Favorite Stevie album

[jcalzaretta]

1. Bella Donna
2. In Your Dreams
3. Trouble in Shangri-La
4. The Wild Heart


Then there would be a big gap between Street Angel, TOSOTM and Rock a Little, which is too bad because each has one or two great songs on them.

[TrueFaith77]

In Your Dreams towers above the rest.

[On Ice]

I had written a detailed synopsis only to have it disappear when I pressed submit, so abbreviated will have to do

1. Bella Donna: I can agree with some of the comments about the production, especially the drums, but rank the debut #1 because the highpoints were never matched after this release. The studio version of Edge of Seventeen is classic, although I never like her drop in key in concert. The vocal on the Highwayman matches her early Mac classic-ness. The collaboration with Tom Petty was also a good little diversion for Stevie.

2. The Wild Heart: If the lyrics were stronger, I would rank this #1 if only for her vocals. She literally sang her ass off from start to finish and managed to pull off weak, almost child like lyrics in spots. I still listen to this record and enjoy her performances immensely here.

3. In Your Dreams: I like this record for her performances and her effort in singing these songs well, scores high points. The sad thing about this record is the poor marketing decisions in getting the "word out". I'm still scratching my head why Orleans was not put on the radio for its high notes, it's almost like the powers that be forgot what made her famous. Songs like Moonlight and Annabelle Lee are wonderful to listen to. I like the whole record.

4. Street Angel: After hearing the version of Mirror Mirror from the sessions, I'm left thinking about one of the worst gaffs in her career. Why was this stellar performance not the opening track on this outing? Including dreck like Docklands instead? That said, I think her vocals in the early 90's had reached a return to form, despite the Klonopin. If you listen to Desiree from Rick Vito's solo record, she packed a lot of effort into her singing. For the most part, she sounds good on Street Angel.

5. Trouble in Shangri-La: Too many misses to rank this record higher. Most notably, a beautifully written title track is destroyed by a lazy, poorly recorded vocal. Same can be said for the classic Candlebright, ruined by lazy singing. I like the record mostly for Fall From Grace which she sings with effort and class. Ooops, forgot to mention Planets of the Universe which I really enjoy and like what they did with the song, she also sings it perfectly. Sorcerer though missed its time on the white album and is one of those songs that just cannot stand the update process.

6. The Other Side of the Mirror: I really liked this record in 1989. Sadly, it hasn't held up. Long way to Go, would have been stellar with a stronger arrangement and Rooms on Fire, with it's strong vocal performance deserved more competent production. The rest of this record is forgettable.

7. Rock a Little: Where do I start with this one. When I first played it, my mind played tricks on me because I thought I heard better singing. After a couple more plays it was a major WTF moment and going to a concert on this tour only made matters worse, I almost threw in the towel as a fan. I can tolerate I Can't Wait, Some Become Strangers, Imperial Hotel and HAEWYFY, but the rest, I skip.

[PolishStevieFan]

I love them all for different reasons but if I had to order them then the list would look like this:

1. In Your Dreams (it's been almost two years and I still love this record like nothing else)
2. Trouble In Shangri-La ("Planets of The Universe" and "Love Is" make this album essential for me)
3. The Other Side of The Mirror (I feel so sentimental about this record. It was my first Stevie Nicks' experience)
4. Rock a Little (some people love it, some people hate it, but when I first heard it I knew it would rank as one of my all time favourite albums from the 80's. I love the synths arrangements and Stevie's vocals here)
5. Bella Donna (for most people this is Stevie's magnum opus, for me this was the beginning of better things to come)
6. Street Angel (I love this album no matter what people think of it. "Blue Denim", "Greta", "Rose Garden" and "Destiny" are classics)
7. Wild Heart (great album but there are few clunkers like "Sable on Blonde" or "I Will Follow You" with Tom Petty. I listen to this record rarely).

[moon]

Crystal Visions!!!!!



Wow, it's hard! If I must do a ranking, it probably would be:

- The Wild Heart (Not only for If Anyone Falls and Stand Back, but they're amazing songs, and the quality of the entire album is really good)
- Trouble in Shangri-La (for some demos and obviously, Planets of the Universe, what a wonderful song.)
- The Other Side of the Mirror (I love it for Rooms on Fire, and even when I'm not a fan of Whole lotta trouble)
- Rock A Little (It could be higher, but I don't know why I can't put it there. A tie with TOSOTM)
- Bella Donna (Nothing to say...)
- In Your Dreams (I'm still learning it!)
- Street Angel (I never listened to all the songs)

[vivfox]

Rock A Little
The Wild Heart
Bella Donna
Street Angel
TOSOTM
IYD
TISL

Did I forget any?

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by PolishStevieFan

7. Wild Heart (great album but there are few clunkers like "Sable on Blonde"

This is the one song on this record I couldn't live without. If anything I'll listen to this song and be happy for the rest of the day.

[Blueletter18]

Originally Posted by mitzo

1. Rock a Little (she really lets loose on this and it has tons of clever production stuff, full of loud in your face quirkiness)
2. Wild Heart (mostly because of B&TB, Nightbird, Stand Back, and Sable on Blonde)
3. TOSOTM (dark and dramatic, as it should be - I only dislike Rooms on Fire and Ghosts on this)
4. TISL (really uneven, marred by Sheryl's godawful production and with some really crap songs but Stevie was back and not doing too bad a job of it)
5. In Your Dreams (very conventional songwriting, mostly because they are Dave Stewart's songs, and, well, no WOW moment at all, quite a dull listen, for the most part)
6. BellaDonna (I was so disappointed to hear the beautiful singer songwriter of FM reduced to a crappy garage-band backup and "who cares?" singing and production. Took me years to recover and I still don't get most of it - the songs, the singing, the misery of the production and instrumentation, no mysticism or magic at all, cringe cringe cringe)
7. Street Angel (a sprawling mess, forgettable mostly non-Stevie-written material, bad production, and several of her all-time worst moments - Street Angel, Blue Denim, Rose Garden, Love is Like a River - whew, let's just try to forget)

Well said, I agree on these two.

[Blueletter18]

Originally Posted by vivfox

This is the one song on this record I couldn't live without. If anything I'll listen to this song and be happy for the rest of the day.

For me, that song is "If Anyone Falls"- seriously works wonders.

[On Ice]

For me, that song is "If Anyone Falls"- seriously works wonders.

I agree totally, after listening to it, very hard to get it out of my head and such a great chorus.

[PolishStevieFan]

Originally Posted by On Ice

I agree totally, after listening to it, very hard to get it out of my head and such a great chorus.

I agree. The chours is really powerful and you can easily sing along. It's quite a surprise that it didn't hit Top 10 back in the day.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by PolishStevieFan

I agree. The chours is really powerful and you can easily sing along. It's quite a surprise that it didn't hit Top 10 back in the day.

Maybe not but it did get a lot of airtime on MTV and my local radio stations played it quite a bit. I used to hear it blasting out of one of my neighbor's backyards one full summer several times.

[chiliD]

As of this minute I'd rank them this way:

1a) Side 2 of Rock A Little (minus "The Nightmare", plus "I Can't Wait")
1b) Bella Donna (with "Gold & Braid" & "The Blue Lamp" as bonus tracks)
1c) Trouble In Shangri-La (with "Touched By An Angel" as bonus track)
2) In Your Dreams
3) Street Angel
4a) "Rooms On Fire" only from TOSOTM
4b) The Wild Heart
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5) Side 1 of Rock A Little (plus "The Nightmare", minus "I Can't Wait")
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6) The Other Side Of The Mirror (except "Rooms On Fire")

[Travis]

Pretty much in order:

Rock A Little
Wild Heart / Other Side of the Mirror (Tie)
Bella Donna
TISL / Street Angel (Tie)
In Your Dreams

[stevierocks87]

Originally Posted by On Ice

2. The Wild Heart: If the lyrics were stronger, I would rank this #1 if only for her vocals. She literally sang her ass off from start to finish and managed to pull off weak, almost child like lyrics in spots. I still listen to this record and enjoy her performances immensely here.

5. Trouble in Shangri-La: Too many misses to rank this record higher. Most notably, a beautifully written title track is destroyed by a lazy, poorly recorded vocal. Same can be said for the classic Candlebright, ruined by lazy singing.

Totally agree about the Wild Heart vocals-just amazing wild vocals that would NEVER be topped. But I must admit I am scratching my head and your description of TISL- I've always thought her vocals were remarkably powerful and absolutely live up to the lyrics, a return to her epic title tracks. But I guess we all hear things differently?

Adam