'Rolling Stone Magazine' review of 'Bella Donna' (Sept. 17, 1981)

[Macfan4life]

Thanks for posting. Believe it or not but I am not sure I have read this entire article before. I never cared for Rolling Stone's music reviews. They always were odd IMHO.
They like this album but do not love it. IMHO its one of the better albums of the entire 80s decade. I would put it in the top 15 of the decade.
One thing they did say at the end that I agree with is her air-headedness combined with the Mac's blues roots was a magical formula to sell millions of records. Her rock and roll toughness and her poetic mystery combines for another successful contrast.
I think that really nails it.
I think many first listens to Bella Donna confused people. The album is so good and is very commercial without trying to be so commercial (if that makes sense). Jimmy Iovine panicked as the album was near complete. He said something like "it was a great album that no one was going to hear." He sought out SDMHA which was the biggest solo hit of her career and launched the album to #1. However Jimmy's impression I think was wrong. Leather and Lace was almost just as popular as SDMHA and a top 10 smash. I think if Edgeof17 was the first single it would have made it to the top 10 instead of stalling at #12. In essence, Bella Donna still would have been wildly successful without SDMHA. But the poetic writing in rock without Fleetwood Mac confused people a bit and thought it could not be successful. The songs are all well crafted and her voice is strong. Her poetry and songs are not easy to craft into pop/rock songs with hooks and choruses. Even Stevie said something like she never could write good pop songs. IMHO that is what gives the album such depth. If you stripped all the singing and lyrics, you still would have really good music tracks. Jimmy really was the perfect fit for this one.