How long did it take for you to like The Wild Heart?
 

I bought a copy of this album on Saturday, I've listened to it three times, and I'm kind of having hard time getting used to it. There are times on this album where Stevie's voice sounds better than before, and at times it's so unpleasantly rough I want to press the Skip button. The synthesizers on the three songs she wrote with Sandy Stewart jangle my nerves a bit; they practically ruined Nightbird for me.

Am I missing something, or do I need to listen to it a few more times?

i listened to it a couple times, then put it a way for quite a while. i immediately liked some songs, like the title track, stand back, and i will run to you, but i was at a loss in regards to the others. i broke it out a few months ago and really fell in love. i'd say it took about a year. now i rank it up there with BD, TISL, and RAL (yes, i ****ing love RAL.).

I liked it right from the first time I heard it.:thumbsup:

Since my first listen to it was when it first came out, I had the whole excitement thing going on. But truthfully, it's never really been my favorite. It took me a few listenings to really like it, and to this day there are a few songs I skip altogether. :shrug:

I loved it the day it came out and I heard "Nothing Ever Changes". All it takes for me to appreciate an album of hers in one good gem, but I think there are several on this one. "Gate and Garden", "Beauty and the Beast", "Enchanted" and the title tune are a few. The synth is very dating and a little distracting but this is definitely one of her best collections in my opinion.

Dude. I just got it a couple years ago, and I just started liking it mid last year. :shrug: I just didn't like it much before that. Now I love it. Of course I already loved Stand Back, and a few others on the record, but other than that it took awhile to grow on me. I still don't love Gate and Garden or Sable on Blonde (I like Sable more than Gate).
Just keep listening every so often, suddenly it will hit you that this is a special, special bridge time in Stevie's vocal life, quite spectacular and amazing, really.

I am biased since I got it the day it came out (after wearing out the Stand Back/Garbo single for weeks). My initial impression was that the title track was the most killer thing I had ever heard in my life... but the rest of the album never quite made it to par. And I am probably in the great minority here by saying that I did not/do not care for "Sable on Blond" at all. Maybe it's because I am forever scarred by the scathing review in Rolling Stone that compared SoB to a toilet paper commercial jingle. :eek: And it's only in recent years that I have grown to love "Nightbird." When it was released as a single back then, I was like WTF? I was convinced that "I Will Run to You" would have been the second monster single...

That being said, despite all of its flaws, in hindsight I think The Wild heart was the quintessential Stevie album, even moreso than Bella Donna, which had a decided masculinity about it, probably due to the fact that it was almost entirely a Tom Petty/Heartbreakers album. WH is a shamelessly girl-power album, probably since her major collaborator was Sandy Stewart. But the lyrics and the vocals were more passionate, more romantic, more self-indulgent, replete with images of boots, blankets, gardens, capes, hearts, etc. In a nutshell, it was Stevie to the nth power.

I'm with you there mate. I love this album and always have. I still don't like I Will Run To You and it always gets skipped. Wild Heart, IAF, GAG, Enchanted, Stand Back, NEC, SOB and BATB were all instant likes..took a while to get into Nightbird but thats it. Stevie's joint second best with TISL for me.

Nightbird, to me, sounds like what Storms would have sounded like if it hadn't been produced by Fleetwood Mac. And ami I the only one who thinks that Sandy Stewart was the wrong choice to harmonize with Stevie?

I loved 'The Wild Heart' the first time I heard it... but even moreso now. It's always in a three-way tie with 'Rock A Little' and 'Trouble In Shangri-La' as my favorite of Stevie's albums.

There isn't a thing that I don't love about it... Stevie's passionate vocals, her evocative lyrics, the galloping synths, the driving drum lines... it's killer all the way.

'Bella Donna' often sounds too timid and laidback for me... but the 'Wild Heart' shows Stevie as a force to be reckoned with.

The Wild Heart is not one of my favorite albums as a whole, but it has 4 huge powerhouses for me that I love: Beauty and the Beast, Stand Back, Enchanted, and If Anyone Falls. The others are just blahhhhh. I really don't get the love for Wild Heart the song. When I first heard it I thought the chorus was decent, but then I realized it was because it sounds like Sara. I dunno....she had a great voice on it, but I never listen to it. I put it on my Ipod to see if there was something I was missing, but I still don't like to listen to it. My albums from Fav to least fav go:

1. Other Side of the Mirror
2. Bella Donna
3. Trouble in Shangri La
4. Street Angel
5. The Wild Heart
6. Rock a Little

You think it's tough now, just think how tough it was to listen to when it was CURRENT! Other than "Stand Back" (which I liked then, but can't stand now...the studio version, I mean) & "Sable On Blond", I really didn't care for the album. Rock A Little (side two only) regained my faith in her solo career, then OSOTM (excuse me while I projectile vomit at the thought of that album) came out and just lost me on anything she did thereafter until TISL.

yep!

I loved it the first time I slipped it into my cd changer. I bought it on the day I went to visit my cousin, who had cystic fibrosis, for, what turned out to be, the last time. I bought it and it was raining really bad outside. I bought TWH and Tusk on the same day. I remember listening to Storms and Sable on Blonde...the rest is a blur, but I remember listening to it on the way to the hospital and while it made me very sad, it also made me feel very empowered and strong.

I swear Brian, sometimes we share a brain. :xoxo:

But really just like he said, I loved "Wild Heart" from the start. *points at username... :rolleyes:* It's second only behind RAL for me, but not by far - the album as a whole is very strong, and (forgetting my love for anything synth) I think that the synths and the drum machines really helped to bring a fresh new sonic perspective to the songs.

Plus, when I'm in a good mood I like to fashion my blanket into makeshift shawl and jam out to "Stand Back". :laugh:

I loved it from the get-go.

*ahem* you're supposed to say "I loved it from the start". :p

It was love at first listen. I wore that record out. :)

I got it when it was released .The title track blew me away (her best in a tie with TISL IMO).As soon as I heard 'Violet and Blue 'early the following year I knew it should have been on the album, replacing 'Nothing Ever Changes'..another time constraint issue maybe?:shrug: since 'Violet and Blue 'is the by far superior song .Also have never really been able to warm up to 'Gate and Garden" Still the album and it's tour really were kind the end of an era.

me too...:xoxo:

Ah, young Grasshopper, we must transport ourselves back some 23 years to vinyl. We accepted album sides as entities. We savoured our favorite tracks and learned to endure (and in time perhaps to respect or even like) less liked tracks so as not to disturb the integrity of the record's side. Another theory is we were to lazy to get up and move the needle. Once the needle was dropped, it was like lighting a fuse, there was no going back, no skipping forward. A mix-tape (remember....tapes...not CD's) was some hours of work to make and skipping a track on a tape was a dicey thing. Give it some time, keep at it, resist the urge to move on or back. The potions need more time to brew. Do try it in a dimmly lit room alone; it's an atmospheric, moody,emotional and surreal album. The Wild Heart, more than any other of her albums has a way of grabbing your emotions by the huevos and hold you fast to the spot. Soon you will find it can engulf you. It paints every surface in dark smoky shades, blurrs sharp lines and draws the walls in and the ceiling down until it just kisses your head. you may even sense a feeling of claustrophobia and consuming sweet melancholia that can squeeze bitter-sweet tears from a stone. Again....give it time....it was a different time for her and us, we couldn't compare it to TISL or even Say You Will. She was a Rock&Roll with her Sophamore album....kinda scary...dealing with success, fear of failure, fear of alienation of Fleetwood Mac members....dealing with being a desireable, attractive, famous woman at the age of 35 (and was since age 27)....I couldn't dream of how strange it must have been.

I liked it nearly emediately, but I upgraded to love I heard "Fire on fire, rain on my face", or perhaps it was the superficially obvious, yet so profound "Fearlessness is fearlessness".

I still say.."fearlessness is fearlessness!!!":nod:

i loved it from the start. :o

seriously, one thing i think must be kept in mind: it was released in 1983. i think it must be listened to today with that context in mind. the sound is indeed very 80s - the synthsizers, etc. but it does have some of my very favourite solo songs of hers... i will run to you, nightbird, if anyone falls...

Dude, I so wanna have some a what yer havin'!

I think Sandy Stewart and Stevie sounded wonderful together... in the same way that she and Christine sounded good together. Sandy has the rounder, softer voice which complements Stevie's sharper, edgier voice.

I shall track you down and stab you for this :laugh: I know that v&b should've been on but i think NEC and GAG are both brilliant...i would've had this as the tracklist:

Wild Heart
If Anyone Falls
Enchanted
Stand Back
Violet and Blue
Nightbird
Nothing Ever Changes
Sable on Blond
Beauty and the Beast

I loved it before I heard it. :nod:

I loved it from the start. I'm so original. :nod:

THat was amazing. And I compleetley agree. I can not even put into words how much I love WILD HEART. It is true that it will just hit you all of a sudden. It should be dim, quiet and dark, and peaceful when you really give it a go. dont be tryin' to thump wild heart on the way to the clubs, or to try to get pumped for some sporting event!! My love for wild heart grew after acoupple of things. one was while listening to that "the devine stevie nicks album" most of the songs on it are just the powerhouses from wild heart, and the "hilights" from OSOTM. combined together it makes for a cool listen, kinda like a mixed cd Id make for myself. Also,I am forever CAPTIVATED by the video (and audio) of stevie singing the "wild heart" in the dressing room or whatever it is when she is writing it. Its so bright and hopefull, where as most of the song is kind of dark. I went to in her own words.com, and decided to read what stevie herself said about wild heart, and that helped me love it. How the verses were written at a diferent time, and how it seems like she is singing about how things are, and how they are difficult, but then the chourus kicks in, and she remembers, and everything is ok. I love that song from begining to end, listen when it starts, it sounds like its coming from some great far of place to come to you.ALL her Lyrics thruought the wild heart really seal it for me. If anyone falls has allways been her most romantic song for me. and after hearing the "accapella" verse from veagas it just mad me love the song even more. each song on the wild heart is like an epic story. I like some country sometimes, so I dont mind the gate and garden song feel either. I never liked beauty and the beast befor hearing it live on last years tour. now when I listen to the album, I love the song.
I adore sable on blonde, but wil say that I HATE! HATE HATE HATE HATE!! the girls "aaahhhhhhhhhh" and "ooooohhhohhhoowww"s at the begining! If someone could edit those out. the song woud be great. (anyone care to take that challenge:thumbsup: ) enchanted, stand back, Nothing ever changes has balls of steel! THE LYRICS ARE LIKE HEAH< THATS RIGHT< WHATS UP NOW! and I love it. Annyway, yea, like I said, I will stop there, cause Icould go on for days about wild heart! but when you have a quiet moment of contentment or contemplation, lock yourself in a room and light a candle, then press play.....

I was in Europe when it was released, but my parents got it for me and they brought the LP to the airport to pick me up because I was just going CRAZY for it! I was so exhausted when I got home that I listened to side one only that evening. I remember being so blown away by the title track...the wailing vocal and that piano...just gorgeous. The next morning, I had breakfast, put on my bathing suit and went outside in the backyard. We had a huge stereo system all through the house, so I laid down in the sun with the lyrics and went through the whole thing...side one and then side two.
I was in tears, I thought it was fantastic. It's still one of my all time favorite releases ever. The Wild Heart is a symphony to me.
3 months later, she came to Austin. Joe Walsh opened for her and it was an amazing show. But thats another thread.

rbs

Well said. I agree about having the lyrics with you. I had it first on a casette, and I still have the little lyric book.

I think your judgement is better than whoever was making the decisions back then. It sounds like an good single choice to me also. But unfortunately, I always hear people who don't like it. I think opinion is split on that song. But to me, it is a great sequel duet. One thing I would definitely change about it is eliminate the synthesizers from it. Country music and synthesizers do not mix. And the beginning few seconds should have been scrapped and redone somehow.

I think it was right after:
"Something in my heart died last night
Just one more chip off an already broken heart" :nod:

This CD is in heavy rotation in my car, and I'm jkust loving it. I go through WH phases, but I didn't love it all when I first got it...took about 3 listens to really dig it.

I like "Stand Back" "Wild Heart" "Sable on Blonde" and "Beauty and the Beast", but the rest of the album I can take or leave. As an album, it is not that great. 3.5/5...