Wild Heart 2.0
 

I was never a fan of the Wild Heart album as a whole. I recently made a playlist with a few things removed/replaced. Some may consider my omissions a class A Stevie felony...

Side A
Wild Heart
If Anyone Falls
Violet & Blue
Enchanted
Nightbird

Side B
Stand Back
Nothing Ever Changes
Battle of the Dragon
Sleeping Angel
All The Beautiful Worlds

I can dig it with 2 changes.
Install the deluxe alternate version of Wild Heart as the title track
Axe Nightbird for the deluxe alternate version of Sable on Blonde with an edited ending

Wow, I can’t imagine TWH without Beauty and the Beast, and I love I Will Run to You. I do not know All the Beautiful Worlds so I have no idea how well it would fit on the album. Battle of the Dragon, for me, would fit better on Rock a Little.

Do you not like the songs you took off TWH, or do you just think they don’t fit with the album? Beauty and the Beast became such a concert staple for awhile, it’s just really hard to imagine it being left off the album.

There's nothing wrong with I Will Run to You, I just like some of the other tracks left off a little bit better. Same for Sable.

Because the production of the album is driven quite a bit by synths, I always felt BATB didn't quite fit with the rest of the album. I was aiming to keep up the momentum throughout the entire album.

Gate & Garden was always a head scratcher to me. It just seems so obviously not at the same level as the other tracks kicking around at the time. Especially for the second track of side A!

I've come to realize that TWH is My favorite album. I don't know why in particular but I enjoy this every time I play it. Yes Gate and Garden is the dud, but when it kicks in at the end I really like it. I think this album was her break up album with Jimmy Iovine and a lot of the songs are about their relationship. Except for the gorgeous B&TB which was about Mick. This album was all about the drama of love

Gate and Garden has an incredible vocal along with Roy's incredible piano playing. It sounds great together but the song does not fit on the album. I think Jimmy was going for more adult contemporary to increase sales which sort of backfired. Bella Donna was huge for its guitar based rock roots.
There are some incredible tracks but I too sometimes feel underwhelmed by the album. Gate and Garden and Nightbird have to go. I would even include Garbo. The album needed a little acoustic guitar. The title track is ok but needs to be more uptempo like the alternate version. The ending of the song on the album is a weird fade out. It seems Jimmy had trouble with this track. The alternate version is so much better but she is a bit rushed. There needed to be a take between the album version and the alternate version. How All The Beautiful Worlds was not included on the album is a real head scratcher.

My ideal Wild Heart album is a little weird, but it would have sold 10 million. In some cases, the songs needed a lot of work, but the possibilities were endless as long as the right people were around.

Side A
Stand Back
Julia
Nothing Ever Changes
Sleeping Angel
All the Beautiful Worlds

Side B
Wild Heart
Candlebright
Smile at You
Sable on Blond
Golden Braid
Destiny


B-sides
If Anyone Falls
Garbo

I used to know this stuff like the back of my hand, but now I don’t remember. Did she record versions of destiny and smile at you during the wild heart sessions? That would be interesting by to hear!

Without Nightbird, Sable on Blonde, and Beauty and the Beast, the album is basically a throwaway.

Destiny, yes - you can find it on YouTube. Smile At You - not as far as I know. She seems to have thought of that as a Mac song, since as far as I know the only outtakes of it are from Tusk and Mirage before it was finally released on SYW.

"My heart, My heart, My heart was...broken!"
"Flaming, Flaming, Flaming...!" Smile at You! (Angry Version):]

I thought Sandy Stewart played the piano on Gate and Garden? Roy did Enchanted and Beauty and the Beast, no?

WHAT?! Have you heard the 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault album? It's the best song on that album, along with Watch Chain.

Yes you are correct.
I take back my incredible piano part :)

That 24k Gold version is horrible.
The original that was recorded in 1982 is the best. Not sure why they included an alternate vocal for the deluxe Wild Heart though.