first critical review of ITD
 

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album review, stevie nicks

ALBUM REVIEW — STEVIE NICKSIn album review on 04/20/2011 at 10:08 am
Stevie Nicks
In Your Dreams
(Reprise)
Despite her long career and legend status, Stevie Nicks is only as good as her collaborators. Think Lindsey Buckingham, who guided her through her prime Fleetwood Mac years, or Prince’s royal synths on “Stand Back.” On her first album in a decade, Nicks teams up with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard (best known for his work with Alanis Morissette) for an album that embraces both Nicks’ witchy-woman persona (“Moonlight”) and ’70s-era FM-radio rock (“For What It’s Worth”). That combo does little to lift Nicks or In Your Dreams out of their soggy pasts. Which is probably the point. Still, “Secret Love” is her best single since “Talk to Me,” and “Italian Summer” shows some spark. Too bad so much of Dreams is such a snooze-

I found this from some guy in Cleveland that writes reviews .Not sure how legit he is ..hopefully not too.

Eh, he doesn't explain WHY it's such a "snooze" so, I don't think it's too bad.

I'm waiting for the allmusic review; they've already updated her biography with this;

but it wasn't until 2011 -- almost a decade to the day after Trouble in Shangri-La's release -- that Nicks returned with a new solo album. Produced by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, In Your Dreams found her singing a mix of Bob Dylan-inspired folk songs, Italian love ballads, and rock anthems.

So I'm assuming the review will be out soon. Allmusic has pretty much been spot on with their reviews for all of Stevie's albums, imo.

Stevie's in her 60s and has stayed true to her style for 4 decades... what exactly was he expecting? :shrug:

that's a critical look at In Your Dreams, I don't think so. Anyone ever hear of objectivity.

It sounds plenty objective... but it's wholly lacking in specific details to back up his claims. There is no "this track is lackluster because of this" or "this track is promising because of that" etc.

So he is saying that she's made songs reminiscent of seventy's rock and stayed true to her witchy persona? SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!:laugh::]

Yeah ..this guy's reviews are all short and even the good ones he wrties like for Emmylou's new album aren't very specific.

no it doesn't sound plenty objective, he's already had it in his head that she doesn't have any talent, he's on twitter, and he is a total dork, sounds very immature from twitter.

I twittered him and told him to blow it out his ass. Douche bag.

That's probably not the best way to endear a music critic to Stevie... :wavey:

Well, he is a douche bag, another indie critic nerd. Stevie's too successful for him you know. And the Cleveland Scene is nothing. This isn't really a real review.

I'm gonna cry.:(

At least you had the guts to tell him exactly what I was thinking, too... This review doesn't seem very fair to me.:(

I never listen to "Critics" anyway. If I did, I'd have about 5 albums:lol:

Mick

Glad to see you know a thing or two about being objective.

I don't see anywhere where he says he hates Stevie Nicks or he thinks she has no talent. He just points out that the success of Stevie's music highly depends on who her collaborators are. That's something us Stevie fans have discussed for decades. The reviewer even compliments Stevie by saying Secret Love is her best single in 26 years. Not just that, he describes her new songs as witchy and evocative of '70s rock. Those should be ultimate compliments to a Stevie fan! I really just wish you guys would slow down and not react immediately and highly emotionally to everything you read. I don't find this to be a negative review at all. It's actually just pretty noncommittal.

Why? Don't cry! It's just one random opinion. Great works usually evoke disparate and varied reviews and reactions. Look it that way. Grab a tissue!

Don't. Any asshat with a computer and a smidge of writing talent can get a job as a reviewer. Just because someone calls himself a king, does it give him the right to rule a kingdom? No. What clout does he have to shape ours or anyone elses' opinions. He can bite me.

It's not fair at all! He bases the whole review of IYD, upon Stevie's impressive roster of former collaborator's during her astonishing 4+ decades career and says nothing concrete about the current material at all. In short, it's total bullSh*T!! and a lazy critique from someone who obviously has a pre-concieved biased opinion about Stevie, and probably gave the record 1 spin, if that. He gives away his prejudice immediately in the 1st sentence of the review. Total crap, not insightful or believable in the least.

Jondalar, good 4 you for calling him out:thumbsup:. I just hope this is not the new norm again regarding Stevie. From "The Dance" through TISL, it was extremely hard for critics to turn a blind eye away from Stevie's influence and she finally started to recieve her due credit that was long long overdue. This record better be great, and if so, critics in general hopefully still have a wellspring of good intention towards Stevie. I mean HELL, for perspective, even RS gave Britney Spears' new album 4 bloody stars. It's all so subjective.:cool:

I don't really think that he seemed all that biased...

However, it was rather annoying that he 'reviewed' the album without actually even saying much about the album at all. It was kind of bizarre.

You have a clear, rational mind. Mature and sensible. You know that review actually made my wife cry!

Gezz, we all need to calm down.....if we all like the album that's all that matters:thumbsup:

Mick

tell him i said "ya mama"

On twitter he said that T. Bone Burnett's production style gets on his nerves. That says it all to me.-ass

Kind of a strange review. First he says that Stevie is only as good as her collaborators segueway-ing into how her current collaborators apparently aren't up to snuff. But then he says "Moonlight" maintains her witchy persona, "For What Its Worth" reflects 70s radio rock, and "Secret Love" is her best single since "Talk To Me"?

So basically this album is "soggy" because it plays to Stevie's strengths and doesn't do something totally out of left field, which is apparently what he wanted.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Bring on the witchy 70's rock.

People:

It's the guy's opinions. To call him an idiot, lazy, biased, etc, just because you do not agree with his opinions comes off just about as juvenile as you are accusing him of being.

Calm down. This is the first negative review we've heard. Remember all the good comments? David Wild? Florence Welch? Others whose names I'm blanking on?

Again...calm down. You're getting your collective panties in a knot and it's really quite unbecoming.

Thanks,
Josh

That's probably what he's hoping you'll do- don't.

Stevie is only as good as her collaborators? Really??? Anyone that starts off saying that seems to already have made up his mind that he was going to do a negative review.

I will be truly shocked if most of the upcoming reviews for IYD are negative. It's just too epic and well-produced.

Jamie

That it is. Don't wanna paint a bad picture of Stevie fans.

Mick

I love stevie...I've loved her for 25 years...I hope the album sells a million copies in the first two weeks but "Cheaper Than Free" is beyond weak and Secret Love and Annabel Lee have been floating around forever....I'm crossing my fingers...:shrug:

This is pretty much how I feel. But the only opinion that matters to me regarding this album is my own. Just remember, Rumours and Bella Donna were panned by some critics too. You can please some of the people some of the time... ;)

The reason I posted the review is that it is the first impression of a disinterested party of IYD..All the others that have heard it and have offered oponions are for the most part either friends or fans of Stevie or have an investment in the album .This guy is a critic for a local publication in a rust belt city far from the pulse of pop culture still he is not being unduly malicious IMO and does seem to have a decent knowledge of Stevie's past work.I do hope that the album recieves a better reception when the big league critics begin to chime in .

I'm very glad you shared this review! I like to hear all opinions and honestly get pretty annoyed when people can't handle the negative ones without feeling like someone just insulted their religion. I just wish this review were more substantive and specific. Give me a detailed analysis of what sucked! :lol:

Don't believe everything you read, folks. :angel:

Exactly, if this is a sign of things to come in the next few weeks..... scary!:rolleyes:

Shouldn't that information be reserved for the TMI thread?! :laugh:

I don't see why anyone would take a 'review' that short and vague seriously :confused:
even if it was positive, I would think that.

I wholeheartedly agree. If it stinks, I want some specifics as to why the reviewer feels that way. If it's a triumph, I want to know how that summation is reached as well. I just tend to brush this review off because it's so short and utterly vague.