Stevie albums...

[strandinthewind]

Bella Donna - an era she has never been able to repeat - and THAT VOICE

WH is also very good and I like much of SA and OSOTM (esp when played alone on the piano) - but Bella Donna is the tops for me!!!!!

On edit - she explored more on WH with her voice and she soars for it. So, that record is mostly vocally stunning IMO. But Bella Donna is just so fresh, raw, emotive, etc.

[amber]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Bella Donna - an era she has never been able to repeat - and THAT VOICE

WH is also very good and I like much of SA and OSOTM (esp when played alone on the piano) - but Bella Donna is the tops for me!!!!!

On edit - she explored more on WH with her voice and she soars for it. So, that record is mostly vocally stunning IMO. But Bella Donna is just so fresh, raw, emotive, etc.

Insightful. And I agree. About the exploring on WH.

To me, BD is almost outside of being rated - I cannot rate it - b/c it would alternately be first or second or third. It's just timeless. Or, it could have an automatic first place, being outside of ratings.
Whatever, i can't decide. Which is good, because I love so much of our girl that not deciding is a perfectly valid response. None of her album work is so bad that it doesn't deserve a rank, or to put it another way, it is all mostly so good that it is hard to rank.

[amber]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

Admittedly, I'm probably so tough on 'Bella Donna' because of all the people who say "'Bella Donna' is the best album she's ever recorded.'

It's sort of like Lindsey's 'Law & Order'... fantastic songs, but it falls short of showing you what the artist REALLY has to offer.

Wow, an oddly unexpected minor prejudice. I'm suprised, too, at the BD only love. Meaning, the people who love BD in huge proportion to the others. I see their point a little, but not totally. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our Stevie. Meaning - every Stevie voice has something different and cool and weird to offer. I happen to think WH and RAL have the strangest incarnation of that voice to offer. I happen to think BD has the most traditionally good voice to offer, and the most non strange lyrics (barring BD the song).
Blah, blah, blah. I just never get tired of our girl. Or the reasons people think songs by her are cool. She, and her voice, like the opinions about her, are so multifaceted.

[goldustsongbird]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

So many people sure seem to think so, but to me it just sounds like an early '70s Eagles album. It's ultra-mellow and it's the least "Stevie" of all of her solo albums.

I like BD. I guess I'd venture to say it's my favourite Stevie album, only because I can listen to it all the way through (mostly) without skipping a song. I don't totally love every single song, but the ones I don't really like are tolerable enough to not send me scrambling to hit 'next'. WiH, RAL and OSOTM, I need to skip around a lot on. I don't even bother with all of Street Angel. TISL is good until about track four or so, then off it goes.

[DrummerDeanna]

Awww..now I wish I'd voted for poor Street Angel...it's not gettin' any love

[amber]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

Awww..now I wish I'd voted for poor Street Angel...it's not gettin' any love

I like SA immmensely, it's just not number one. I'm almost Curtie-like in my love of it. But not quite. But I do really like it. I know, I'm flawed. But I prefer to kick it!

[Phoenix]

[QUOTE=amber;573061]Um...yeah... If you like a 4 note range more than, say, a 10 note one...Also if you like that range to be in, say, the tuba area rather than the trumpet area.


You need to listen to Sorcerer again
For me, Bella Donna, Wild Heart, and TISL are all up there.

Bella Donna is a masterpiece. But it was too contrived to be that way. as has been said before is way to "safe". But when I want moody, "minnie Mouse had helium" stevie, Its perfect!

Wild Heart! alittle bid Bolder.and a little less helium, and I like that. Ie. Stand back, enchanted, nothing ever changes,ect.

AHH TROUBLE IN SHANGRILA! The album I can actually play for friends! withought them saying "has she sang anything in this century?" It has a great combo of what I love about Street Angel(that gritty rock chick voice)
(again, alittle helium on sorcererr) but it is stevie bieng Mystical,Planets. Rockin,Fall from grace. Folky,sorcerer, Romantic,love is,everyday,I miss you. Moody, love changes,its only love It too me has all of the things that I love about her in one album.
Like bella donna and wild heart also do.

Rock a little: ITS THE 80's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I still love it though)

Other side of the mirror: zzzzzzzzzzz hugh,what Im awake,zzzzzzzzzzz
(I still love it though)

Street Angel: nuff said.
(I still love it though)

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by goldustsongbird

I like BD. I guess I'd venture to say it's my favourite Stevie album, only because I can listen to it all the way through (mostly) without skipping a song. I don't totally love every single song, but the ones I don't really like are tolerable enough to not send me scrambling to hit 'next'. WiH, RAL and OSOTM, I need to skip around a lot on. I don't even bother with all of Street Angel. TISL is good until about track four or so, then off it goes.

If I'm listening to a full album (as opposed to just randomly selected tracks), there isn't a song on any of Stevie's that I skip.

My favorite thing to do though, is to open up WinAMP and select the folder where I have all of Stevie's solo, Buckingham Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, b-sides, and soundtrack songs (with just a few high-quality demos/outtakes included) and hit "shuffle." There's over 10 hours worth of music in there, so I just let it play for how ever much free-time I have (whether it's 15 minutes or three hours) and I get my Stevie fix.

[goldustsongbird]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

My favorite thing to do though, is to open up WinAMP and select the folder where I have all of Stevie's solo, Buckingham Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, b-sides, and soundtrack songs (with just a few high-quality demos/outtakes included) and hit "shuffle." There's over 10 hours worth of music in there, so I just let it play for how ever much free-time I have (whether it's 15 minutes or three hours) and I get my Stevie fix.

Best thing to do! I do that with all of my music, not just FM and Stevie.

[sparky]

I cannot pick a favorite. For one thing, it has been ages since I listened to anything all the way through. But also, each one I like has some things about it that glares with flaws. It's almost like each of them exists in their own 'timespace' for me. And yes, I want to slap the **** out of myself for that sentence, so I will save you all the trouble. SLAP !

I know that SA and OSOTM are last and next to last. But BD, WH, RAL, and TISL are all a bit neck and neck, depending on the day and what I want. BD has the best consistency in quality of songs. But I find L&L and Highwayman to be almost unlistenable. And the sameness of the production almost feels flat to me now. It took years for me to comprehend the criticism upon it's release about the "LA creme de la creme studio musician" sound it was slagged for. But now I hear it. Her voice is great on the title track and Edge is epic, vocally.

WH is a lot of fun to listen to. But it suffers from production too in parts. The keyboards sound super cheesy and dated. On the other hand, the only song I absolutely cannot stomach is 'Gate and Garden', with IAF as a runner up. The rest I still enjoy. Of course, WH is the big epic here - a true crowning achievement in her career even with the audible strain in her voice. There are other great moments too.

RAL is a brilliant mess. Parts of it are downright embarrassing to listen to, but I like them anyway. It lacks the cohesion of BD and WH, but the things I love about it: ICW, NSW, SBS, and others, are so much fun. Even The Nightmare, which I consider to be her quintessential "post it" song, is an oddly entertaining diversion. This is the only record I don't feel compelled to skip songs on, strangely enough. Although I far prefer the outtake of RAL to the one on the record, and HAEWAFY is a larger and more powerful animal now than it was on that record.

TISL was my favorite for a looong time. But, with time, I find that I always skip Everyday (HATE IT, so beneath her, worse than SIAB and barely above LAHGT), TMMS, LC, and Love Is. That's a lot to skip. But I shiver in wonder at TISL. I love that track. It is brilliant. As good as anything she ever did. I also still gape at the falsetto in Sorcerer, and think JS did a bang up job with FFG and Planets. I am in the minority loving TFFT and IOL - but I love both of those songs. As far as IOL goes, she is just not capable of writing such a straightforward, simple song with a beautiful melody like that anymore, and it was a great gift, as far as I am concerned, from Sheryl. TFFT is just hella fun to sing.

TISL has great highs, and wretched lows.

I guess, after writing this, it might be RAL by the tail end of a ribbon on a tambourine. A tambourine, it must be noted, that is stained with brandy, dusted with coke she sneezed out, and headed straight for Betty Ford. Ah, the beauty of a supernova collapsing on itself.

[danax6]

Okay, now that I have gotten over my hate of being asked this question, I might be able to answer it. The reason I hate it is because I can't choose. I voted Trouble in Shangri-La in the poll, but Bella Donna and Wild Heart are right on its tails, if not on top of TISL. I could easily have voted for either of those two as well, doesn't make much of a difference.

I mostly love TISL for the lyrics. The title track has the best ones I have ever heard from her. the promise has been broken as you walk through the shadow of death, you try to see no evil, but you are so heartbroken, you say 'dear god, make it stop!', before the dawn of seperation brings up the wind, rises around you...I hear there's trouble in shangri-la Come on, that can hardly be beaten. I love all the revived songs, the fact that there is brand new and ancient combined on that album and that it makes for such a fabulous package. Her vocals on It's Only Love are stellar, and Fall From Grace is a ****ing great rocking track, with equally great lyrics to boot. Love Is is almost heartbreaking in its honesty and though I am slightly partial to the piano demo floating around, I still think this song is beautiful. Trouble in Shangri-La just has an honesty and a vulnerability and not to mention a ****load of emotions to it that had certainly been lacking on Street Angel and Other Side of the Mirror, therefor sorely missed. So the latter two are, as is the case with many other people, at the bottom of my favourites list. I don't think I need to explain any further about Street Angel, Stevie herself has admitted as much. The Other Side of the Mirror is just so horribly monotonous that it puts me to sleep after 15 minutes. There is no magic or power in that one, although I do still love many of the words. What can I say, I am a lyrics freak above everything else, I love poetry.

Going back to the early 80's I have to say that vocally she was at her 'best' during the Tusk/Bella Donna days, but at her most 'compelling' during the WH days, and a little going into RAL. (Though she did suffer from RALitis then...I love that word, btw, thanks for introducing it to me, I choked on my milk earlier..). When I say best, I mean technically best, as in staying within a safe vocal range and not really forcing anything yet. By the time RAL came around her voice had taken a snowdive into whatever-dom, due to years of howling and growling on stage, and due to substance abuse, but WH is the perfect blend between that and the safer vocals during the BD era. I agree with Amber on that. Therefor, to me, it makes WH the most compelling vocally. Combined with another incredible set of lyrics, once again first and foremost on the title track. fire on fire, rain on my face, fever goes higher, what can you do...wild in the darkest places in your mind, that's where I needed you most, is what puts WH in my top 3 also. Plus, it has one of my favourite songs ever...Beauty and the Beast. my love is a man who's not been tamed, my love lives in a world of false pleasure and pain, we come from different worlds but we are the same. This song I can relate most to.

Bella Donna was definitely contrived. The fact that they felt the need to put Tom Petty and Don Henley on there says enough. They wanted to make it safe enough to be able to sell as many copies as possible. Which I can understand, it was a risk getting her off the ground as a solo artist, when she was so immensely popular as part of Fleetwood Mac. But it shows on the album, which has generally the safest choice of songs. Edge of Seventeen kind of stands out, but they wanted to push the rock image first and foremost, although the rest of the album doesn't really go with that, at least not that far. I care for the forced Henley and Petty songs the least, and once again the title track (it's a trend!) is the most compelling vocally and lyrically. How Still My Love is so deliciously sexy that it's pushing more towards the top of favourites every time I listen to it. Bella Donna is all about the hidden treasures, not what they decided to throw in our face, although Edge of Seventeen is ofcourse still ****ing great.

So there you have it. My favourite is 'Bella Donna Trouble in Wild Heart Shangri-La'. I can't choose. RAL is most definitely 4th, SA 5th and OSOTM my least favourite ever. I cannot stand the music arrangements on that album.

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by foxyluva

"Trouble in Shangri-La" for me as well. Although, I consider "TISL" "Wild Heart" and "Bella Donna" all 5 star albums...

I may be one of the few here who actually really doesn't care for 'Rock A Little'

Thats ok. I am not so keen on Rock a Little either. Bella Donna, WH and TISL are, for me, the best album she has done. Mine go:

Bella Donna
Trouble in Shangri-La
Wild Heart
OSOTM
Street Angel
RAL

Bella Donna is perfection. Her voice, her soul, her lyrics...everything. Whoever made the comment about HSML being under-rated. SHUT UP! I love that song and it has been done on a number of tours so how exactley is under rated? Bella Donna is like....sex on record . Trouble in Shangri-La is immence. The fact that Stevie did an album like that so late on in her career is one thing and it really shows how great Stevie is that so many amazing people contributed to the album. It's like...it reminds me how strong Stevie is. Also, I love the fact that she brought up new songs and went into the archives to find stuff like Planets and Candlebright. Despite contributions from other artists, that album was pure Stevie.Wild Heart I of course love. I am obssessed with Stand Back. Love her lyrics. The only reason it's #3 in the list is because it is the only album out of the top 3 that has a song on I don't like *cough I will run to you cough*. I also love OSOTM..well, most of it. But that has more songs on it I don't like. It's the highest album up in my list that I actually skip songs on (Two Kinds of Love, Alice). Street Angel - i like it. I love Blue Denim and Listen to the Rain but the other songs are sort of dead and lifeless. Don't like a number of tracks and rarely play this album all the way through. Rock a Little SUCKS!! I only like I Can't Wait, Sister Honey, I Sing for These Things, No Spoken Word and HAEWAFY. The rest are just...crap. The whole album is drowned in synthersizers and it's just so not Stevie. It lost the flare that BD, WH and her Mac stuff had. I can't understand why so many people bum it. It remains the only Stevie album I will NEVER own on CD. I only have it on cassette.

[JazmenFlowers]

Bella Donna is, like Strand said, timeless.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by danax6

Bella Donna was definitely contrived.

Of course it was. It was her first album and it HAD to be basically the "Anti-Fleetwood Mac" album. Later albums started having a few songs that sounded "Fleetwood Mac-ish", but BD was intentionally kept from sounding like Fleetwood Mac.

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

I think you're getting confused about what "underrated" means. To say something is underrated means that it doesn't get the credit it should - it's a compliment. Overrated means it gets more praise than its worthy of.

No. I was right. As much as I love HSML I think it gets plenty of credit. It keeps popping up here and there and no fan will ever forget it (pardon the bad pun)

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Erm, what exactly does this mean?

Btw, you've spelled Whoopi Goldberg wrong in your sig.

People Bum It...the go on about how good it is. Sorry. Should've explained a little better.