella Donna and Trouble in Shangri-La, simply because Bella Dnna is simply beautiful all around and TISL is so powerful and captivating.

[Macfan4life]

Bella Donna is my favorite
I love Wild Heart but the ending is just very odd (fade out)
Trouble is the best song on TISRL

I hate Rock A Little. But the extended version which may have been the original before shortening it is very good. I actually like it. I love the keyboard playing near the end and even real percussion is layered in the song near the end. Stevie's vocals are much better and clear. You can actually hear her and what she is singing. How the album cut made the album is beyond me. As someone pointed out, there is a drug haze around the song that has some appeal I guess. The entire RAL album is interesting because the demos, the extended cuts and the songs that were recorded but not put on this album are ALL so much better than the songs that made the cut. The extended cut of RAL is just another example.

[sorcerer999]

The entire RAL album is interesting because the demos, the extended cuts and the songs that were recorded but not put on this album are ALL so much better than the songs that made the cut. The extended cut of RAL is just another example.

Totally! And if ever they do the "deluxe treatment" of any of her albums (yeah, right :rolleyes:) like they've done with Rumours, Tusk and now Mirage, then Rock A Little would be the album I'd look forward to the most, as the demos, outtakes and alternate versions seem to be the most interesting and extensive! :nod:

[Macfan4life]

Totally! And if ever they do the "deluxe treatment" of any of her albums (yeah, right :rolleyes:) like they've done with Rumours, Tusk and now Mirage, then Rock A Little would be the album I'd look forward to the most, as the demos, outtakes and alternate versions seem to be the most interesting and extensive! :nod:
Oh that would be great. A re-release of RAL with demos and extras would be extraordinary. My theory on the shorter, worse version (IMHO) of Rock A Little is the following. I believe this extended version was the original and produced by Jimmy Iovine. When he left and songs were thrown out and others quickly brought in with other producers some of the songs suffered. I see space an issue on the album. The previous 2 solo albums had 10 songs. Vinyl was still a dominant selling factor. RAL has 11 songs. So space on the album was a problem and RAL was re-recorded and shortened. Thus the later in the album the worse shape Stevie was in. Her vocals on the album version on RAL are raspy whispers. Some of the lyrics are twisted or confused compared to this extended (IMHO original) version.
I just cant for the life of me understand anyone thinking the album version is better than the extended version. Its also the case for Some Become Strangers. I hate the song but the version that did not make the album is actually not too bad. Stevie's vocals AGAIN are so much better than the coke hole album version.