IYD Press Reviews & Discussion

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by tabruns

She gets nailed lyrically too....some complain her lyrics are too "obtuse", others complain her lyrics are too straight-forward....

I'm not sure I've seen her get nailed for lyrics being too straightforward so much as lyrics being too trite ("Not Make Believe" is a good example of a song that has been attacked for this reason). Unless I'm not understanding what you mean by straightforward?


- Jake

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Star rating is in from All Music Guide, 4 stars for IYD, same as TISL and The Wild Heart. Sounds right to me. Personally, AMG are the only reviewers I take seriously, they seem to get it spot on every time with Stevie.

That's actually huge and it bumped her metro rating to 76. Slant Magazine almost destroyed her rating. Idiots.

[jellyman10]

Good stuff. I hope all the great reviews and chart positions are cheering her up, even it must be frustrating to not be out in the world enjoying it. Really hope she's getting better.

[greendaze5]

Stevie mentioned in '3 Dollar Bill' column/blog (May 3, 2011):

http://bugsburnett.blogspot.com/

[kak125]

Lots of videos included in this link.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/...cks.php?page=2

Tuesday, Stevie Nicks released her first solo album in a decade, In Your Dreams. After looking at promos for the album, Rocks Off is convinced that as often as she's denied "rumours" of witchcraft, the singer may actually be a witch. She has to be - she doesn't look like she's aged since 1989's The Other Side of the Mirror.

Nicks' new album includes a few tracks that she wrote while in Fleetwood Mac that never got released. Single "Secret Love" was written about a man with whom she was having an affair during the downfall of her relationship with the dreamy Lindsey Buckingham. The video features her goddaughter wearing some of Nicks' old stage costumes, and cameos from Mick Fleetwood and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, who produced the album.

We think this nostalgia might be the album's only selling point to 70's-era Fleetwood Mac fans who probably won't dig the album as much as the memories the release brings back. We would never hide the fact that Rumours has the highest playcount of our iTunes albums nor that we've framed the picture of Lindsey and Stevie topless from their Buckingham Nicks album in hopes of one day recreating it.

So, instead of discussing In Your Dreams, we've decided to revisit some highlights and memorable footage from Stevie's career.

Buckingham Nicks, "Don't Let Me Down Again"
Buckingham Nicks, 1973

Unfortunately, there's no footage of the duo performing this song anywhere on the Internet. Today a popular addition to Mac enthusiasts' record collection, Buckingham Nicks was not well received upon its initial release, it was reissued in 1976 after the two joined Fleetwood Mac.

Fleetwood Mac, "Rhiannon"
Fleetwood Mac, 1975

Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood has said that Stevie's live performance of "Rhiannon" during the late '70s "was like an exorcism."

Fleetwood Mac, "Sara"
Tusk, 1979

Fleetwood Mac is often times said to be an incestuous group due to the love affairs within the band. According to Nicks, this song is about her best friend, Sara Recor, who became Mick Fleetwood's wife while Nicks and Fleetwood were still having an affair. Yeah, it takes a while to get the love affairs straight.

Fleetwood Mac, "The Chain" (Tusk Tour, 1979)
Rumours, 1977

Second-best chain song after "Chain of Fools" by Aretha. Buckingham recycled the intro of "Lola" from Buckingham Nicks for this song. The bass breakdown and the buildup of the outro is our favorite part.

Stevie Nicks, "Edge of Seventeen"
Bella Donna, 1981

Ooh, ooh, ooh. We read somewhere that this track is Nicks' "Stairway to Heaven."

Fleetwood Mac, "Gypsy"
Mirage, 1982

When it was released, the video for this song was the highest-budget music video to date. While this album wasn't as popular as Rumours, it was a good return to the band from Nicks' and Buckingham's solo projects.

Stevie Nicks, "Wild Heart"

For some reason, we like this version of "Wild Heart" more than the one from 1983's The Wild Heart. It was still in the works - you can hear Stevie explaining the structure of the song to her makeup artist. Also, watching her belt out the song, harmonizing for the artist instead of getting her makeup done, is adorable.

Stevie Nicks, "Stand Back"
The Wild Heart, 1983

If "Edge of Seventeen" is Nicks' "Stairway to Heaven", then "Stand Back" is "When The Levee Breaks." To the Led-heads: We know that this isn't the most fitting analogy.

Stevie Nicks, "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?"
Rock a Little, 1985

This was a popular encore performance for Nicks. At the end of this video, a fan comes onstage and hands her a white dove. She tries to lift it up to fly away but it refuses to leave her. That's the power of Stevie Nicks.

Fleetwood Mac, "Silver Springs" (The Dance Tour, 1997)

We were only 10 years old when we first heard this version of "Silver Springs" and fell in love with Stevie's voice - it will always remind us of our mom. Make sure to watch Lindsey and Stevie singing the last lines of the song to one another, never breaking eye contact: "I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you/ You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you."

So good.

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

That's actually huge and it bumped her metro rating to 76. Slant Magazine almost destroyed her rating. Idiots.

I suspect this was personal and aimed at me. I'm not paranoid but when I used to read them there were often little digs at me in their reviews. They probably know I'm a Mac fan. Sorry if that was the cause. If not, take consolation in the fact that Slant is always wrong.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I suspect this was personal and aimed at me. I'm not paranoid but when I used to read them there were often little digs at me in their reviews. They probably know I'm a Mac fan. Sorry if that was the cause. If not, take consolation in the fact that Slant is always wrong.

huh????????

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

huh????????

Just as examples: In one review of some movie they called me a "drama queen" and in another article the editor referred to me as "the worst person I've ever met."

I'm not going to spread gossip; those are just their own words about me. I'll let you decide if they are accurate.

But I also think that every word I'd ever read on that website was wrong. No wonder the editor said that about me. Anyway, until the Stevie review, I hadn't even looked at that site in yeeeaars. But I'm guessing it hasn't improved.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

Just as examples: In one review of some movie they called me a "drama queen" and in another article the editor referred to me as "the worst person I've ever met."

I'm not going to spread gossip; those are just their own words about me. I'll let you decide if they are accurate.

But I also think that every word I'd ever read on that website was wrong. No wonder the editor said that about me. Anyway, until the Stevie review, I hadn't even looked at that site in yeeeaars. But I'm guessing it hasn't improved.

Well, I'm never looking at the website again. They obviously just SUCK!

[fumidesigns]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

Well, I'm never looking at the website again. They obviously just SUCK!

damn right! True is amazing!

hey boo!

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by fumidesigns

damn right! True is amazing!

hey boo!

Thank you for the support. I got over the insults a long time ago, but I really hope I'm wrong that they aren't taking it out on Stevie now. That would be pathetic.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

Thank you for the support. I got over the insults a long time ago, but I really hope I'm wrong that they aren't taking it out on Stevie now. That would be pathetic.

It would, but it might also explain that review. I was just baffled by how negative it was.

[BombaySapphire3]

From the Washington DC Blade
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Joey DiGuglielmo on May 5, 2011


Stevie Nicks returns this week with her first studio album in a decade, ‘In Your Dreams.’ (Courtesy of Reprise Records)
The music business circa 2011 is, as everybody knows, in the toilet. It’s a blessing and a curse for all involved — consumers, of course, have the option of buying songs one at a time, but that means album sales aren’t what they used to be so there’s little incentive for veteran artists to make records. All the money’s in touring.
Top-tier acts who still release albums every couple years are mostly doing it to satiate their muses. So it’s no wonder it took Stevie Nicks a full 10 years to get back to making a proper solo album.
“In Your Dreams,” out Tuesday, is her first studio album since 2001’s “Trouble in Shangri-La” and it’s been an excrutiatingly long wait for her bastion of rabid fans, among some of the most loyal in all of rock.
For all her ‘80s industriousness — she churned out an amazing amount of product both on her own and with Fleetwood Mac in that whirlwind decade — boy, did we pay for it in the ’00s. There were gems along the way — the 2003 Mac album “Say You Will” is an underrated tour de force for her and Lindsey Buckingham — but fans hoping she’d have a career renaissance after kicking years of drug problems were sorely disappointed. She seemed largely content to tour, do guest spots and the occasional hits package (“Crystal Visions”) or live project (“Soundstage Sessions”).
“Dreams,” a classy and melodically rich collaboration with Dave Stewart (The Eurythmics), arrives with anticipation set at fever-pitch levels. It’s been such a long wait, there’s almost no way the album could live up to expectations. But setting that aside and putting things into perspective, it’s pretty obvious from the first spin this is one of Nicks’ strongest, most consistent albums, perhaps even her best since 1985’s “Rock a Little.” It blows 1994’s dismal “Street Angel” away and while individual songs on “Trouble” are better than most of the tracks here, “Dreams” is overall a better, more cohesive album.
Several songs chug along with a mid-temp, driving beat reminiscent of “Talk to Me,” like first single “Secret Love,” the Edgar Allen Poe-inspired “Annabel Lee” and the slightly lighter, slightly slower “Everybody Loves You.” Several songs start slow but then blossom in unexpected ways — the rugged, jangly beat on “Wide Sargasso Sea” doesn’t kick in until the second verse; the strange and catchy “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” gradually picks up steam.
Most of the album follows these light rock/A.C.-flavored vibes and tempos. The lone rocker is also one of the album’s best cuts — the lyrically brilliant “Ghosts Are Gone,” an incisive snapshot of how past loves still haunt.


“For What It’s Worth” sounds a little flat at first — it’s a potent lyrical snapshot of the possibility of romance with someone who’s already in another relationship, but its refrain is initially almost an anti-chorus as it seems to sap the song of its momentum. Nicks doubles her vocals an octave higher on the second and third choruses, a trick used on several of the “Say You Will” cuts, that adds great texture again here.
Things get rather unexpected in the final three tracks. “You May Be the One,” a bluesy, torchy number provides welcomed contrast musically while penultimate cut “Italian Summer” finds Nicks actually belting something out for a change. Her vocal strengths, especially in recent years, have lied mostly in her distinctive timbre rather than oomph. She never had the lung power of, say, Annie Lennox or Ann Wilson (Heart), but she flirts with it on “Summer.” Here’s hoping she includes that in her live show — it has the potential to be a huge show-stopping moment.
The only dud is the odd, spare “Soldier’s Angel,” a duet with Buckingham that never catches fire. It’s a shame, too — it has a lovely lyric. Much better is “Cheaper Than Free,” a duet with Stewart that closes the record on a tender, understated note.
If there’s any overarching disappointment to the whole thing, it’s simply that Nicks feels a little too relaxed, a little too vocally middle of the road at age 62. Nobody, of course, is expecting her to tear it up like the wild woman she was in her early Mac years in the ‘70s, but it would have been great if Stewart and co-producer Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette) could have elicited a little of the vocal energy she brought to legendary cuts like “Stand Back,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Seven Wonders” or “I Can’t Wait.” Nicks thanks her vocal coach in the liner notes. He’s probably done wonders for the longevity of her voice — few are the forces of nature like Tina Turner or gospel’s Shirley Caesar who can let it rip for decades on end — but if there’s any of that left in the Nicks pipeline, it would have given the album more energy and would have been great to get down on wax.
But that’s quibbling — overall, this is a stately, grand and highly welcomed return to recording from one of rock’s best, and in some ways underrated, singers.

[WildHearted]

But Stevie DOESN'T just double her vocals an octave higher on FWIW - it's a harmony part, it changes around but it's a fifth up for most of it...

Insignificant but it makes a difference - doubling something an octave up generally doesn't add much to a line, it can still sound really hollow and empty without the other parts of the chord filled in...

[Macfanforever]

I have to agree with the critic about the music biz going down the toilet.I wonder when people will start getting tired of rap,hip hop,dance.bubblegum music dominating the top of the charts.