[On Ice]

It's May, the month of many releases in Stevie's discography. This time, the Other Side of the Mirror hits 32 (32 ?!) released on May 11, 1989. Not to repeat the wonderful analysis of the group on You Tube, feel free to weigh in on her "Magic" album.

My thoughts, the strength of a few key tracks were not enough to carry the weaker ones and was a let down for many casual fans. Although, I feel Rooms on Fire is up there with singles, it's in every way wonderful and was picked up by non-Stevie radio stations and was popular in the UK. It set the bar incredibly high and Stevie and Rupert just could not pull off an entire album so strong. That said, some real gems after Rooms, Long Way to Go, the amazing Ooh My Love, and Escape from Berlin (love that title, so Stevie), second tier were Ghosts, Whole Lotta Trouble and Alice/Juliet (one song was enough of that couplet) but again atrocious covers, missed out on some really great songs, Julia would've fit nicely wink/nudge and All the Beautiful Worlds. Ending the album with Blue Water. Stevie doing covers except for Stop Draggin my Heart Around, was not one of her stronger points as a solo artist.

Final Verdict- I enjoyed it like all of her releases at the time. It has held up on the really strong tracks and she was in far better voice than Rock a Little.