'Rolling Stone Magazine' review of 'The Wild Heart' (July 7, 1983)

[Macfan4life]

While I don't agree with the review in its harshness, I do agree that Wild Heart was a big step down from Bella Donna. Clearly the magic of Bella Donna was a one time thing just like Rumours. However this album is when Nick's complete insanity began with her marrying her dead best friend's husband in the middle of it. I sense that Iovine was going for a more adult contemporary feel to boost its commercial aspect. That did not work and had the opposite effect IMHO. I have 3 complaints about the album. Many songs are drowning in background vocals. I hate Gate and Garden but when you listen to the song without all those backup vocals I can appreciate the song. While I agree Sable on Blonde is one of the better songs, its immediate background vocals in the beginning always turned me off. This is one of the reasons I like the alternative version better (sorry Mick). I remember a 1983 interview with Nicks where she claimed people told her Sable on Blonde sounded too much like Dreams and she did not care. I think the alternate version has more depth. Second complaint I have is the guitar takes a back seat compared to Bella Donna. It was the early 80s and the keyboard synth was about to take over. We got 2 hit singles that were heavy in the keyboard syth that were successful. But I think the album suffered from too much of it. That dreaded keyboard intro to Nightbird with that casio drum machine is horrible. My last complaint is the overall production of the album. The title track is nowhere near the intensity of its predecessor. The alternative version is better but she is singing too fast. The song wonders and comes to a very odd conclusion with fade out. I never cared for the basic piano parts of the song either. Its too amateur IMHO. Its still a fairly good album but could have been so much better. How All The Beautiful Worlds never made the album is a crime.
If you never heard the alternative version of Sable on Blonde
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euHCgtgppZs

Alternative of Wild Heart. Her vocal on the album is better but this version is better. I think she did a few bumps before singing this because she is shouting while singing. I wish there could have been a happy medium between them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4iC...j3uqTxYMbO4ytE