IYD - A thread for the underwhelmed

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by chriskisn

Cheaper Than Free must be the single worse duet that Stevie has ever done though. Stevie doesn't duet well in most cases, but this really is the worse song on the album...

I agree with you on that note. TBH, I said before that there were no bad songs on the album - but that was because I forgot about Cheaper Than Free, as I stopped the stream after Italian Summer (I also initially started with For What It's Worth because I already heard Secret Love and was impatient). I'm sure if you're listening to the album as a whole it doesn't ruin it or anything... but it's simply not a good song, at all, and definitely not something I would listen to out of the context of the album. Dave and Stevie's voices do not blend well period, first of all, so that doesn't help the poor thing.. and then there's the lyrics. It's a sweet sentiment and all, and I feel bad saying this because Stevie seems to think it's an incredible song, but it's just not good in my opinion.

But, I disagree about Stevie's other duets not being great. Isn't she kind of known for being a great harmony singer? Lots of her duets are very popular, and I like them a lot.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by tabruns

Well I can't agree with you at all there. Nicks is generally known as being *great* at duets.

This.

Even when she's a backing singer on someone else's song, singing with someone else is normally Stevie's strongest point; she knows exactly how to harmonize with someone or enhance their song. Like, Vanessa Carlton's The One wouldn't be the same without Stevie, and neither would Gold or Midnight Wind by John Stewart

[henryscutter]

I listened to the cd first on my computer speakers then we listened to it through our stereo, there was quite a stark differance in the music and vocals. You should listen to the actual cd on a quality system and see if that helps.

[tabruns]

:shrugs: It may just be that he doesn't care for this album. Although I sense a bit of "revenge" when he mentions how much he loves Trouble In Shangri-La and had to endure other fans not liking it.

Which kind of baffles me that some fans have turned on TISL. It seems like when it first came out everyone was in love with it, and it did get the best reviews of Nicks' albums up to that point.

[sorcerer999]

Thank you for starting this thread. I think your point is quite valid and understandable.

Myself, I quite enjoy the new album. It could very well be the fact that I, like everyone else on this board, have been so starved for new Stevie material, that we're letting our excitement overpower our objectivity. I am going to continue to listen to this album for another month or two before I see how it as a whole (as well as the individual songs) rank against the other Stevie solo records.

I still am in love with TISL. I always will be. It never gets old. I also like this new album very much. At this point, it's premature to decide which one I like better. TISL had a run of GREAT songs from tracks 1-5 (in my opinion of course) then kind of dwindled until Bombay, FFG and Love Is.

IYD doesn't really have any great song runs for me...right now at least. I like the latter half better than the beginning, and even then it's like two good songs, one mediocre, two good, one BAD. I dunno. There are about 4 songs on the album that I don't care for at the moment. I'm not saying it's a bad album, quite the contrary. I think it's really good. Maybe a bit disjointed?

[tabruns]

Ah see for me IYD starts out strong with "Secret Love" and each track following is a little bit stronger than the last until it hits its peak with "Moonlight"/"Annabel Lee". The rest of the album isn't downhill from there, rather, its back to excellent songs after two classic songs.

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by tabruns

Which kind of baffles me that some fans have turned on TISL. It seems like when it first came out everyone was in love with it, and it did get the best reviews of Nicks' albums up to that point.

They will turn on this one just the same. I remember we all loved Steet Angel once too...

[Morgana]

Originally Posted by tabruns

Ah see for me IYD starts out strong with "Secret Love" and each track following is a little bit stronger than the last until it hits its peak with "Moonlight"/"Annabel Lee". The rest of the album isn't downhill from there, rather, its back to excellent songs after two classic songs.

I agree, Moonlight/Annabel Lee peaks the cd out.

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

What exactly were you expecting? What did you like about TISL exactly? I know that I tried to force myself to like TISL and couldn't do it. There were too many producers in that pot and the album fell apart. I instantly liked this album. Lot of it has to do with the production and the details. I have read posts on other sites were people are slamming this album, yet, holding up TISL and I really don't get it all. I think some people fought so hard for TISL that they feel all the love for this album is a slap in the face. The only reason I'm saying this is because usually when people say they don't like this album, they mention TISL. I wonder if you want to like this album.

I forgot to respond to this bit of your post earlier -

I think TISL was a little bit rockier, her voice had more emotion (not always an easy thing in Stevie past the mid 1980s), she sang with more passion not just like she was going through the motions of putting out another album.

I think perhaps because I liked TISL (and hey I even liked TOSOTM so what can I say?) that I was hoping for as good as TISL or better. Perhaps if I had hated TISL I would think this album was the best thing since Belladonna.

Maybe I'll come around to thinking that this album is great, but it hasn't happened yet. Actually I'm not going to listen to it for a few days and then I'll try again, and hope that by some the intervention of some magical fairy, I'll discover what everyone else is raving about.

[Ghosty]

i still love street angel. i really like tisl too, and if shanks had produced the whole thing it'd probably be right up there with bd and wh for me.

i am really liking iyd too. i just really want my cd in hand so i can hear it better and more. my little laptop is not very loud.

[AnthonyMI]

Dear "underwhelmed"....

[IMG][/IMG]

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by chriskisn

They will turn on this one just the same. I remember we all loved Steet Angel once too...

Well I have to say not me. I was largely disappointed by Street Angel. I was very happy that there was a new Nicks album out, but when I got it I was basically like "meh"....it wasn't a bad album per se it just lacked the Stevie magic that her previous four albums had had.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by chriskisn

I think perhaps because I liked TISL (and hey I even liked TOSOTM so what can I say?) that I was hoping for as good as TISL or better. Perhaps if I had hated TISL I would think this album was the best thing since Belladonna.
.

I really liked TOSOTM as well. I would say that TOSOTM is clearly Stevie's most under-rated album.

I don't know about your second sentence though. I *love* TISL and considered it Stevie's best album since Bella Donna. I still do. But I also love IYD and do think its slightly better than TISL.

To me, Bella Donna, Trouble In Shangri-La and In Your Dreams are all albums where Nicks was sober, focused, and determined to put out a great album. Many of her other albums are still great, but they're all a little "out of focus" somehow:

The Wild Heart is a good album but it's like a sloppier or wilder version of Bella Donna. You can hear that while Nicks is inspired she's also somewhat rushed, and hence the introduction of heavier synths than on Bella Donna and also a heavier reliance on an outside writer for music (Sandy Stewart).

Rock A Little went for a much sleeker production (which can be good or bad depending on your point of view). Nicks' voice is much raspier here and while she still has much of that Stevie magic I think you get the feel that her life is swinging more wildly out of control as you listen to the record.

I thought The Other Side of the Mirror was something of a rebound from The Wild Heart and Rock A Little. She seems a little more focused here, but the one thing about this album is that she didn't totally commit to making it a dark, mystic album. There are many moments like that but then some songs just stand out like sore thumbs: "Cry Wolf", "Fire Burning", "I Still Miss Someone"....not bad songs, but they just don't seem to fit on a record that sounds like it should have been all dark, long, witchy music.

Street Angel (like the Mac album Behind The Mask) is her one solo album that's clearly impacted by her Klonopin haze. The writing is solid rock but it completely lacks the Nicks magic. As I've said before, it's very "pedestrian" writing for someone of Nicks' calibre.

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by tabruns

I really liked TOSOTM as well. I would say that TOSOTM is clearly Stevie's most under-rated album.

I don't know about your second sentence though. I *love* TISL and considered it Stevie's best album since Bella Donna. I still do. But I also love IYD and do think its slightly better than TISL.

To me, Bella Donna, Trouble In Shangri-La and In Your Dreams are all albums where Nicks was sober, focused, and determined to put out a great album. Many of her other albums are still great, but they're all a little "out of focus" somehow:

The Wild Heart is a good album but it's like a sloppier or wilder version of Bella Donna. You can hear that while Nicks is inspired she's also somewhat rushed, and hence the introduction of heavier synths than on Bella Donna and also a heavier reliance on an outside writer for music (Sandy Stewart).

Rock A Little went for a much sleeker production (which can be good or bad depending on your point of view). Nicks' voice is much raspier here and while she still has much of that Stevie magic I think you get the feel that her life is swinging more wildly out of control as you listen to the record.

I thought The Other Side of the Mirror was something of a rebound from The Wild Heart and Rock A Little. She seems a little more focused here, but the one thing about this album is that she didn't totally commit to making it a dark, mystic album. There are many moments like that but then some songs just stand out like sore thumbs: "Cry Wolf", "Fire Burning", "I Still Miss Someone"....not bad songs, but they just don't seem to fit on a record that sounds like it should have been all dark, long, witchy music.

Street Angel (like the Mac album Behind The Mask) is her one solo album that's clearly impacted by her Klonopin haze. The writing is solid rock but it completely lacks the Nicks magic. As I've said before, it's very "pedestrian" writing for someone of Nicks' calibre.

They're my two all time faves ! haha everyone's got their own tastes,that's what I love about music-there's no right,wrong or definites about it,people either like things or they don't

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by Bryan

They're my two all time faves ! haha everyone's got their own tastes,that's what I love about music-there's no right,wrong or definites about it,people either like things or they don't

So true, and I'm glad that you love them. I always feel like I'm missing out on something when someone is raving about some music/movie/book and somehow I don't "get it". I much prefer loving something over feeling "meh" about it.

I will say about Behind The Mask that I love how Stevie is all over that album with background vocals all over the place. I love it that she's so prominent on "In The Back of my Mind", "When The Sun Goes Down", "Behind The Mask" and at the end of "Save Me".

I consider Behind The Mask to be an under-rated album. It's better than the reviews it got. But Stevie's work on that album is still the "not quite there Stevie" level of songs, IMO.