Quote:
Originally Posted by David
I hate this album. I have always hated this album. The engineering is the worst of any Nicks project from 1981 to the present. Everything about the album screams trash and vulgarity — even the hand-tinting of the cover photograph. I’m amazed at the glowing response the album gets from the fan base. It’s Stevie’s fairy album, they’ve been saying for years. People actually like the trashy keyboards and shlocky sounds. I would call it adult contemporary, except that it never sounded contemporary and didn’t remotely pass as adult.
The handful of good songs are destroyed by the band, the singing, and the production.
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I can get into this album and enjoy it, but I totally get what you are saying. When I see that album insert picture of her and Rupert Hine gazing deep into each other's eyes, it makes me think she was captivated by HIM, and that blinded her to how inadequate the production was. She thought HE was magical, so that automatically made the music magical too.
When I listen to this album, part of my enjoyment is "fixing" it in my mind to make it better. Like the pedestrian keyboard sequence throughout "Two Kinds of Love" needs to be catapulted into outer space. "Whole Lotta Trouble" had a good feeling in the verses and needed a total reconstruction of the chorus. "Ooh My Love" needed to keep some cool elements that are in that bad-quality demo that has circulated for a long time.
I contrast this album with Billy Idol's 1986 album
Whiplash Smile, which I have been listening to a lot lately in amazement at how thoroughly satisfying the production is. Even on the songs that aren't strong melodically, it always SOUNDS terrific. That is difference that production makes, and
The Other Side of the Mirror is lacking there.