Favorite Stevie songs (2011 update!!!!)
 

So now that we've heard the new album, are any of the new songs bumping any older songs off your personal favorites list?

I think I need at least 24 hours to digest this. Because right now this is the BEST thing she's ever done!!!

That's how I feel. This damn thing is surpassing most of her work for me. Maybe I'll feel different later but right now I. AM. IN. LOVE.

Counting both Mac and solo? I'd have to say:

1. Thrown Down
2. Moonlight
3. Rooms On Fire
4. Silver Springs
5. Planets of the Universe
6. Gypsy
7. Stand Back
8. Sara
9. Rhiannon
10. Dreams

That's just a top 10, so "Moonlight" clearly made the cut. The thing is that if I went farther down, a lot of the songs on In Your Dreams would rank higher than songs from Nicks' other solo albums and higher than Mac's later albums (after Mirage).

I also wonder. When TISL came out, was "this is her best work" the general feeling?

Well I know that critically (and by Nicks' own estimation) Trouble In Shangri-La *was* considered her best work since Bella Donna. And I think that estimation is largely correct.

People definitely have emotional attachments to The Wild Heart and Rock A Little which are valid. I think in terms of a consistently good album though, it's true that Trouble In Shangri-La was a return to form for Nicks and that's why it was highly rated.

In Your Dreams doesn't mean that assessment was wrong. It just means that Nicks has reached an even better level which meets (and in my opinion *beats*) Bella Donna which is widely considered her one classic album.

I'm not in any state to make a list (the Stevie high will go on for a while yet), but yeah, this will majorly change the ranking. I think Moonlight might very well be my favorite of her solo tracks ever (Twilight? :shocked:), and FWIW and WSS are entering the top ten list. Beyond that, I have no idea:D

At this point, I would rate her solo albums like so:

1. In Your Dreams - 5 stars, classic
2. Bella Donna - 5 stars, classic
3. Trouble In Shangri-La - 4 1/2 stars, excellent album
4. The Other Side of the Mirror - 4 stars
5. Rock A Little - 3 1/2 stars
6. The Wild Heart - 3 stars
7. Street Angel - 2 stars, the only "average" Nicks album

Good point. "For What It's Worth" has real potential to become a total fan favorite.

Well yeah. I know that no one could have predicted IYD. But it seems like TISL still ranks mid range among her other works during recent polls. I'm just curious if it ranked high and after a few years fizzled out among fans and people switched back into "classic mode" as far as their favorites go.

ohhhh, Annabel Lee is just nearing the end. I LOVE how it turned out. This and Moonlight are poised to be new favorites of mine... and I still have 5 songs to go...:thumbsup:

I think that's somewhat true among fans....people do react really favorably (usually) to something new. Although I would say that In Your Dreams is getting a much more "mind blowing" reaction than usual. Trouble In Shangri-La definitely got better critical ratings than every other Nicks album except Bella Donna when it came out, so I think objectively that that meant something.

Honestly I think sometimes people let album sales affect their judgement. Trouble In Shangri-La hasn't gone platinum like Nicks' first 4 albums did so some people "re-assess" which I think is BS. A good album is a good album regardless of whether it sells.

Among Trouble In Shangri-La's tracks, I think "Trouble In Shangri-La", "Planets of the Universe", "Bombay Sapphires", "Love Is", "I Miss You", "Fall From Grace" and "Sorcerer" are all still excellent tracks. "Candlebright", "Too Far From Texas", "Love Changes" and "Every Day" are still good ones. "That Made Me Stronger" is still a decent track. "It's Only Love" has never grown on me.

It'll probably be a few months before I can put these new songs up against the others and see if any of them are new favorites. I will say that I love Moonlight & Annabel Lee, tho.

Like I've said elsewhere, nothing's gonna beat Bella Donna for me. That album is just so cohesive and seamless, like none of her other solo albums, and it has such a mystical quality to it. Rock a Little is my second favorite, and I'm willing to say that In Your Dreams is tied with that one, unseating TISL.

TISL is still a damn good album, but it's got a couple of clunkers. I don't hear any clunkers on IYD, just like I don't hear any on BD or RAL.

Not nec. "bumping" but adding to the fav's..."moonlight" and "italian summer"..probably in the top 5 of my favorites....moonlight is like her "classic/prime" writing..and italian summer sounds so different but MY GOD..she does it beautifully..its like a rebirth for her..i think its the most eunique songs she ever done..yet its so "stevie"...cant explain it...LOVE IT!!

Is this a decision you made before even hearing the album? It's just an observation that I've made recently, that fans WANT BD to be their favorite, so they don't even give the new stuff the chance it deserves, you know?

Italian Summer just started. I can die happy now.

I think one reason it will age better than TISL, is IYD isn't mired in crappy guest appearances. It has Lindsey's stellar Soldier's Angel contribution, and that's about all.

It's like all her classic albums. Great producer, great music, and great lyrics.

Well I do think there's something to that: There's an emotional attachment that people have to some earlier albums, because they remind them of a certain time/space.

For some reason I don't really have that....or if I do, the closest I come to it is with The Other Side of the Mirror. I've always felt that album was under-rated.

What I generally try to look for in an album is consistency. For me Bella Donna is truly a classic but In Your Dreams tops it, which is amazing. Trouble In Shangri-La is a near miss for classic status, hampered only by a couple of tracks that didn't quite measure up. The Other Side of the Mirror has a depth and darkness to it that appeals to me, and I think it's a solid rock album. Rock A Little is a solid rock album as well. The Wild Heart is an album that I think has a very fervent fan base....it's like some people just really *love* that album on some emotional level that I've never quite understood. To me, it's a good album in many ways by kind of a sloppy, rushed version of Bella Donna-with-synthesizers. Street Angel was an average album and not up to Nicks standards.

Best Since TISL!
 

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think this is her best solo CD in 10 years!

People were generally divided between TISL being her best work & TISL being her best album since Bella Donna. It was generally the latter.

Like others have said, it's still far too early for me to really rank the album or any of it's tracks against their predecessors. I will say that I feel the album is the most cohesive album Stevie's released since Other Side Of The Mirror (and that includes Fleetwood Mac albums, too). At this moment, I feel the album is the biggest creative progression/departure Stevie's taken since splitting from Fleetwood Mac to make Bella Donna. But I can't pit the album or it's songs against Stevie's other work just yet. I will say that I like every single one of the tracks right now, especially when heard as an entire album. This is definitely a concept album to me, just like OSOTM was a concept album.