The Wild Heart... what is the big deal with this CD?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by David

I agree with trackaghost. I remember what a rush this album was because it was so vocally confident & rapturous. If you first heard that title track when it was new, you had never heard anything like that vocal from Stevie Nicks. (You already had poignant hints of it on the Fleetwood Mac tour that happened bfore "The Wild Heart.") Stevie was spreading her wings & flying on the newfound confidence of having scored with "Bella Donna" & her fans were flying along with her. They played "Stand Back" on the radio just before Stevie's appearance at the US Festival, & the Macheads all wanted to go to that US Festival to see her. There really was electricity in the air, & it carried through the summer as we all got to see her solo, playing cavernous sports arenas (for essentially the first time by herself). Jim Ladd "innerviewed" her that summer & a lot of us Macheads went down to KMET to camp out & wait for her. The whole shebang was in love with Stevie Nicks -- she said in interviews back then that "My audiences & I are all in love," & it was true!

In more specific terms, the album has a lot of the flaws that her solo albums all have: in terms of instrumentation, arrangement & production, it's mainstream & mundane. I can't think of a single work by the L.A. studio session scene that has left any important mark musically as an aesthetic milestone. Rock & roll is a band scene, not a hire-guys-for-their-chops scene.

The real beauty of "The Wild Heart" is Stevie's singing. Her songwriting is pretty wild, too, & appealing because if you're still 33 years old & you look like a million bucks in your chiffon & custom plats, your incoherent, weird, feverish fantasies & schoolgirl ideas of mysticism actually hit home pretty powerfully.

Bless you for this - ITA - I was not in Calif. I was about 15 years old and living in Lafayette, Louisiana. People there were camped outside of Raccoon Records, there were really no HMV's then :lazugh: - the night before to get this record. That is how popular she was then. When I got it, I reveled in the high notes she pierced unflinchinly as well as the groovy artwork and romantic undertones. I remember going to NYC with my parents soon thereafter and people were humming Stand Back in the hotel as it was playing over the speakers. I remember her coming in concert and I could not go and me and a few of my friends being HEARTBROKEN after failing to convince out teacher to let us take the test at another time instead of the day after the concert.

I think WH was the end of an era for her and I loved having been able to have lived through that and witnessed it.

Thus, I love the record and take it for what it is. BD is, however, my favorite.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by GateandGarden

Do you think that "Gate and Garden" is more dated or more of a revisit to Bella Donna?

"Gate & Garden" is the BD revisit...well, actually, I think it's the "missing link" between Bella Donna & Rock A Little...it sounds like it could've been on either album. But, then Rock A Little had "Some Become Strangers" which sounds like "Gate & Garden PART TWO" already.

Actually, I should've mentioned G&G, too...so, I basically listen to Wild Heart for THREE songs, not just the two I mentioned previously.

[GateandGarden]

Originally Posted by chiliD

"Gate & Garden" is the BD revisit...well, actually, I think it's the "missing link" between Bella Donna & Rock A Little...it sounds like it could've been on either album. But, then Rock A Little had "Some Become Strangers" which sounds like "Gate & Garden PART TWO" already.

Actually, I should've mentioned G&G, too...so, I basically listen to Wild Heart for THREE songs, not just the two I mentioned previously.

Interesting! Thanks! *goes to find RAL to listen to "Some Become Strangers" again*

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by dissention

It's fabulous. So lush and so beautiful.

Cute. I also love this song (Sable on Blonde) and this album. I guess you sort of have to be a romantic type to like it. Maybe not but that's my gut reaction on this one. And I once had the experience of being so in love with someone that I could not be with and it was "don't blame it on me, blame it on my wild heart". I think I really got it then.

Diss, I also used to hate BATB but I can appreciate it now. I would love to see the Jean Cocteau film that she was inspired by. I love her little demo where she tells the story of seeing this film and then sings the song.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Cute. I also love this song (Sable on Blonde) and this album. I guess you sort of have to be a romantic type to like it. Maybe not but that's my gut reaction on this one. And I once had the experience of being so in love with someone that I could not be with and it was "don't blame it on me, blame it on my wild heart". I think I really got it then.

Diss, I also used to hate BATB but I can appreciate it now. I would love to see the Jean Cocteau film that she was inspired by. I love her little demo where she tells the story of seeing this film and then sings the song.

Heeee, I'm not romantic. :P

The Cocteau film is great, I just can't stand the song. I hate when she starts bleating "Where is my beast?" and "Oooh, La Bete," drives me batty. I don't care for it at all and am so glad she doesn't do it live anymore.

[amber]

Originally Posted by dissention

Heeee, I'm not romantic. :P

The Cocteau film is great, I just can't stand the song. I hate when she starts bleating "Where is my beast?" and "Oooh, La Bete," drives me batty. I don't care for it at all and am so glad she doesn't do it live anymore.

Everything you just said is so wrong for so many reasons. Bleating Stevie is best! almost as good as screaming Stevie. I consider that song a strange, wonderful, vocal masterpiece. *blllllppbbbbbbtttt*

[Somajoseph]

The big deal about The Wild Heart is that it was Stevie's follow up to Bella Donna, which established her, instantly, as a huge solo act.
Back in 1983 FM radio wasnt the corporate thing it is now, and I remember hearing "Enchanted", "I Will Run To You", "Nightbird", "If Anyone Falls", "Stand Back" and "Nothing Ever Changes" on the radio all the time.
In alot of ways it was more exciting because we heard so much of the album on the radio. And she was on the road for her first extended solo tour. I saw one of the first Wild Heart shows out in the desert with 100,000 other people at the US Festival outside Los Angeles. That was a show I'll never forget.
SO there was certainly alot of exposure with both the tour and the album.

Joseph

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Somajoseph

The big deal about The Wild Heart is that it was Stevie's follow up to Bella Donna, which established her, instantly, as a huge solo act.
Back in 1983 FM radio wasnt the corporate thing it is now, and I remember hearing "Enchanted", "I Will Run To You", "Nightbird", "If Anyone Falls", "Stand Back" and "Nothing Ever Changes" on the radio all the time.
In alot of ways it was more exciting because we heard so much of the album on the radio. And she was on the road for her first extended solo tour. I saw one of the first Wild Heart shows out in the desert with 100,000 other people at the US Festival outside Los Angeles. That was a show I'll never forget.
SO there was certainly alot of exposure with both the tour and the album.

Joseph

I could not have said it any better and am soooooo jealous that you saw the US Festival

[Nixxxed]

Originally Posted by Somajoseph

The big deal about The Wild Heart is that it was Stevie's follow up to Bella Donna, which established her, instantly, as a huge solo act.
Back in 1983 FM radio wasnt the corporate thing it is now, and I remember hearing "Enchanted", "I Will Run To You", "Nightbird", "If Anyone Falls", "Stand Back" and "Nothing Ever Changes" on the radio all the time.
In alot of ways it was more exciting because we heard so much of the album on the radio. And she was on the road for her first extended solo tour. I saw one of the first Wild Heart shows out in the desert with 100,000 other people at the US Festival outside Los Angeles. That was a show I'll never forget.
SO there was certainly alot of exposure with both the tour and the album.

Joseph

Yes! The rock station in Houston (RIP 97-Rock!) played those, with NEC, SB, and "Enchanted" in heavy rotation. PLUS they sometimes played "Violet and Blue" and "Blue Lamp", and a few times played "Sleeping Angel" on their weekly dedication show. (awwwwww ... )

This was also the station that played the radio show versions of the Bella Donna and Mirage concerts when they originally aired, and then again the weekend before TWH concert as a promo for the show.

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I could not have said it any better and am soooooo jealous that you saw the US Festival

Hey, babe, I still have my tee-shirt from that night. It doesn't fit me and is ragged as hell....

The Wild Heart was the zenith of Stevie's voice (HELLO!!! "Enchanted" !!!!!). She never reclaimed its power after that. I directly attribute it to the cigarette smoking.... Idiot!!!

[GateandGarden]

Originally Posted by dissention

Heeee, I'm not romantic. :P

The Cocteau film is great, I just can't stand the song. I hate when she starts bleating "Where is my beast?" and "Oooh, La Bete," drives me batty. I don't care for it at all and am so glad she doesn't do it live anymore.

I have to agree with you there. I don't like any of the live performances. When she shifts into overdrive, I can't take it anymore.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

TWH is tied with TISL as my second favorite Stevie album. (Bella Donna is first).

I absolutely adore "Beauty and the Beast." ( Diss). I love the strings, and if I'm in the right mood, it can move me to tears. "Sable on Blond" is her best vocal on the album and features some of her best lyrics ever.

Ditto to all of the above.

[CrystalVisions]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I think WH was the end of an era for her and I loved having been able to have lived through that and witnessed it.

Thus, I love the record and take it for what it is. BD is, however, my favorite.

I totally agree with this ~ and couldn't of said it better myself! I, too, think it was the end of an era for her. I think the drugs really started to get in the way after 'The Wild Heart,' although I know there were times on the 'The Wild Heart' tour that you could tell it was getting a little out-of-hand. But I think the songs changed a bit after this record, the mood, and even her appearance. It was just different.

[CrystalVisions]

Originally Posted by David

The whole shebang was in love with Stevie Nicks -- she said in interviews back then that "My audiences & I are all in love," & it was true!

The real beauty of "The Wild Heart" is Stevie's singing. Her songwriting is pretty wild, too, & appealing because if you're still 33 years old & you look like a million bucks in your chiffon & custom plats, your incoherent, weird, feverish fantasies & schoolgirl ideas of mysticism actually hit home pretty powerfully.

You said it perfectly, David ~ I remember it so well, and that's exactly how it was...so many of my friends at that time were into Pat Benetar's look and songs, and nothing against Pat (she's great), but I was like, 'how could you not like those chiffon dresses, those boots, that hair, and those beautiful songs sung by that voice?' I was the only one where I lived walking around with 'Stevie hair' back then...and now, lol.

[xxxmx]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

I also used to hate BATB but I can appreciate it now... I love her little demo where she tells the story of seeing this film and then sings the song.

I like this demo, but my fave is the simple piano demo. I think it's going around on Piano Demos Disc 1. The vocals are much more delicate, there's not as much 'bleating' and there's certainly not as much cocaine.

also, singing along with BATB drunk is fabtastic...
my band will have a rad cover of this recorded soon. if you don't like the original, you'll looove the cover!