The Other Side Of The Mirror is a very dark album

[tabruns]

I liked OSOTM when it came out. I thought it was a better album than TWH and RAL. "Rooms On Fire" was really awesome. I was so excited when I first heard it on the radio. It should have made the Billboard Top 10.

I agree with others that this is a very dark, mystical album (but that's why I love it). My only complaint is that I think she should have gone "all in" on long, dark, spooky songs. "I Miss Someone" really seems out of place on this album:

The great: "Rooms On Fire"
The good: "Alice", "Doing The Best That I Can", "Ghosts", "Ooh My Love", "Juliet", "Long Way To Go"
The okay: "Whole Lotta Trouble", "Two Kinds of Love", "Fire Burning", "Cry Wolf"
The completely-out-of-place: "I Still Miss Someone"

Replace those last five songs with very dark rockers and haunting ballads and you'd really have something.

[Ghosty]

[QUOTE=mikebise;946287]Thanks! David, I was actually remembering some issues of Rumours from 1989, and everyone was talking about "upbeat" and "Lifting spirits", and I was thinking, "Whuh???"

For me, The Other Side Of The Mirror was like sitting around with a box of wine, thinking about all of the opportunities you'd let slip by, and those you'd loved who left you. QUOTE]

What a great post, I loved everything you mentioned about this album. When this came out I was like 18 yr/s old, and I was kind of bummed. I liked a few songs right off, but mostly it was a big disappointment for me. This music seemed very far from the Stevie Nicks I had come to love. But once into my 30's I sort of re-discovered it and really started loving the whole thing. I found an appreciation for it. Even the song Cry Wolf. I had been really annoyed when the album came out that she would pick such a dull song written by someone else to put on here. But once I got older I began to even love that song. It's like I started to "get it"....the whole feel behind all the songs and the whole record. I think I was just too young and still too naive to get it when it first came out. And hearing other songs that didn't make it onto the album, those too all have a more "grown up" sound to them. To me, anyways. Now I find it a treasure, just like all her stuff. It's pretty open, dark, vulnerable, and not sprinkling the fairy dust on deep matters. Instead it's letting those deep, dark matters see the light of day, whether or people liked it or not.


edit: I still don't like Rupurt AT ALL and think it would have been an even better album if someone else, anyone else, had produced it. And I Still Miss Someone, as awesome as I love Stevie singing it, that circus clown music is just horrid! And Whole Lotta Trouble, I absolutely love the demo of that song. It is more edgy.

[PolishStevieFan]

"The Other Side of The Mirror" is one of the best albums that I've heard in my life and it was the first piece of Stevie's music that I got to hear. For me "the happiest song" on the album "Ooh My Love" is one of the saddest. These lonely castle walls and remembering her lover who used to share them with Stevie is so depressing. The melody and arranagement doesn't suggest the weight of these lyrics. The similar thing is with "Fire Burning". The melody is in the festive, country vein but the topic of the song appears to be concerned with depression brought about the use of Klonopin. "Long Way To Go" I interpret as a way of coping with kicking the drug habit during the long days of rehab. This song is just magnificent. Dark and broody. The conflict between often 'positive' arrangements and 'negative ' lyrics perhaps suggests the inner conflict that Stevie had to deal with at that time of her life. In her devastation she wanted so to change but on the other hand there was no way out of it.

[Macfanforever]

I like The Other Side Of The Mirror album.Love that red dress on the cover. I think I went to 3 shows when she was on tour.especially the show where she exploded at the security for bothering her fans On Sept. 8, 1989 Lake Compounce Bristol, CT show.Got 4th row seats about a week before the show.Got great photos plus a tape of the show.I went to Mansfield with a co-worker and had a blast. Jones Beach or Holmdel was the third. I dont remember. I have to look for my stubs.

[Maxd9]

Does anyone have an mp3 of this version of Dial the number?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQWlI...gmST8gDCkNs%3D

I've downloaded all the masters I can find, but most of them are cut off towards the end, or start with Stevie speaking.

Thanks!

[Nathan]

Some of my favorite songs of all time are ones that are sad, but have wonderful, upbeat melodies. Boys of Summer, Little Red Corvette, That's Alright.

The Other Side of the Mirror was the first Stevie album that I discovered.

My uncles crazy girlfriend at the time, Deborah, was a bleached blonde fixture at a local steak and seafood type bar. She liked pot and music, and that standard kind of fare. She was actually, pretty much a blast - I remember one Thanksgiving cooking late into the night with her.
The Dance album had caught my ear at that point. Those opening notes of The Chain sounded like bluegrass to me, and it just kind of blended in with the rest of the music I was hearing at that time. The imagery in Landslide caught my ear though. I was living in Alaska, and the snow covered hills were so poignant. Of course, I didn't know what is was called. 'This is for you, Daddy' led my search for what I eventually learned was Landslide, to Oh Daddy. Of course, that wasn't right.

Anyway, learning about the band and keeping the five members straight was a whole other journey, essentially.

At some point, I pulled put TOSOTM. It was on CD. The cover picture had me. It was gothic, romantic, dark, pretty... Such mystery. And all of my earliest perceptions about her were centered around that image. I thought she must be some kind of extreme recluse. We had watched Sunset Blvd that term in my film studies class in high school, so I had darren some connections there as well. That she lived in a world of her own. 'She's got a million bucks, and she looks like it'. I actually had something in mind like Emporer Palpatine - that she would be ultra frail and lethargic on stage.

I found TimeSpace at the same time, and the vignettes she wrote for that album, further solidified notions that she may or may not be totally removed from reality.

A visual introduction came eight or nine months later with the best Christmas present I've received to date -- Red Rocksss, Colorado!!

But, that's what TOSOTM is to me, particularly in the context of her solo body of work -- is being removed from reality. Like, insane. At the time, I figured it was an acid thing, or something hallucinogenic. Alice in Wonderland references and all.

There's a clipping in the TOSOTM tour book that says 'Rooms on Fire truly smolders' - and it does. There's some kind of a crackle on that track. Combined with that little spanish sounding guitar, it really almost sounds like its burning, doesn't it? It's a haunting song, but I think it's really the brightest spot on the album, in terms of being uplifting. Rooms on fire says when you were good, you were very good. It doesn't look back on the loce affair with regret or resentment, or longing. It's really pretty matter of fact about it.
I always liked, 'She had trusted many, but been unfamiliar with almost everyone--but you'.

Long nets of white cloud my memory could have been the early understanding that Klonopin had Stevie living in the fog.

In Long Way to Go, I always liked 'High in my life, obsessive my love'.

Whole Lotta Trouble was a double down on that late 80's, early 90's, line dancing bar, country western flare that everything had to it. Stevie of course, pulled it off fabulously. I'm thinking of the Whole Lotta Trouble single cover for example, or songs like Freedom...or I Still Miss Someone. Which, is probably the weakest song on the album. Having said that though, it's really not awful...
As was mentioned earlier...
I wonder if he's sorry,
For ending what we had begun.
I know there's someone for me somewhere,
But I still miss that one.

She depends on her music like a husband always got me...

Ooh my Love has always been a favorite.
I skipped it a hundred times though, because that slap bass in the beginning can be jarring. But when I played it through, I loved it.

There was a light that lighted the way
To the chamber where they spent all their time
Well, there was a light that lighted the way
To the chamber doorway, where --
They seemed to spend all their time.

And then that little music break that follows, where they're going 'Ooh my looove' -- that is the sound that surrounds you when you make the leap, to or from, -- the other side of the mirror.

[Nathan]

Does anyone have any pictures of the house they recorded?

I know I posted some big high resolution pics on here before of Stevie and a couple of producers sitting around a coffee table. There's a big old sack of bud in the center of it.

But yeah, just some pictures of the house would do. : )

[NoLight77]

Originally Posted by Ghosty

This is a great discussion of the album. I didn't have any Stevie fan friends or connections back then so never really heard anything about OSOTM when it came out. I was not into Rolling Stone magazine either, and never seemed to see SN or reviews of her new cd in any rock mags around '89 like I did in the 70's to early 80's.

I loved a few songs on OSOTM, but was kind of disappointed in it. It seemed so very different for a Stevie album. Songs like I Still Miss Someone, with it's circus sounding music,or Cry Wolf, which sounded like something I'd hear on my parents easy-listening radio stations. But there were some songs I loved, like Rooms On Fire. I liked Alice but it seemed an odd song for Stevie. It was kind of mellow in music. But the words, that caught me. The choice of songs and it's production really threw me for a loop. I couldn't believe as years went on how Stevie would say it was her favorite album and her best. I would be like - are you kidding?! Now I see the gem of it though. But also think it was her romantic involvement with Rupert while she was making the cd that made her love it so much. But - that ended in yet another rejection. The guy went back to his wife, didn't he?

I thought it was kind of a sad, depressing album all in all. I was like 18 at the time and so I think I was wanting more upbeat or mystical old Stevie that I was used to. But then in my 30's when I listened to it, I liked it so much more. Even Cry Wolf, which I did not care for when it came out, I now love. For me, I had to "age" and live a bit more to get the album. I was not jaded back when it came out. It was kind of lost on me. And I didn't know of Stevie's personal life back then either. After my 30's rolled around, I had been jaded enough in life to grasp it and get it. It's a very grown-up album, for me anyways. I can see now why it did not appeal to me much when it came out and I was still young, naive, and had lots of dreams.

Ever since I started hearing about her life, it seems like she must have such deep pain buried inside. Maybe she's finally released it and moved on, but I don't know. Seems like she has this pattern of loving a man, then she gets pregnant and they could care less. Or she doesn't get pregnant, but they end up leaving her for another woman. Then they marry that other woman and have babies with them. Yet she acts like she still adores them all and is great friends with them and acts as if they are still "loves" in a sense. It seems like such an act. If she truly believes it, it's like she has worked that scenario up in her mind until she was able to convince herself of it to make herself feel better - and look better. But how can all that not bother you? Rejection sucks. And to be pregnant and have the guy not care and say go get an abortion if you want, whatever. But then the guy goes and marries another woman and does have children with her. That has got to hurt you to the bone. It has to be devastating. I know we all go through heartache and broken relationships, but we don't all act as if we are fine about it and best friends with them now, and it's all super great. We admit when it still hurts, or when we still can't stand seeing a certain person. Stuff like that. I feel like Stevie was hurt so much but put on an air about it so she didn't look like the girl who got dumped and who didn't have control of the situation and was rejected.

I know she has admitted the pain of losing someone, and her great love of Joe Walsh. Didn't she once say Mick was her great love too? But like with Lindsey and Don, Tom, and others, it seems like she went out of her way to remain in contact with them, work with them, and act like they still have such a love connection, and that she is friends with or likes their wives and their kids. Just seems very odd, unnatural even. Is it just me who thinks that?

Do we know of any of her boyfriends who were upset over her not having the baby? Didn't she or Don say in that case he was fine with the thought of an abortion?

So with her coke addiction, and her rejections, and abortions, and issues with management, and her career, OSOTM comes across pretty heavy. I see the intensity and value of it and like it now. But as a teen, I saw it just as depressing and kind of dull. Has anyone else liked it better as they got older and had more experiences and been through more rough times?

Great post Ghosty. It does look like she's best friends with her old loves, not hurt by them. Here's a telling picture.

[Ghosty]

I actually find it weird she stays friends with them all. Sometimes I wonder if it's not a cover up. She doesn't want the world (or the ex-boyfriends) to know really how deep the pain was. Acting like friends makes it seems she was fine, they didn't break her heart, it's all okay. Also it's away to keep them in her life. hmmmmm.....

[Aussie W/Heart]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Does anyone have any pictures of the house they recorded?

I know I posted some big high resolution pics on here before of Stevie and a couple of producers sitting around a coffee table. There's a big old sack of bud in the center of it.

But yeah, just some pictures of the house would do. : )

I'd like to see the coffee table scene , Nathan do you still have that pic???

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Aussie W/Heart

I'd like to see the coffee table scene , Nathan do you still have that pic???

I do on a big portable storage drive.

There's two of them that I had... Yeah, they're pretty neat. Really big, high resolution.

I know that someone must've saved them. They're probably a couple hundred pages back on one if the epic Stevie picture threads.

I suppose I might've even gotten them from here back in the day

[Nathan]

Ghostly -

Great post. Lots of good stuff in there.
I'll have to dissect or more later. But I think all
Of it plays into the Norma Desmond thing.

[NoLight77]

Originally Posted by Ghosty

I actually find it weird she stays friends with them all. Sometimes I wonder if it's not a cover up. She doesn't want the world (or the ex-boyfriends) to know really how deep the pain was. Acting like friends makes it seems she was fine, they didn't break her heart, it's all okay. Also it's away to keep them in her life. hmmmmm.....

It's a too good to be true situation. How many of us are friends with our ex boyfriends/girlfriends? But maybe it's because they are all in the music business that she doesn't want her true feelings to come out. Being a romantic, she probably wants the stars she dated to remain "romantic". Like she told Jimmy on AI, he was a "beautiful nightmare.". How many of us would call our nightmares beautiful? She wants to preserve the image, and hide the reality. And if she ever were to write a book, would she tell us anything? Sometimes I doubt it. She did tell us about Joe and Kim, so I go back and forth on this, "Yes she will tell us her life story" to "No, she won't." Sometimes I think the book will be surface, as she has said she won't disclose the drama. But that's what I want to hear, however bad that sounds. I want to hear what it was like to date Don, and not only how he taught her to spend money. I want to know what she went through.

[Nathan]

^^
Yes.
The limos and learjets would be the icing. The
cake is the emotion and the story.

I'd like to hear what caused the great divorce
between Rupert and Stevie.

We know she left sessions with Rupert,
in England, in a big hurry. He made it
'impossible to be together'. She left for LA without
having even named the record.

[NoLight77]

Originally Posted by Nathan

^^
Yes.
The limos and learjets would be the icing. The
cake is the emotion and the story.

I'd like to hear what caused the great divorce
between Rupert and Stevie.

We know she left sessions with Rupert,
in England, in a big hurry. He made it
'impossible to be together'. She left for LA without
having even named the record.

Me too. Wide Sargasso Sea was so clearly about their relationship. I hear he was married? I'm not sure, just heard.