Bella Donna and The Wild Heart remastered and reissued, due out November 4th

[Nick]

Can't wait until tomorrow!!!

[Danielle]

OMG! I could cry from so much beauty. I hope the people who can express themselves will put into words just how amazing these albums are.

[APerfectLie]

I will be listening to the albums tomorrow, but I just had to listen to Sable on Blond before I head to bed and OMG! I love the album version, but the alternate is sooooo good! And it doesn't have the cheesy intro! This alone was worth it.

[SorcererJP]

They were on Spotify at midnight and I did a quick listen to a few songs. Was half a sleep, so will dive into them on my commuting traidride to work the next hour ...

Sable on Blond as well as Sorcerer sounded great!

[StreetAngel86]

sorry y'all
i'm drunk on good ol' Blue Lamp love



SABLE ON BLOND(e)

bloody hell
i don't like the background vocals at the beginning
but the main part of the song ... delicious


SORCERER

in the mirror of your dreams
omg

goodbye

[Phil]

As stated earlier, both editions are wonderful but for me, The Wild Heart contains the more solid collection of bonus tracks.
"I Sing For The Things" features a buoyant arrangement, nicely contrasted with a heartfelt, desolate vocal. The refrain of "anything - my love" is simply gorgeous.
"Sable On Blond" begins similarly to the Marilyn Martin version of "Sorcerer" with tinkling piano. It's almost epic, resplendent with exquisite piano fills throughout.
"All The Beautiful Worlds" features a more confident vocal than the demo we're used to and could well be the finished version rumoured to have been in consideration for the b-side of "Nightbird". The tempo during the chorus is far more satisfying than the slowed-down dirge on 24KG.
On "Sorcerer", Stevie doesn't attempt a falsetto vocal during the verses but nevertheless, she sounds fabulous throughout.
"Dial The Number" begins amusingly in almost Disney-esque fashion, but it's definitely the best version I've heard to date, featuring a supple, delicious vocal as opposed to the moanings from 1988.
Stevie's vocal on "Are You Mine" sounds more RAL era than 1983, but it's intimate and nicely executed.
When I first heard the "Wild Heart" session, I was disappointed but it's growing on me. It's undoubtedly a ragged vocal from Stevie but it's also an insight into how such a complex arrangement eventually came together.
I've always been a fan of "Violet & Blue" and "Garbo" so these round out the disc rather well. What a splendid affair!!

[Phil Lee]

Mine just arrived.

[DauphineMarie]

The very first chord of the alternate Sable on Blond sent chills down my spine... I've already listened to it several times, and is by far my favourite song from both albums... WOW!!!

[Josh2003]

Can anyone share what the album art/liner notes look like? Did she write little blurbs about each song?

I'm still torn between buying the hard copies or just the iTunes download. My Macbook doesn't have a disc drive, so getting the songs from the discs to my computer and phone is so much easier if I just download from iTunes and share between my devices.

[24karatstevie]

Listening to Bella Donna on Spotify right now! I'm going to wait until I'm back from my show to order the discs but I'm loving what I'm hearing so far. I actually really like this version of The Dealer! Haven't finished listening to all of The Wild Heart yet but since Sable on Blond is probably my favorite Stevie solo song I just had to hear that first! I'm in love with it!!! The opening is so beautiful and Stevie's vocals sound phenomenal! This version may surpass the album version for me

[deribish]

The album art has a TON of words. It's like a multi page essay. very excited to read it. BD has a ton of cover outtakes. Wild heart is that dull pink and tan color and doesnt really have standout art. BUT, it's nothing like Christopher would have designed. they are BOTH really nice... but compared to the TUSK reissue (an A+), Bella Donna is a B+ and Wilheart is barely a B-

But the essays are AMAZING!! Sable on Blonde is about her hair mixing with Jimmy's. That's quite the nugget of fandom!!

[dreamsunwind]

is anyone willing to post scans of the text and the art and liner notes and all that? pretty please?

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by deribish

The album art has a TON of words. It's like a multi page essay. very excited to read it. BD has a ton of cover outtakes. Wild heart is that dull pink and tan color and doesnt really have standout art. BUT, it's nothing like Christopher would have designed. they are BOTH really nice... but compared to the TUSK reissue (an A+), Bella Donna is a B+ and Wilheart is barely a B-

But the essays are AMAZING!! Sable on Blonde is about her hair mixing with Jimmy's. That's quite the nugget of fandom!!

The liner notes are fantastic. It's like reading a few chapters in an official biography. I really do believe her now when she says things like, we don't know the whole story, things like "the feather that it was" being inspired by Sulamith Wulfing and Robin. She slowly reveals a little bit more about each song with each interview, each year that passes.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by SpyNote

The liner notes are fantastic. It's like reading a few chapters in an official biography.

I totally agree with this.

[sorcerer999]

Originally Posted by deribish

But the essays are AMAZING!! Sable on Blonde is about her hair mixing with Jimmy's. That's quite the nugget of fandom!!

I know!!! That and the Sulamith picture that inspired her are like fitting the last few remaining puzzle pieces that create the whole picture. I'm SOOOO ready for her autobiography...and if not an autobiography, then at least a book recounting the inspiration for each song. That, in and of itself, might be more insightful and entertaining than an autobiography.