Bella Donna & Wild Heart= End of Story!

[mitzo]

Unlike most, I found it hard to appreciate Stevie's solo work on BD and WH with a few exceptions. BD is really marred by songs that sound dull and amateurish IMO due to muddy, irritating production - a lot of it sounds she is mumbling and hollering through a blanket in a windstorm. WH is better, but it is only Nightbird, Stand back, and BATB that do it for me - they have a quality that is lacking on the rest. I was intrigued and hooked by Stevie and her FM songs and found her solo work to be somehow cheaper and sloppier in overall quality, much of the mytique and allure was drowned under dull instrumentation/arrangement and puzzling song choices. In all her solo albums I have found a few great tracks but most of it I can only listen to when I am in a certain space. I have always wished she's stop trying to "rock" and do more compelling ballads, which is where she shines, I think. FM stuff like Storms, GDW, Gypsy, even 7 Wonders, is unique and haunting, some (not all eg. EO17) of her solo midtempo and rocker work is borderline.