Album Speculation
 

So guys,
March is approaching - and we starting to think a lot about the new record.
I'm going to create this thread if any of you have ideas and speculations (not just the title). Post here if you reckon you know what that album's gonna be like. For instance, I keep thinking about the liner notes - I wonder what they'll be like?

"I want to thank all of my chiffonhead ledgies! This album is for them!"

I expect a pretty album cover and a wildly varied collection of tunes in terms of genre, songwriting, and production. At least one, hopefully a few, will be really moving and nicely produced ballads, some will be country-flavoured or mid-tempo attempts at rock, some will be rockers which may or may not hit the mark. I expect to love a couple of them (most likely the tender ballad type), like a few more (which are quirky or mysterious), skip/dislike 3 or 4 (likely the midtempo guitar-driven, possibly country-influenced ones) , and be more or less OK about the rest. The production quality will likely make or break a lot of the songs. I don't expect surprises or innovation. I am praying for one potentially iconic signature-type tune, likely a ballad.

You nailed my speculations perfectly :). I expect a couple of "vault" songs thrown in there as well. We'll see how effective they'll be after all the dust is removed. I keep hoping this album will be on par with Trouble In Shangri La, but I'm guessing it'll be fairly equal with it. I just knew TISL would be awesome when she was recording it, and it fulfilled my expectations at the time (though I find it dated now and put it mostly on par with her other albums). I'm highly nervous about this album, though. Either Dave Stewart will be the one to return Stevie to glory, or he'll have diluted her Stevieness with all these cowritten songs. In no way do I think this will be the best work of Stevie's career. Mainly I'm just hoping the singing, songwriting, and production aren't wince-worthy. The addition of Annabel Lee to this work has me *highly* concerned. I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, because of all the albums she and the Mac have recorded since I became a fan in '93, this one has been the longest coming. I'm trying to be positive, but Stevie's lack of forward movement this past decade has burned me out, and this album will kinda be make or break for me regarding actively being a fan of hers. I guess we'll see what happens... but I can say for once, I don't have a "glass half full" outlook. I'm biting my nails and wishing hard for the best. I keep reminding myself that Dave seems to really take her seriously, knows her back catalogue very well, and he'll likely take her music to places it hasn't been in decades now. Time shall tell, I suppose!

It better be alot better than TISL.

I hope the artwork for the album will be as nice as that for 'TISL' - meaning I hope Stevie doesn't leave it all up to her 'talented' brother Christopher. :rolleyes:

He made a boring mess of 'Street Angel' (not to mention the gawd-awful tourbooks of late) . :mad:

Note to Stevie: Hire PROFESSIONALS, not family!

I believe that this album is going to have some rapping but in a very dignified "Stevie" way of rapping.

I also think it's going to have a couple of strong dance tracks.

Me too. I like her rendition of it, but if this is what they consider "amazing" then I question what other mediocre **** they are considering "amazing". Unless of course they somehow took Annabel Lee from mediocre to mind blowing, but I don't think any guitar riff would do that.

i spec'late that i will cringe everytime i hear dave's voice.
i spec'late that i will cry/squeel-with-delight everytime i hear lindsey's voice/guitar.

I speculate that the album will not be released on March 1st. It will be pushed back to mid or late May (right before she goes on tour) - might I add that I HOPE I'M WRONG!

I also speculate that "Italian Summer" will be the first single. It seems to be the one that everyone (Stevie, Dave and David Wild) keeps praising over the others.

The album will be released as a single CD, a double CD with Dave's documentary about her album...and ON VINYL! God, wouldn't that be amazing?

Stevie will tour in the US only for about 2 or 3 months with Dave Stewart opening for her. She will then go back into the studio and/or on the road with the Mac!

Two things I pray it will not include:

"Everybody Love's You" - unless it's a thousand times better than that demo snippet we heard.

And lets hope Stevie hasn't been playing with Auto-Tune like forty thousand other artists out there today. I'd hate to hear her "drownded" out by all that computer stuff.

The other day i heard 'Amazing' by Bruno Mars whilst shopping and I thought it sounded like Katy Perry, either my ears are finally giving out from too many blastings of the Nightmare special vocal remix or everyone sounds the same!!! :lol:

LOL! That's hilarious!!! And yes, I agree wholeheartedly! Please let's not have any "Cher - Believe" moments!

it was only like... 40 seconds :laugh:

I quite liked it though, the strings were so pretty.

I think it'll either be totally amazing, or really disappointing. I don't see any middleground here.

Oh God, I can't imagine anything more vomit-inducing! :laugh: Though I must say, I've gotten mildly into electronica the past couple of years, and I think it's a genre Stevie really could excel in. The surprise #1 dance hit of Planets Of The Universe proved it's a medium Stevie could adapt to quite successfully. I don't think it's something we'll ever see, though.

I agree with your summation we likely won't get the album on March 1 either, though I also hope very strongly I'm wrong.

I wish I could be as optimistic as you regarding her keeping her tour short and then going straight into recording with the Mac, but I just have my doubts. She seems to be enjoying her solo career immensely for the moment... and hasn't enjoyed the Mac for some time. I'm guessing she's going to cordon off 2011 for herself... but again, I hope I'm wrong. Will she do one last Mac album? Yes, I don't think she'll want Say You Will to be the last word. To me though, it still remains highly unclear when that project will actually gain traction.

I speculate that 'China Doll' will be on the album. :)

That's true, I am quick to judge it considering what I've heard. The strings are nice, i just thought Dave's singing sounded to deep and Stevie sounded really really nasally.

If it is, and she makes it better (or just as good) than the demo, I will buy it for that reason alone! Even if all the other tracks suck! ;)

Maybe on the actual album Dave will be replaced by Sharon and Lori, and they'll re-do Stevie's vocals so she doesn't sound... as nasally. Since it's now pretty impossible for her to be completely nasally free. :laugh:

I've said nasally too often now. It's become weird.

NASALLY.

The snippet of "Everybody Loves You" was interesting. Not really enough to inform much of an opinion. I seem to remember some people complaining that it wasn't "rock & roll," but I couldn't care less about that.

Based on what little I've read/heard, I'm imagining it being a very "artsy" record. I'm anxious to see what "vault" song (songs?) she pulls out for this. I'd love to hear a current take on "China Doll."

i bet we wont see a record till june...i bet the first single...perhaps the ONLY single...will be mediocre at best...wont b the best on the record...no video..there will b 2 0r 3 WEIRD songs and overall it will b just fair...i say this because since OSOTM...something has been missing from her music...cant put my finger on it but some of the magic has gone...i just really hope this record is a good one and a success for her..this may be the last solo record we see from stevie nicks...she was waaaay more creative wen she was high..and her tours??? i love her to death but her tours are so boaring now..w/a 30 y/o setlist that hardly changes...unless this record is a smash..NO WAY am i gonna pay the prices to see her perform "dreams" and "rhiannon" OMG..please..not again

I think Lindsey was there to record a vault song, maybe If You Were My Love.

If this album is anything like TISL, I will love it. But Dave Stewart's involvement worries me, his voice is agonizing :eek::eek:

I'm still hoping Christian makes it on there! And Lady From The Mountain!

Her comments from that article she did before the tour really makes me believe that the "track from 1976...me and a little piano...I sound like a child" really has to be China Doll.

"Space Needle" and "Forsaken Love." PLZ.

I just hope nobody asks me "why is she wearing a thong?" when they look at the cover and I have to defend her saying "ITS NOT A THONG!".

(I am talking about the TISL cover)

New CD will Reflect Her Today
 

I think her enthusiasm re: the new music is a good sign that her heart is into it, and Dave has solid producing cred, having worked with Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and Bryan Ferry to name a few. Because he's also a musician, I think he'll have some insights similar to Lindsey. He obviously has a deep appreciation for Stevie, so I doubt he's out to have her look/sound bad.

As for the actual music, I think it will be reflection of who she is today, and not trying to capture the spirit she was some 20 yrs ago. It will not be Bella Donna. That album is an enigma for the times, and really captures a Stevie Nicks pre-superstar. She put her heart+soul into her first album because it very well could have been her last (as a solo artist.) Now, too many eyes (and hears) are on her, and too many people are part of the process.

More importantly, she is a different person than she was then. With age, she has garnered wisdom and pensive reflection, and her wild heart is less so. That is just the way time works it's spell.

For a new Ledgie, you have a lot to say. And you said it so, so well. Welcome to The Ledge!:xoxo:

I'd like to have 'Call On Me For Magic' on this one.

It's a gorgeous song, and would be a good track to end off the album.

Great post DallasDude, I agree with you whole heartedly :)

My expectations for the new record is that it will be completely different than anything she has released before (as are all her solo outings). Even the most similar perhaps are Bella Donna & Wild Heart and they too are very different animals. Each solo record has been a reflection of where Stevie was at during that time in her life, and I expect the same from this new recording. It has been 10 years, I want to know where Stevie's mind is these days and hope her writing is dripping with pearls of reflective wisdom.

I expect that it will have an artsy flair with a lot of atmospheric production to complement Stevie's whimsy side more than ever before, and a beautiful ethereal album cover that plays this side up as well.

I expect another vocal register change. (it wouldn't be a Stevie solo album without a slight change of vocal nuance)

And finally overall I expect the record will be a beautifully constructed recording that is appropriate of Stevie's iconic stature and age. Nothing gimmicky or any of the trendy collaborations that we saw with TISL (I'm not at all interested in that sort of thing anymore), just Stevie and her regular ole pals/musicians playing on a solid record that I expect will sell decent for these times and an artist of her age, but not come quite to what TISL sold, if she happened to exceed that it would be by some total fluke at this point. But more than anything, I expect this record to be an artistic success, what else could we really ask for.:shrug:

Marketing Stevie
 

While she is still under contract, I don't expect too much mass marketing from Warner Bros. They just don't promote older artists (regardless of popularity) like they did 10-20 years ago.

If they really do like the music or a specific song, I can see them using a snippet in a film, a movie trailer, or one of there many TV shows as a way to promote it. Also, fringe and older artists are often featured on the radio "stations" you hear in movie theaters now, so you may hear a song being played at your favorite multiplex. Chances of hearing her on pop radio are almost nil, but maybe on AAA or country (if indeed she has a country-tinged song on this CD.)

Because she does have a name and will be touring, I still expect her to pop-up on the TV chat shows, and to get print press as she travels from city to city. Overall CD sales will be 500,000 or less, even if she does have a hit.

When did Dave star marketing for his album? What is the time between release and marketing?
I think that Dave's and Stevie's album will have similar marketing.

I for one am excited about Annabell Lee. I love the demo and if Dave keeps that little guitar chord at the end it will be the heart and soul of the music for that track. Three chords can make or break a song and I just love that little bit under Stevie singing "I lie down... by the side... of my darling".

I always thought that Stevie had a little bit of a goth style to her. The long black dresses, singing about witches and stars and visions and her poetic nature. I think doing Annabell Lee would be the perfect compliment to songs like Sisters of the Moon and Sorcerer.

I feel exactly like you do, I know there is alot of dislike for Annabell Lee but i personally like it, the demo is very Stevie-ish and I'm sure with some studio magic it will be a great song.

I love the part where she sings "And the moon never beams... without bringing me dreams" it just works with Stevie's little romanticist world :D

I don't know about that, it only took TISL six weeks to hit 500,000. I think just of who she is, she will sell more than 500,000 in the first year, but sales will drop greatly after that.

I LOVE THAT PART TOO!:wavey: that and the way she sings sun-ne-va shines ....till i see the bright eyes.. it sounds SO Stevie to me. I love it.:)

Check out Billboard Magazine. Even the most popular current artists aren't seeing numbers like these. Stevie will be lucky to even sell 100,000 copies.

Taylor Swift's new album sold over a million albums in its first week. Susan Boyle just sold over 305,000. And most artists are pulling off sales of over 100,000-200,000 a week. I think it is completely plausible to believe that Stevie will sell 500K in a year. I believe many current artists have a hard time selling albums because of their fan base. Their fans are a bunch of young adults and teens who love illegally downloading music. Their albums always seem to leak and also highly spread across the internet and downloaded by millions. Stevie's fan base is much smaller, so leaked versions aren't likely before its release, and after the release, there will not be an abundant number of torrents of her new album nor that many people looking to illegally download it. Also, with Limewire being shut down, illegal downloads have become even more difficult. So I have high confidence that our woman's new album will reach gold status within a year.

That was a decade ago. The record industry has changed more in the past 10 years than it probably has in 50. On top of that, Stevie's not kept herself in the media limelight by regularly releasing new material with or without the Mac this past decade. She's totally fumbled all the good will and forward movement The Dance laid on her table. Sadly, if Fleetwood Mac's most recent album couldn't even make Platinum 8 years ago, there's pretty much no chance Stevie's new album will even hit Gold today. :distress:

However, there is a possibility if the new album's good, it'll receive critical acclaim... and if I'm feeling drunkenly optimistic, possibly earn Stevie her first solo Grammy. Since The Dance, Stevie seems to slowly be gaining more and more critical respect. She was such a joke amongst critics for so long... even during the height of her career. But that all started to change with The Dance. And big stars have been coming out of the Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks closet ever since. And in recent years, the Recording Academy has been smiling on veteran artists... especially ones releasing milestone albums. 30 years since her first album/10 years since her last album makes for nice round numbers.

Honestly, Stevie's had Platinum selling albums in her past, #1 hits, etc. What would truly vindicate me as a Stevie fan would be for her to earn her first solo Grammy. Even though I don't think much of the Grammy's, it would signal once and for all that she's respected. And at this point in the game, that means much more to me than sales. :nod:

Totally agree about the squandered potential. She needed to get another couple of albums out not to have gotten lost in the public eye.

500,000 copies would be a result and would on the whole be seen as a success !

Lindsey's upcoming album on the other hand might see less significant sales.