Street Angel and In Your Dreams - A Comparison

[WideSargassoSea]

I realize this might be an unpopular opinion, but it's been buzzing around in my head since I first heard the In Your Dreams stream last week. People keep comparing Trouble In Shangri-La to its successor in the Stevie catalog, and I've enjoyed those debates...

...however, I think In Your Dreams reminds me the most of Street Angel.

*cue gasps from The Ledge*

Now, hear me out:

"For What It's Worth" was the first song I listened to from the new LP, and I kept going back to it because it reminded me of something else Stevie had done. It plagued me for a few days until my iPod was on shuffle and "Rose Garden" came on. I hadn't listened to that song all the way through in about five years, but I could not help but think it was "For What It's Worth's" sonic older cousin. The folksy, sing-songy sweetness is the selling point of both tracks.

This of course sent me into Stevie overdrive and I came up with the following comparisons in addition to the above:

1) "In Your Dreams" is this album's "Blue Denim": the rocking, Stevie-penned song that should have been the first single. (No offense to "Secret Love;" some offense to "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" )

2) The opening of "Street Angel" is equally as jarring coming out of "Greta" as "Soldier's Angel" is coming out of "Annabel Lee" (or "My Heart," depending on your version). Lindsey is a far more effective harmonic foil for Stevie than David Crosby, but...both songs are coincidentally about angels, albeit of different kinds, and feature prominent male vocals.

3) "Moonlight" incorporates the majority of "Lady From The Mountains," one of the most beloved Stevie demos/outtakes, then expands upon the theme to great success. "Love Is Like a River" does similarly (to a lesser extent) with "I Call You Missing" and...well, let's just say I prefer my muddy demo of the latter. ** See also: the wholesale lyric borrowing of "Destiny"/"Enchanted."

4) The production of both albums is very bright. I love Trouble In Shangri-La because it has that distinct "heavy yet polished"/John Shanks/1999-2000 sound. Street Angel and In Your Dreams come from entirely different "timespaces" (to coin a phrase), but they both sound timeless, bright, airy and more...acoustic, for a lack of a better word.

I'm sure if Stevie saw this post, she'd send me to a psychiatrist for a heavy dose of Klonopin, but I had to point it out. In Your Dreams is leagues greater than Street Angel simply because there are no mentions of "laundromats" or "forgotten chimpanzees," and it's quickly giving Rock A Little a run for its money as my #2 favorite Stevie album of all time.