Dreams or Landslide demos or outtakes?
 

Does anyone know of or have any demos of these two classics? Thanks!

bump, would love an outtake of dreams

I believe there is already a "Dreams" outtake on the Rumours Deluxe reissue.

And wouldn't a "Landslide" demo be kinda... superfluous? :shrug: It's already kind of in demo form as it is.

I don't think the album verison of "Landslide" sounds like a demo. Stevie's voice sounds very over-produced. "Rhiannon" and her backing vocals sound more "real". So, a demo would be awesome!

The "Dreams (rough)" version on the 2004 deluxe re-release of Rumours is just that: rough. The first half sounds like Stevie's album vocals, and after the instrumental break, it sounds like a different take, completely different vocals. Or, rather, the album version is pieced together, like most songs.

Since "Dreams" was basically demo'd and recorded in the same place at virtually the same time (if Stevie is to be believed), I think it is highly improbable that a true "Dreams" demo (using Sly Stone's keyboard) would turn up. It isn't like she recorded it at home and shared it with a bunch of "friends" before presenting it into the band.

I think Stevie's voice on the original "Landslide" is perhaps the most "un-Stevie"-sounding vocal she's ever done. But I wouldn't go as far as to say it is "over-produced," which is something you could definitely say about the vocoded-within-an-inch-of-its-life version that appears on Soundstage. Sure, there's some reverb on it. But other than that it's just the guitar and her voice- not even any backup vox.

I'm don't know a whole lot about the technical side of production, but to me her voice on Landslide on Soundstage always seemed very natural. It is in top form, but it doesn't seem overly produced by any means to me. Perhaps that is just my uneducated musical ear.

There's an almost mechanized/digitized sound to her voice in this song; it's hard to put in words. The distinctive thing about Stevie's real, natural voice is that it sometimes vibrates in-and-out of pitch, especially when she is singing the low notes- maybe a quarter tone or less. It's very subtle. But on the SS version, everything is perfectly in pitch and there seems to be something off about her tone too. Again, it's hard to describe, but there is something vaguely artificially sweetened about it. I don't know what the technical term is for it, but at times I can hear the audio equivalent of "pixelation" in her voice, which you hear a lot in autotuned songs; you can really hear it on the last "well" of the song.

This is the best way I've heard this described! I was trying to explain this to some people the other day. Top 40 radio stations just sound "pixelated/mechanized" to me (*cough* I'm talking to you Gaga, Katy Perry etc etc)
This version of Landslide is no where near as good as the version on Crystal Visions. The first time I listened to the Soundstage CD I thought it sounded strange, especially Beauty and the Beast. It just didn't sound right to my ears.

The 1975 album version of "Landslide" is the least listened to of Stevie Classics for me. To me, it doesn't even sound like Stevie. The first time I heard "Landslide" was in February 1982 on Fleetwood Mac Live, and LOVED it! I got the 1975 album a month later and was shocked to think it was the same song/woman!

In November 1982, I got Buckingham Nicks, and the even younger Stevie sounds more closer to the real Stevie than the 1975 "Landslide".

Hell, I listen to the 1997 CD-single remixes of the album version of "Landslide" more than I ever had the original version.

Well at least I'm not the only one who is not particularly fond of the album version. It's such an odd song, if you think about it. It doesn't sound like her. It really has no chorus. It's essentially a Buckingham Nicks track on a band album. It starts abruptly as an upbeat rocking song ("Say You Love Me") fades out. It's an unlikely hit single- both as a cover and a remix. I just don't hear "classic" when I hear that version. :shrug:

Well, it would be fun to hear Stevie accompany herself on piano or guitar.

This is the first time I've heard this & I think it's beautiful! I'm not familiar with the Crystal Visions version, but if that one is better than this one, it must be great indeed.

What you're hearing is almost certainly Autotune, a ubiquitous software these days that automatically corrects vocals so that every note is perfectly on pitch. Almost all mainstream pop & country records today have their vocals autotuned.

Autotune is actually a variant of the same software that created the vocoder-like sound on Cher's hit "Believe" back in the late 90s.

Unfortunately, heavy autotuning results in an overprocessed, un-human sound. Even the best singers have small moments when their voice strays slightly off-pitch; this isn't really a bad thing...it adds character and depth to the performance. Autotune kills the character of a vocal by making everything "perfect".

I was listening to Sarah Mclachlan on Regis this morning and wondering how to describe how her voice seems to wobble and I think what you said about Stevie kind of captures what I was thinking about Sarah.

Michele

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't know any of that. I really hope Stevie doesn't go overboard with Autotune on the new album. What happens when everyone starts to sound the same...??? Vocals are Character!!!

The Crystal Visions version has more of that "live" feel and Stevie's vocal is better IMO. I also love that it was recorded in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony. To me it's just awesome!!! (Not to say that the Soundstage version isn't any good, it's just not as good as the CV one)

The only version of Landslide I like is The Dance version. Why they included the original over The Dance version on the VBOFM is beyond me.

The original version of "Landslide" just seems to "rushed" to me.

I think the autotuning of singers these days is a product of the music industry these days. I don't think it's a choice of the artists. And as younger ears get used to pitch perfect singers in pop music they start to think the occasional bum note to be more of a blemish rather than character. When Liz Phair first came out I thought her cd was absolutely brilliant. And I loved the fact that she was all about pure emotion rather than technical perfection. Her later stuff that's been autotuned to death just seems to lack the spark that her early stuff had. Even though it's still very good.

My favorite version of Landslide is from the Fleetwood Mac Live album. That version would never be released today. And it makes me sad that so many young people would hear this and think it was bad because of the way her voice cracks through it, but to me it's so emotional that it really gets me every time I hear it.

Agree. I think her emotional timbre and soft whisper really punctuates the uncertainty she sings about. Can I sail through the changes? Can I handle the seasons? I don't know. Such vulnerability and fragility there. She had this similar effect in the '81 live Rhiannon.

I think Lindsey also overdubbed another acoustic part on the Live album. It sounds like 2 guitars and also has a 12 string sound effect with the 2 guitar parts blended together.

:thumbsup:

They did. It was Ray Lindsey. But I don't believe he was providing add'l guitar work on Landslide. From all the bootleg Tusk shows I've heard I only hear Lindsey. That's what makes me think he overdubbed another part for the Live album.

Maybe someone who was at the Tusk shows here can verify whether Ray was doing add'l guitar. Fairly certain he was only onstage for GYOW.

This is the only outtake of Dreams I know of.

http://www.mediafire.com/?vzymzjttumd

Thanks, Dark Angel.
 

Thanks. I guess there aren't any others out there! Wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

THANK YOU! I never knew this existed. Its interesting to hear Dreams in it's infancy. It has evolved so tremendously from this into what it is today...

AND since I've recently decided Dreams is the best song of all time this is particularly special for me (not necessarily the original studio version). :xoxo:

I don't think it's the best song of all time (where does that leave Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays," then?), but it's certainly an excellent Fleetwood Mac track & a great Stevie Nicks song -- maybe even her best.

Yay, someone agrees (well almost) and it's not just anyone - it's David, the great! :woohoo: