Is IYD Stevie's best solo album?
 

The Ghosts Are Gone.

I can't choose without being unfair to Bella Donna. Obviously, this is new and exciting and Bella is not. It's in her top two for sure. It may be #1.

I forgot to make this a public poll. grr.

ETA: I voted "Yes"

Second best for me.

Best for me.

Bella Donna will always be favorite, but this is tied for second with WH!

I have to agree with most everyone's consensus here..I think it is definitely her second best solo album....I have a soft spot for Bella Donna.....always have and alwasy will....but that does not take away how much I love this new album and put it into its own category

Here's my standing's now

1. Bella Donna
2. In your Dreams
3. The Wild Heart
4. Trouble in Shangri-la
5. Street Angel

As usual Rock a Little and the Other Side of the Mirror don't even rank with me.

Mick

I can't really objectively say I think it's her best at this point. I'm too enamored by IYD currently. It'll take time and some perspective to really say what I think is the best Stevie album. Right now, I'm inclined to think IYD is my second fav Stevie album. But who knows, it may go up or down the list in time :).

Same here. It's too soon to rank it in context to her previous work. It will take some time to sink in. And is it just me, or has The Ledge gone crazy with a glut of dozens and dozens of polls? I'm a little polled out.

After really thinking and debating yes. For me, it's the best, number one, numero uno ! It just has everything i love, rock, blues, country, ghosts, vampires, and Stevie. What more is there ? Oh yeah, and Lindsey it even has Lindsey !! :nod:

I voted that it's the best. I really do think it is.

Bella Donna has the benefit of having achieved classic status, so it holds a warm spot for many people. It's also her only #1 album so far and by far her biggest seller. As some people have said, it's hard to judge In Your Dreams against it for those reasons. For me I can say that I rate In Your Dreams higher because I don't hear any clunkers on the album, whereas I've always thought of "Outside The Rain" and "How Still My Love" as "Dreams" knock-offs (and I know LOTS of people love those songs).

Trouble In Shangri-La is Nicks' other excellent consistent album. I actually like it *better* than Bella Donna, and TISL was successful on many fronts: critically, on the charts, and commercially. I don't think TISL will ever achieve classic status though, even though it is an excellent album and has lots of great songs. It was a huge success as a "comeback" album for Nicks, putting her back in the top 5 but I think it simply came too late in her career to achieve classic status.

Which brings me to In Your Dreams. In Your Dreams could achieve classic status even though it's coming late in Nicks' career, which really speaks to the strength of the album. The other albums are varying degrees of Very Good to Fair depending on one's opinion (which in my case ranges from TOSOTM as Very Good to Street Angel as Fair).

1. Bella Donna
2. In Your Dreams /The Wild Heart (tie)
3. Rock A Little
4. Street Angel
5. TOSOTM
6. Trouble in Shangri-la

I mean it's pretty awesome. I think it is too early for a judgement call. Longevity is what is important when picking favorites. I remember when TISL came out, I loved the "new-ness" of it, but looking back ten years later, there are only a few tracks that I seek out: TISL and FFG.

I think it could look something like this:

OSOTM
Bella Donna
IYD
WH
RAL
SA

It's far too early to rate In Your Dreams in comparison to any of Stevie's other albums. We haven't had time for all the songs to seep into our souls yet or for the album to do what it will do among the masses and the chiffonheads.

That said, I've previously described In Your Dreams as TISL on steroids because of how glowing the reception has been by so many people. After listening to it several times on Rolling Stone's site, I've had more opportunity to sit down with and evaluate the songs and their effect on me.

I've found that I actually skip "Secret Love" even though I love it, not because I'm already sick of the song, but because other songs on the record have grabbed my attention thanks to getting to hear them. "In Your Dreams" itself grabbed me from the outset in a way that Stevie hasn't done since I first heard "Fall From Grace." Whenever I hear a song and start playing air tambourine (God, if THAT doesn't make me a chiffonhead, NOTHING does!), it means I love it dearly. As soon as the music started for "In Your Dreams", I was playing air tambo. I can smell it becoming an all-time favorite by the end of the year. It's well on its way now.

In Your Dreams has fewer songs that make me lunge for the skip button than any Stevie record compared to the total number of songs on it. But it will take some time for songs to worm their way in or slink their way out of your life before you can really pass judgment.

That said, my "TISL on steroids" comment still stands, and happily so.

It's definitely the most diverse thing she's ever done, that's for sure!

Not her best, but definitely in the Top 3.

Michele

No, but certainly her best work - solo or with FM - since RAL.

- Jake

It's probably tied for #2 with me, along with Bella Donna and TISL.

Wild Heart will always be my #1 album.

Not her best, but close. Previously, I thought Stevie's top 3 were BD, RAL, & TISL; IYD probably knocks TISL out of the #3 spot.

The Wild Heart has been my #1 for a while, and I feel the same about IYD as I did the first time I heard The Wild Heart. I'll have to see in a few weeks which one I prefer then. I absolutely love the production and diversity of IYD, but I think I love more WH songs... so I guess it evens out.

Oh, Dios mio... ¡No, no, no!

i say "no". i'm totally loving In Your Dreams, but Bella Donna is what made me fall in love w/ Stevie! Nothing, and i mean NOTHING, is better than her first album. i don't care what anyone says lol!

This I agree with.

I love ranking things. ;)

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

I don't think the Top 2 will ever change for me because of the quality of Stevie's voice on those first two records. I can't imagine her ever sounding like that again.

There's a lot of sentimental votes here. Lots of comments of "this album will always be my #1" or "this made me love Nicks so nothing will ever top it". That's pretty sweet in a way. :)

It's also kind of I dunno "frozen" too....or like, new stuff will never get a fair shake, I mean a *really* fair shake, because it will always be knocked down a peg for emotional reasons tied to earlier albums. I'd guess that has to be bittersweet for artists: On the one hand they have earlier albums that their fans love to death, but on the other hand their later work will never really get a fair hearing - on a level playing field - precisely because of those emotions.

There are many popular artists, as well as many esteemed artists who are not (or no longer) part of the mainstream, but are legendary, highly respected (among their peers) and have had long careers. These are typically muscians (sic) who put out albums that cater to their fan base, but largely don't have hits, but continue to exist and produce music that their fans appreciate.

Unfortunately, many of Stevie's fans aren't willing to fully accept the growth and age of Stevie. Thus, any music she puts out now will aways be measured by the music she made in her thirties. They are stymied by an expectation, or rather a concept of what they think/want Stevie to be, based on a distant past.

This album is my favorite. Musically and vocally, this album is varied and can take you to many places at once. It's genre-bending and the sounds are amazing.
Bella-Donna is bland, compared to this.

I think I may tend to agree with that. It's an amazingly diverse collection of well-written and produced songs. It's a technicolor sound journey like no other.

No....but it's still kick-ass.

Did you get more into it by now ?

I cant pick a favorite, i think its one of my favorites thou.

Yes more into it but not in love with it. Thanks for asking though :).

While IYD is outstanding, I think I'll have to live with it a few more months to be completely objective. My initial impression is that IYD is up there among her Top 3 solo albums (in songwriting quality). It's a pretty impressive piece of work. Moonlight, You May Be The One, Annabel Lee, In Your Dreams & For What It's Worth, are instant classics for me. But the others are also very good. I'm still discovering things I love about Wide Sargasso Sea & ELY, I really don't think there is a stinker on this record at all. I'm a very content long-time fan right now:nod:

GHOSTS ARE GONE! just keep listening!!! i love that song! as a matter of fact, call me right now, cause that's my ringtone, and hang up!!!! lmao!

I cannot choose. I mean the album is perfect, probably her best work in many many years. Maybe better then BD or WH. But if we place it in the context of time and era in popmusic and her career (Rumours was not so long ago back then), you cannot compare...

Has anyone ever told u how effing adorable u are!? You crack me up! And yes, I love GHOSTs R GONE. "the girls went home"...like a silvery rainbow....going down" That riff in the end is hauntingly perfect.

I went with second best.For consistency of performance .song quality and production IYD is great.I just can't see it or anything else supplanting Bella Donna which IMO is the last great California rock album of the classic era.It is in that Pantheon nest to Rumours and Hotel California.

Just in response to the thread's title... In a word, no. But it is purt guud.

kisses, kisses, kisses, kisses! i get low on that song every single time!