Bella Donna 40th anniversary
 

In the studio with Redbeard. I love how she always exaggerates and says she only got 2 songs for Tango In The Night. In any event, this thread is to celebrate its 40th anniversary for Bella Donna. IMHO, its one of the best albums of the 80's decade. Come in......out of the darkness

https://www.inthestudio.net/online-o...la-donna-40th/

One of the greatest albums of all time!

July 27, 1981 is the official release date. A horrific incident happened that day and Adam Walsh was kidnapped outside Sears in Hollywood, FL.
The summer of 1981 had incredible music. I remember Styx dominating the charts and also REO Speedwagon.

Bella Donna would stay on the charts for years and the singles would be on the charts until Mirage was issued the following year. It sold so well that in 1983, according to Billboard it sold more copies than The Wild Heart. In 1983 Bella Donna finished the year at #61 and The Wild Heart at #80. That is an incredible statistic since The Wild Heart peaked at #5 with huge sellers Thriller and Flashdance just above it.

https://www.billboard.com/charts/yea...ard-200-albums

Because Bella Donna is a perfect album(as is Rumours). The Wild Heart isn't.

Oddly enough, I bought Bella Donna before Wild Heart during the summer of 1983 even though Wild Heart was on the charts and I was going to Stevie's solo concert that summer. I did not buy Wild Heart until Dec 1983.
It really is a brilliant album and flawless. The writing, the singing, the music.

As I've said a thousand times, it sounds like The Eagles are her backing band.

Too bad $he strayed from that sound. :lol:

The last great California rock album of the classic era. She would hold it together for Mirage and then the slide would begin.:distress:

I love that album. Her voice now is so bad compared to this style of singing. Even the song writing is a disaster compared to her early work.

Bella Donna set the bar so high on quality- it got everything right although so many other great songs of the era went into the vault. An amazing album start to finish. Her solo career careened off a cliff 2 or so odd years later when she became overwhelmed with her worst excesses. As with many devoted fans she lost me several times over the years and I haven't seen her live solo since 1991. But I remain a fan because of this album and some of the highlights on the others. The Wild Heart features some of her very best vocals, oddly enough with Gate and Garden a solo career highpoint.

You know you have a great album when gems like Gold and Braid are on the cutting room floor as left overs. She could have put Sleeping Angel, Smile At You and even Gypsy on the album. Good grief, could you imagine if she made a double album at this time with all the left overs? She was on top of her game vocally and also in physical looks.
Another group that reminds me of the summer of 1981 is Foreigner with 2 monster hits Urgent and Waiting For A Girl Like You. Bella Donna would have stayed at #1 longer but there just was too much good music that everyone needed a time at #1.

and yet none of those surfaced on Wild Heart, Rock A Little, Other Side of the Mirror.......

That and she has become so detached from reality that she can't distinguish if something is good or not. Show Them the Way is dreadful and she thinks it is great. She really should just retire.

I agree that Wild Heart has the best vocals. She absolutely soars. If you’d just asked me, I would not have said that Gate and Garden was the high point. But now that you said it I cannot deny the perfection of the “do I love you” segments. I just don’t think of them first. I think of the title track first.

I hate the song Gate and Garden. IMHO it always ruined the flow of the album. However I see why it made the album. Her vocal is incredible and Roy's playing makes it a bouncy cute song. Its arranged pretty well too. I just never could get into it. I still hate it though and would have put 10 other songs in its place.

Gate and Garden sneaks up on you. Not my "go to", but I really appreciate how good it is now.