Some Street Angel love
 

I have to admit , like many others I was a little disappointed when Street Angel came out in 1994. But I did appreciate the "earthy" sound of it. I was unaware of all of the problems and issues Stevie had while recording it.

I was bored tonight, and I popped the CD in my computer and listened to selected songs at full volume with headphones. Isolating the songs I think come off best (as an EP) let me really appreciate certain songs.

Blue Denim
Listen to the Rain
Love is Like a River
Rose Garden
Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind
Kick It

I don't dislike the other songs, but collectively they dragged the entire album down.
Of the limited songs from the album she performed, she made some poor choices: Docklands and Destiny!

It's too bad some of of the interesting and decent songs in her catalog are obscured by the bad blood, execution and reputation of the record. Thankfully Chris Nick's career as an art director/graphic designer started and ended quickly (except for some really awful tour books).

I too was very disappointed when Street Angel was released, especially because the release date was delayed a couple of times, which only served to amplify my anticipation. It collected dust for a number of years, and it was only in the following decade that I really grew to appreciate the songs, and the production, and the overall mood of the record.

I like most of the album, excluding Listen To The Rain (which has great vocals, but just isn't appealing to me) and Unconditional Love (though I like some of the early takes with more stripped down instrumentation). I *love* Destiny, and Street Angel is probably my favorite track. Docklands is OK, but not *great*, and was an unconventional choice for her to have made. I really like Love Is Like A River, but don't care for the excessive backing vocals from Lori and Sharon, and all the repetition of 'hey hey' really annoys me. I would have used Thousand Days on the album, and relegated Unconditional Love to being the b-side instead.

The fact that Stevie started the tour with Docklands in her setlist really speaks to how much the song meant to her...the fact that she dropped it and replaced it with Rooms On Fire speaks volumes about her sensitivity to audience reaction.

I'm really glad that both of the Ethan Johns tracks were omitted from the album. Admittedly, Inspiration isn't a bad song and might have been a better choice than Docklands, but God's Garden is just...no. Tacky.

The artwork could have been better, but I do like the album cover. I wish the black-and-white promo poster shot would have been used for the cover. This one: http://stevie-nicks.info/wp-content/...omo-poster.jpg The pink shots would have been good for the art space normally reserved for the album inserts.

A vinyl reissue of this album is a Stevie holy-grail item for me, and I have pestered Rhino and Warner about it numerous times. I envision white vinyl, 180 gram double LP, with pink custom labels that have the STREET ANGEL lettering, and a gatefold sleeve, of course. :D

It always fascinates me how different people have different likes and dislikes.

I love
Kick It (it's one of my all time favorite Stevie songs, go figure)

I like a lot
Blue Denim
Street Angel
Rose Garden
Jane (I know that a lot of people hate this song, but I'm not one of them)

I kind of like
Destiny
Inspiration (I have the Japanese version)

I don't like
Gretta
Docklands
Listen to the Rain
Unconditional Love
Love is LIke a River
Maybe Love
Just Like a Woman
God's Garden

So the songs that I don't like, I really don't like and never listen to. So it's probably my least favorite CD, but not without its moments. :)

Kevin

aaaaah my favorite topic :D

i really dislike Unconditional Love, Just Like a Woman and the album version of Jane.
Greta is okay ... but the demo is better.

I utterly love Docklands ... yes I know she didn't write it and people have a problem with the laundromat line, but I think you need to understand why these songs appealed to her in the first place and why she identified with it enough to even bother recording it let alone include it on the album. Just like Inspiration and God's Garden ... terribly sad songs but I like both of them too.

Best 4 songs on the record are Blue Denim, Street Angel, Love Is Like a River & Rose Garden. :nod: include Kick It and that would have been a great EP

I do love me some "Street Angel". Much more so than OSOTM. I prefer the Chris Lord-Alge single remixes of "Blue Denim" and "Maybe Love" - they pack so much more of a punch, especially BD. The album versions sound a bit pathetic and half-finished in comparison.

I really do not like "Docklands", "Jane", or "Just Like A Woman" and "Unconditional Love" is one of the worst songs she's ever recorded. How this could have been selected as a first single initially is beyond me.

Like others, I listen to an edited version of the album:

1. Blue Denim (single remix)
2. Greta
3. Street Angel
4. Listen to the Rain
5. Destiny
6. Love is like a River
7. Inspiration
8. Rose Garden
9. Maybe Love (single remix)
10. Kick It
11. God's Garden

Street Angel was the first cd I remember playing of Stevie's for my brother who fell in love with it. Even my youngest 3 year old loves Greta. I really think Stevie should go in and re-record this entire album. It's always been a sore spot in her career, I would enjoy hearing her mixes of what she wanted for these songs. Aside from that,

I love:
Greta
Blue Demin
Street Angel
Maybe Love
Listen to the Rain
Inspiration

I like:
Unconditional Love
Destiny
Docklands
Kick It
Love is Like A River

Dislike:
Jane
Just Like A Woman
God's Garden

I would have traded these for "Mirror Mirror", "If you were my Love" or "Thousand Days".

The black and white promo poster would have been an excellent choice for the album cover, especially considering "Street Angel" was inspired by an old black and white movie. This would have been very fitting indeed. On another note, the title "Street Angel" has always bothered me, as a "street angel" is a hooker. But anywho, I could very well be missing Stevie's point with the album title and song inspiration (feel free to educate me on this if you know!)
Rose Garden is one of my favorite Stevie songs. (I especially love the live performance from Woodstock 99).

Oh we, this part is my favorite:


Now...I've a big house
With pillars standing tall all around
Yeah, and I've got a garden
And it's got roses dangling down to the ground
Yes, and I've got money
Men to love me...and acres of land
Well, I've got all these things...
All these things but a small gold band
On my finger...on my left hand

Destiny is another favorite...because Love don't mean what it says at all....I'm destined to fall.

Interestingly, I think Stevie misunderstood the original song, and thought Docklands was Darklands. I've seen it written in her handwriting as Darklands. And..it makes sense. Give me your hand - come in out of the darkness. It's quite a statement about her own life at the time, and the heaviness she must have felt, especially after the 1992 Clinton innauguration where she last saw Lindsey. And those years she spent ordering takeout from the deli down the street, sitting at home, doing nothing. I'm sure in retrospect, she was indeed in the Darklands.

http://31.media.tumblr.com/9a119a589...ugio1_1280.jpg

Street Angel is a favorite topic of mine as well. It honestly tickles me that most Stevie fans loathe the album with such vehemence because Stevie herself has dismissed it. Street Angel has some truly great tracks on it. I too love the earthy, back to basics classic rock sound many of the songs exhibit. It's a crying shame that some of these songs will never be performed live again.

I just love the rocking tracks, such as: Blue Denim, Listen To The Rain, Love Is Like A River, and Kick It.

Docklands, with it's admittedly un-Stevie lyrics, has some fantastic Stevie vocals.

Greta is wonderfully quirky, and just plain fun.

The title track is eerie, atmospheric, moody, and the subject matter is heartbreaking. How many other Stevie songs encompass all of those things in one track? :shrug:

Yes, there are turds... but every single Stevie solo album has them. Street Angel has Jane, In Your Dreams has Cheaper Than Free, Rock A Little has Sister Honey, The Other Side Of The Mirror has I Still Miss Someone, Trouble In Shangri-La has Love Changes, etc.

I have the that black and white poster! It is so much better than the cover. I also have a color poster, with a different pose.

I get livid when I look at the booklet. What a hack job! I tend to rail against piss-poor lyric sheets. More often than not, they are not presented properly. And let it known, ellipses have no place in lyrics. You don't sing ellipses, nor are they indicative of anything. Chris Nicks took the whole thing to a new low hackneyed level.
And repeating the chorus three times is not needed. The standard is to identify the chorus with "Chorus:" and then "Repeat chorus."

On the Nix Fix, most her song lyrics are there. It kills me to see how badly they are presented. I want to go in and clean them up for the sake of integrity. Most people don't see or care. I do.

Wow that is just one sad Stevie face. She looks…unhappy, tired, beat down….sumthin'.

At first I thought, well maybe she was trying to look alluring, but… all I see is tired and sad.:(

:shocked:GASP!!!! BLASPHEMY!!! ;)

:laugh: Iknowright?

I actually really like everything about Street Angel, with the exception of the title track (:sorry:) and "Docklands".

And "Jane" would probably be one of my top tracks on the album if not for that one single word that almost kills it for me... you know which one. :cool:

Fixed that for ya... :p

:laugh: Agreed!

"Bella Donna" and "The Wild Heart" don't.

Fixed.

I adore both "Sister Honey" and "Love Changes". I wouldn't change a damn thing about TISL.

I think the turds issue is that "Street Angel" had more than a few. Whilst there may be 1 track on a Stevie album that you're less keen on, SA has plenty that divide opinions. "Jane" and "Just Like A Woman" are widely regarded as being...well...crap. "Unconditional Love" and "Greta" get a lot of hate too (I love "Greta", btw!). "Destiny" gets stick for being over half of old lyrics, not just a line or 2. "Docklands" has that laundromatt line.

Other things that take critique are the lazy cover art, the (at times) flat vocals and Stevie's entire attitude at the time and in hindsight.

I wish she had more fire in her to fight Glynn Johns, because there's really nothing wrong with a lot of the songs, they're just so poorly presented. The stuff I love from SA I really love - Blue Denim, Love is like a River, Greta, Street Angel etc. But the stuff I dislike (Uncondtional Love, Jane, Just Like A Woman, Docklands) I consider the worst of her career.

I love the cover but agree that the b/w poster would have worked much better. She looks fierce in that pic! I remember the first time I played SA...yes, it didn't thrill me but I loved it nonetheless. I probably play it the least out of all my Stevie albums due to her flat vocals and boring production but some of the highlights for me are:

Blue Denim
Destiny ( the only decent vocal on the record)
Love is Like a River
Unconditional Love ( I love the melody)
Street Angel ( a great song! I wish she'd play it live. It could be a major atmospheric moment on stage)

Respectfully disagree. The Wild Heart has "I Will Run To You" which is a wrist cutter, in my opinion. I don't think it flows well with the rest of the album and Stevie's vocals are lazy. It's also just kind of a boring song. That still doesn't change The Wild Heart from being my personal favorite, though.

Bella Donna is perfect, but still not my fav.

Going back to the original topic, though. I also dig Street Angel, though admittedly not my favorite. I must be in the minority because "Greta" is my favorite off this record and most of you guys seem to despise it. It puts me in a good mood and is a great "driving" song and, lyrically, it's so catchy.

"I bet she says just how many art lovers can one get to know?"

I forgot to add Greta to my list. It is a great song and I love the lyrics.

I also found it disappointing when released, with some shockingly poor songs. To me the memorable ones are:

Kick It
Jane (I know, but it is just so .... sweet, somehow)
Greta
MLWCYM

I have always been embarrassed by the lyrics of Blue Denim but the song would be excellent if it were just hummed or something.

Destiny would be gorgeous if it were not for the god-awful production, the jerky snare-drum-driven horrendousness of it, my God.

Listen to the Rain is great fun but again marred by dreadful lyric missteps.

Unconditional Love is marred by grating vocal "harmonies" that kill the prettiness of the song overall

Docklands is well done but a mysterious song choice, in the bad sense of mysterious

The trash to me include:

Love Is Like a River - a hot mess of random lyrics and meandering shouted tunelessness
Street Angel - how to make Stevie sound like a comatose walrus stuck in an empty oil drum
Rose Garden - I cannot understand the love for this feeble song badly sung and ever so badly produced. A horrifically boring cringer.
Just Like a Woman - don't try to imitate Dylan. Just don't.

Um..I beg to differ. Gate and Garden. :nod:

See that's intersting, because I'm not a Bob Dylan fan but I love Stevie's cover of Just Like A Woman. It fits her so well, I'd believe it if Bob said he wrote it about Stevie while having a vision of the future. :laugh:

Greta is absolutely sublime, to my ears.

Destiny isn't bad, but Stevie should have used it on The Wild Heart. Her vamping at the end of the WH version is great. I feel that Enchanted and Destiny would have been great paired together as the opening and closing tracks of The Wild Heart.

I totally agree. I'd love this song to be in her live sets! I imagine it drawn out and slightly weird, much like Gold Dust Woman.

Years ago, a friend of mine was told by a guy she was dating that she looked like a Boticelli, body-wise. :laugh: She was, of course, mortified by that 'compliment' and would bring it up everytime we listened to Greta.

I have to agree that Bella Donna is her most consistent album. And despite my criticisms, I actually like all of her songs to varying degrees. She could sing the phone book, and I'd listen, and I'd buy it.

There are songs people skip; songs their ears can't stand to hear. I'm not that hard-lined. Call it unconditional love (though not one of my favorites).

I was always baffled by the "Greta" hate. It's pretty easy for me to single that one out as my favorite from the album.

Regarding "Just Like a Woman," I will never forget reading two reviews shortly after the album's release. One said that the album was fantastic with the exception of the horrible cover of the Bob Dylan song. The other said the album was terrible, with "Just Like a Woman" being the only redeeming track. You know what they say about opinions.

I imagine a different senario: Flash back to the Street Angel tour. She opens the show very dramatically, singing the first verse/chorus of Street Angel, then busts into a rocking song.

Right?! The end of the WH version of Destiny is perfection - a real shame she didn't include it as a bookend to The Wild Heart. It's hard for me to listen to the SA version, largely because of how great the original track was.

that is my laptop wallpaper :D

yah i have seen her Darklands mistake as well
reminds me of Shadowlands :laugh:
but i think she knew what it really was called
because of her love of all things English
and the Dickensian imagery in Street Angel
maybe she was imaging the literal Docklands in dickensian times
coz why would a laundromat be in (near) the woods? :lol:

>>

TOTALLY agree with all of this ... except Sister Honey
really??? :laugh:
i dont know, i like it, but i have to be in the mood.
i prefer imperial hotel

>>

i have them too :D
in a mailing tube.
waiting to be framed one day
i love the B&W one for the cover
but this shot is my fave :nod:

LILAR is my favourite song off the whole damn record. It's just so awesome.

I also love "Street Angel" (even if it does sound a little bit like a Phil Collins song)and "Rose Garden".

Ah Karma, it's been far too long since I've professed my adoration for you. lol ;)

Sublime thought and I'm now jumping your holy grail train!!

I love SA. Always have. I was well into my love of SN and attending concerts more, and for me the SA outing was a very special time. I am sad that SM was in such a rut then, but the fact that she still came out trying to give us that Nicks that we love so much. The album has a LOT of heart.

My least fav song on album is Unconditional Love-but ONLY because it was used as the lead single. I think this was a terrible idea for competition on radio waves circa 1994. FAR too soft for a woman that always had a voice amongst any genre. Lots of bad moves & choices for SA, but for me very special and still a favorite today.

That is a stunning photo, and so much more appropriate as an image for an album titled Street Angel, instead of the pink outfit/pink washout Chris Nicks chose. I still hold so much resentment for the complete graphic hack job he did for that album. As if it wasn't enough to have some lack-luster produced songs, the graphics further enhanced those flaws.

It wasn't actually used as the lead single in the end, though, was it? The original Glynn Johns mix was stated to be the lead single from the original 1992 release, but by the time the album landed, the lead isngle was "Maybe Love".

Un. Cun. Dishonal. Love.

Just something about how she sings those words grates for me. Kinda like "watsamatta baby" :shrug:

I can't even fathom the logic of even considering Unconditional Love as the potential lead single. What the f*ck were they thinking? I wonder if Stevie had any say in the matter. It's a deep album track at best.

It's the only solo album that has four songs that were not penned by Stevie. Maybe Love was one of the best of them.

Notice that,except for a surprise appearance of Rose Garden on the Enchanted tour, she has performed anything from the album. Even on her Street Angel tour, only four songs from the album were performed - Blue Denim, Maybe Love, Destiny and Docklands (which was dropped from the set early on).

I wish she would have performed Kick It, Love is Like a River, Listen to the Rain and Street Angel. Perhaps live renditions could have recast and redeemed them. Blue Denim was just an okay song, but it sounded better live.

I don't think we will ever again see a Street Angel track wander into her set list.

Right? Just awful. The raw mixes of that song, without backing vocals, are about the worst recordings I've heard from her.

My bad-SN fan error # 2138 lol. I meant to say Maybe Love and had Unconditional Love on the brain from reading thru posts. Thank you and yes, Maybe Love as lead single-that's my story & I'm sticking to it! lol

I love Docklands also but I would be interested in hearing your explanation of your words that I highlighted if you feel like doing so.