Quote:
Originally Posted by secret love
I don't disagree with you. I think it's hard to deny that the band sounded and looked much better in the seventies and eighties than they do now. Well I guess Mick and John look different but their playing probably sounds exactly the same as it did thirty or forty years ago.
There are parts of The Dance that I think are exceptional, like Silver Springs, Bleed to Love Her, Say You Love Me, Tusk and Don't Stop with the USC Marching Band. Temporary One is a really fun song and the band's 1997 performances of Rhiannon were probably the last ones to have some real spirit and energy. Live in Boston 2003 showed the start of Stevie's decline in vocal quality but Stand Back and Silver Springs were great... I really enjoyed Second Hand News and Don't Stop from that DVD too.
There is certainly a lot more the band could do to strengthen their legacy, like you said, remastering and re-releasing filmed performances from the seventies and eighties on Blu-Ray disc and DVD. These remastered releases could coincide with the release of a new album and an On With the Show Tour DVD.
I read recently that Stevie had agreed with an interviewer that she sings better now than she did in the seventies and that she could teach voice. Well, she definitely could teach voice but she definitely does not sound better than she did in the seventies. I was, still, amazed by the quality of her vocal on 24 Karat Gold - Songs from the Vault: Blue Water, Cathouse Blues, 24 Karat Gold, All the Beautiful Worlds and Belle Fleur especially offer great vocal performances by her. Still, if you're looking for a knockout Stevie Nicks country song, That's Alright blows Cathouse Blues out of the water.
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Definitely with regard to band rapport (The Dance)...don't forget Landslide, which was another big moment and was Stevie's definitive performance of the song. It's just not exceptional in the way it was filmed or staged, that's what I meant. I'm particularly fond of Tusk from Live in Boston played uptempo, and Beautiful Child (finally they played it!!)...both were wonderful live performances. The audience was really into that show--the band got a great reception.
Stevie's voice on the Tusk tour was just perfect. Recordings of Sara then were sublime and ethereal (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IVCtdQke-w). I just downloaded Dreams from the Rumours Tour and it sounds great. So maybe Stevie's a better technical singer now and still has her tone, but her range and the quality of her upper notes put her up there with the great all-time female rock voices. I really wish that I was alive then and could have seen her perform at her peak these essential songs. I think Storms would also count as a knock-out country song, right?