25 years of "Trouble In Shangri-La"

[sorcerer999]

Tomorrow is the 25th Anniversary of "Trouble In Shangri-La"! How do we all feel about this album 25 years later, in regard to where it fits in her discography? This was Stevie's big "come back" solo record after the flop that was "Street Angel" and after the hugely successful Fleetwood Mac reunion in '97 and the solo "Enchanted" tour in '98.

I remember waiting in line at Tower Records right before midnight on 4/30 going into 5/1. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday. Other times, it seems so far away, especially when you factor in all the major world events that have happened in between then and now.

I wore the HELL out of that record for at least three years after it was released. And after that, a lot of the songs were still in heavy rotation within my various mix tapes for another 6 or 7 years. For the past 10 to 15 years, though, I have only really listened to the whole of it, start to finish, maybe once a year - always in mid December - it's become a bit of a yearly tradition to listen to all of it when I do all my Christmas wrapping. The title track and the vault songs (Candlebright, Sorcerer and Planets) are all still pretty solid, as well as Fall From Grace. But really, that's pretty much it for me.

I used to enjoy Bombay Sapphires and Love Is quite a bit back in the day, but ever since I heard the original, far superior piano demo of Love Is, I just can't enjoy the studio version as much. Same for Bombay - the original version that made it on the acetate version of the record before it was re-recorded with Macy Gray is also so much better. They should have just left that one "as is".

I remember loving the visual imagery of the "Every Day" video with the swans, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the song.

"Sorcerer", a song that I STILL love and adore to this day (hence my screen name) had an awesome video, but it was a bummer that they used the poorly edited "single version" instead of the whole song. All those painfully obvious/jumpy edits are a distraction, in my opinion.

I was bummed there wasn't a video for "Planets", because if ANY song on that album deserved a trippy, witchy video, it was that one. A total missed opportunity. I was happy that one of the club mixes went to number one on the dance charts, though.

I thought the tour was great. I saw her three times - once before 9/11 and twice after.

I also feel that, had 9/11 not happened, maybe we would have gotten a longer US tour - she had also planned on touring overseas but of course that wasn't going to happen after the tragedy in NYC and going into a war. Had it not happened, maybe the album promotion would have gone on a little bit longer as well with another music video or two. Who knows?

Nothing has ever topped the "Fab Four" solo albums from the 80's for me, and I still really enjoy quite a lot of songs from "In Your Dreams" and "24 Karat Gold" as well, so I guess "TISL" ranks at number seven for me these days, just one slot above "Street Angel". And while it doesn't sound as dated as "The Other Side of the Mirror", it still possesses a lackluster "adult contemporary" quality within half the songs on the record that just don't evoke that atmospheric "Stevie Nicks" aesthetic that the 80's albums did, regardless of whether some of those earlier tracks sound more antiquated in this day and age. And the worst songs on "TISL" really are the worst of the worst on any Stevie solo album in my opinion - both lyrically and musically. "Love Changes", "I Miss You", "Every Day" and I won't even go into "That Made Me Stronger". LOL

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this one now that a quarter of a century has passed? I know this whole site and specifically this forum is drastically different than it was when I was frequenting it and posting regularly 10 to 15 years ago and has become more of a "let's sh*t on Stevie" space, so please, if you're going to reply, be respectful. Thanks!

[mylittledemon]

Ahh, the memories

I remember going to buy it the morning it was released, and I grabbed two copies; one for me and one for my work-friend Angela.

I still like the album as much as I did back then, though I confess I haven't listened to it in quite some time. (I'll have to throw it on at work tomorrow!) If I remember rightly I enjoyed almost all the tracks, except for maybe Candlebright and It's Only Love... I don't think I ever quite warmed to the latter.

Wow... 25 years. Twenty. Five. Years.

[Macfan4life]

Released just months before the world would change forever. Gosh I remember going to the NicksFix for years checking on the status of the album. I remember buying it online and they gave you a download of the album before it was shipped to you. I was definitely disappointed with the album. Many songs have the same vibe, same beat, and similar drum track. IMHO its way overproduced. But I love the title track, Love Is, and Bombay Sapphires. Everything else is meh. I hate Everyday and That Made Me Stronger.
But summer of 2001 hearing Planets in South Beach's hottest clubs was a moment in time that I will never forget. I remember the album debuting at #5 which was a big deal back then. It was from all of the pre-order online sales. Tour opened in Pittsburgh with Sheryl Crow. Stevie was in NYC for 9/11. Shadow of a stranger.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by sorcerer999

For the past 10 to 15 years, though, I have only really listened to the whole of it, start to finish, maybe once a year -

Well you listen to it much more than me. Not that I was disappointed, I think it's a good album but it just confirmed I have never been a Mac solo works fan, except for OOTC, that's the only album I can say I really love. Then In The Meantime was the last album I bought, I liked to even more than Christine's '84 album, but again not crazy about it. The later albums... I copied them from friends or just listen to them thru YouTube.

And in this case the TISL title track is the only song I often listen to. But the Enchanted box set has a very good collection of songs, I do listen to it often. Anyway I was happy TISL was better than her latest solo albums. I felt she kept in good shape physically but specially mentally. It was my perception based on her songs quality.

I had not related TISL with the 2001 events (shocking moments that day, I have relatives living in NJ but my cousin (journalist) worked in NYC, he didn't return home for 3 days, he slept at office, etc.). But when I listened to "What's the World Coming To?" two years later, no doubt I knew what it was about, or that's what I felt even though the lyrics are not directly related to 9/11.

[Macfan4life]

What a crazy 25 years it has been. The previous 25 years were a cakewalk. This past quarter century how many wars?, market crashes, epidemics, election chaos, political violence, terrorist attacks, climate disasters. Its been a horrific 25 years. I wonder what the next 25 years will bring.
BTW, Stevie still going at it.

[cbBen]

It's no Bella Donna, but it's a strong album – better than all her other solo albums with the exception of the first and maybe the second (and that's only because of "Stand Back").

The title track proved she still had writing chops.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

What a crazy 25 years it has been. The previous 25 years were a cakewalk. This past quarter century how many wars?, market crashes, epidemics, election chaos, political violence, terrorist attacks, climate disasters. Its been a horrific 25 years. I wonder what the next 25 years will bring.

There have definitely been world events that have plagued the world this century, but it's difficult to compare. I know you mean mainly in the US, or that's how I understand it, and I respect your point. But the world never has never stopped suffering. About the last quarter of the 20th century, I remember during the Pol Pot’s Kampuchea dictatorship (75-79) 1.5 to 2 million people were killed, including lot of babies (do a research how they did it, I prefer not to write it here). I must admit it was much crueler than the events we suffered here in Peru during the terrorism (80s to early 90s) years.

During the same quarter there have been also civil wars in Mozambique, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and many more countries. And among the events that affected the occident, there was the Lockerbie bombing, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (and subsequent civil war), the Iran-Iraq War, the Pan Am (Lockerbie) bombing, the IRA in the UK, ETA in Spain, the Iranian Embassy hostage crisis, the hijacking of the plane in Entebbe, the Oklahoma City bombing, civil wars in Salvador and Nicaragua, 30,000 disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, AIDS and the world reaction to it. I guess none of that was a cakewalk.

I don’t underrate this century sad events. In fact, I personally consider the 9/11 event as a turning point, just like the pandemic. But again, I think it’s complicated to compare, because each thing affects each person/society differently. After centuries of mankind history, I always wonder how much of all this happens because it's in the essence of humans.

[BLY]

It is in ways hard to believe it’s been 25 years. I still rank this at the top of her solo releases. The title track is amazing with the best vocals. This is my ranking but I do like it all….
TISL
Planets
Fall From Grace
Sorcerer
Too Far From Texas
Candlebright
Bombay Sapphires
I Miss you
Love Is
Love Changes
Every Day
It’s Only Love
That Made Me Stronger

[mitzo]

TISL is to me very much a product of its time. It was Stevie's comeback and she and her team seem to have tried very hard to cover as many bases as possible. The songs are across the map in terms of genre and production, and the recruitment of help from Sheryl, Natalie, Macy, and Sarah yielded uneven results. Sheryl's production bugs me in most cases, too harsh with Stevie's new hard low flat vocals. Speaking of which, this was the first album with her new coached vocals and that diminished the emotional impact of a lot of the songs. All in all, a very controlled and cautious Stevie album with a couple of standout gems. Interesting that it took her ten years to make another one.

[Villavic]

She looked as beautiful as she had at The Dance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXw1OTqxTzy/