[RockALittle250]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

We should be so lucky if Stevie had the work ethic of Madonna, who is not exactly a spring chicken either. In addition to releasing a new studio album and touring every few years, she has released live albums, live DVDs, produced a documentary movie, and somehow she finds the time to go to Africa to adopt kids while maintaining 2% bodyfat and a commercial modeling career. And God knows what charities she has also worked for. Meanwhile, on the Stevie front, all I hear are crickets. Admittedly, I don't know anything about Stevie's day-to-day work for her causes, but I suspect that it is not exactly a 24/7 commitment; she hasn't even done an AHI benefit concert in several years. Stevie is not a heart surgeon or a nurse; Stevie's gift to the world is her song and her voice. And if her mission in life was to bring comfort and joy to the hurting/needy, she should be recording more beautiful music, and THEN download it onto iPods. I think it's one thing if she was the type of reclusive artist who released new music once every decade or so (e.g., Sade, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, etc.) and then practically disappearing in the intervening years. My problem with Stevie is that she is just so blatantly mining the archives for gold and constantly re-selling the same material over and over. So she maintains a constant public profile, tours incessantly and releases new "compilations," but doesn't do anything new at all. I just don't find that respectable. Others in her age bracket- Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, etc. have been consistently releasing new material in recent years. Hell, even Joni Mitchell retired and then came out of retirement since the last Stevie solo album. It's not like Stevie has retired from music or that her singing ability has suddenly fallen off of a cliff. So what is her excuse? Hmmm....

Stevie isn't one of those artists who releases compilation albums like "The Ultimate Collection" or "Greatest Hits Volume 3" like alot of other artists out there. Under Reprise, she has released one studio album, one compilation album, and soon, one live album. So she's not continually releasing the same versions of the same songs over and over. Fleetwood Mac on the other hand is, because they are, as we know, re-releasing Rumours once again. Stevie cannot be compared to other artists because she works at a pace that is her own, and she has balanced two careers for almost 30 years. Plus, we don't know how her label feels about her doing another studio album. They might feel that her name alone is no longer big enough to carry a new studio album, and therefore, have discouraged her from doing one.