IYD Press Reviews & Discussion

[Tango]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I'm not suggesting this one was aimed at me, but it's true that a number of the Onion arts critics hated me in college. Example: in a video contest, two of their critics rated my work a "0" on a scale of 1 to 10. It was below the alotted scale!!!!!! And one of their girlfriends fired me from the college paper.

What exactly did you do in college to have people hating YOU and sniping at Nicks?

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Tango

What exactly did you do in college to have people hating YOU and sniping at Nicks?

I don't really remember my college years. One of them gave a really bad presentation in French film class on Godard's Week End and I called him out on it. That's all I can think of. They're just not good people. As such, I'm not surprised they don't respond to Stevie. They obvs wanted Stevie to do an anti-Bush album--the critical paradigm of the simple-minded.

[BombaySapphire3]

It seems like the mainstream or more establishesd press are all giving this album wonderful reviews it's the hipster/indie types that seem to be panning it.Like they expect her to sound like Arcade Fire or somethingI'll bet even the members of Arcade Fire probably like Stevie or at least Tusk.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

It seems like the mainstream or more establishesd press are all giving this album wonderful reviews it's the hipster/indie types that seem to be panning it.Like they expect her to sound like Arcade Fire or somethingI'll bet even the members of Arcade Fire probably like Stevie or at least Tusk.

yeah, and I think in the long haul, eventhough she has gotten 97# positive reviews, her metascore will drop, only because it prefers those lousy critics over the regular

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

yeah, and I think in the long haul, eventhough she has gotten 97# positive reviews, her metascore will drop, only because it prefers those lousy critics over the regular

Please tell me, what is a metascore?

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Please tell me, what is a metascore?

the number used to give an album a grade

type in metacritic and go to there website

[tabruns]

I think you're right Jondalar. I emailed Metacritic and asked why they didn't include Stevie's score from US magazine and got a terse "We don't count US magazine for music reviews" response back (yet they do count A.V.). I sent them back a terse response of mine own asking where was the glowing Billboard rating then?

[Tango]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I don't really remember my college years. One of them gave a really bad presentation in French film class on Godard's Week End and I called him out on it. That's all I can think of. They're not just not good people. As such, I'm not surprised they don't respond to Stevie. They obvs wanted Stevie to do an anti-Bush album--the critical paradigm of the simple-minded.

Good for you, then!

Just curious, since this thread is about reviews and discussions--did anyone here watch the 1993 movie Wide Sargasso Sea? If so, how well do you think Stevie's song picks up on the feelings of the film?

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by tabruns

I think you're right Jondalar. I emailed Metacritic and asked why they didn't include Stevie's score from US magazine and got a terse "We don't count US magazine for music reviews" response back (yet they do count A.V.). I sent them back a terse response of mine own asking where was the glowing Billboard rating then?

You can bet they will put every negative review in there from every grundgie magazine though.

[kak125]

http://www.assignmentx.com/2011/cd-r...n-your-dreams/

CD Review: Stevie Nicks – IN YOUR DREAMS
The Fleetwood Mac singer produces a solid album of mystical pop in conjunction with former EURYTHMICS frontman Dave Stewart
Grade: B+

One of the most fascinating aspects about singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks is how she not has masterfully managed to be both a co-frontperson for the band Fleetwood Mac and also have an equally successful solo career, with each sounding unique unto themselves.

Her work with Mac and former lover/partner/bandmate Lindsey Buckingham was seeped in emotional angst, music that was a pop/rock hybrid elevated by Buckingam’s skills as a guitarist and sometimes producer for the band. Her solo stuff leaned more in the rock arena. It was always Nicks at its heart, but she always seem to write a certain way with Mac (“Dreams,” “Rhiannon,” “Gypsy,” etc.) than when she was going solo with tracks like “Edge of Seventeen,” “Talk To Me” and “Stand Back.”

It’s been ten years since her last solo effort TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA and eight since the last Mac release SAY YOU WILL and the time in between has definitely given her space to fashion a bold, and vibrant new album IN YOUR DREAMS.

Paired up with former Eurythmics guru Dave Stewart as producer and occasional co-songwriter, Nicks has found a way of making a forward-thinking album while still sounding eternally Nicks.

If SHANGRI-LA embraced more of her rock side, IN YOUR DREAMS is more pop. And while the pairing with Stewart may make you think the new release is drenched in ‘80s-styled synths, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Stewart, like her pairings with Buckingham and even members of Tom Petty’s The Heartbreakers (who were all over her first two solo albums, and help out here), brings a completely new texture to her sounds.

With “Secret Love,” Nicks delivers a timeless angst-riddled song about forbidden love. It’s a great kick-off to the disc and segues into another forbidden love song, the acoustically-driven “For What It’s Worth” co-written with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell.

While Nicks has managed to keep her Mac past separate, IN YOUR DREAMS finds both Lindsey Buckingham and drummer Mick Fleetwood guesting on many tracks and bringing, no surprise, a Mac vibe. “Wild Sargasso Sea” definitely benefits from Buckingham’s guitar flourishes, but it’s “Soldier’s Angel” that feels as if it’s directly ripped from a ‘70s era Mac album. Buckingham’s sparse guitar and harmony vocals and Nicks lyrics bring to mind RUMOURS-era “The Chain.” It’s a great song and one of the disc’s best.

Nicks gets back to her usual spiritual self with the tracks “New Orleans” and “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream” both name-checking vampires in popular culture. “New Orleans” brings up Anne Rice and vampires, while “Moonlight” is written in response to TWILIGHT. Two songs in this vein is a bit overkill, but only Nicks can make it work as well as she does.

Nicks pulls out her bluesy card with late-album cuts “Ghosts Are Gone” and “You May Be The One.” This is a side that we’ve never really seen Nicks expose of herself and it’s a reminder that her raspy pop vocals are perfect for this barroom swagger. “You May Be The One” is the stronger song as she talks about more heartbreak.

The album closes with “Cheaper Than Free” written with Stewart who also duets and harmonizes with her on it. It’s another experiment for Nicks, having a feel of the strong, stripped down ballads Eurythmics favored during the end of their pop run.

While in the past, Nicks may have seemed like she was trying too hard both vocally and musically, here she seems positively relaxed. Her vocals are in great shape, her rasp never getting the best of her and her focus absolutely pitch-perfect.

Still, IN YOUR DREAMS is not a perfect album. Omit two songs, and it may have come close, but that’s not the point. The point here is that Nicks has found a way to be both current and herself. The disc isn’t overproduced like some of her prior solo efforts (the dreadful THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR) and she clearly is striving for new musical territory to stretch as an artist and add an even richer palette to her already superb catalog of songs

[BombaySapphire3]

.

"While Nicks has managed to keep her Mac past separate, IN YOUR DREAMS finds both Lindsey Buckingham and drummer Mick Fleetwood guesting on many tracks and bringing, no surprise, a Mac vibe. “Wild Sargasso Sea” definitely benefits from Buckingham’s guitar flourishes"

Right...Waddy does do a pretty damned good impression of Joe Walsh on WSS though.

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

.

"While Nicks has managed to keep her Mac past separate, IN YOUR DREAMS finds both Lindsey Buckingham and drummer Mick Fleetwood guesting on many tracks and bringing, no surprise, a Mac vibe. “Wild Sargasso Sea” definitely benefits from Buckingham’s guitar flourishes"

Right...Waddy does do a pretty damed good impression of Joe Walsh on WSS though.

I was gonna say, I thought Lindsey's sole contribution was Soldier's Angel.

[michelej1]

Metro Weekly
http://www.metroweekly.com/arts_ente...ic.php?ak=6229

Stand Back

Even if they're not right out of your dreams, there's much to like about the new albums from Stevie Nicks and J.Lo

by Doug Rule, Published on May 12, 2011

Stevie Nicks is back with her first album in 10 years – 30 years after her solo debut. She almost sounds like she never left. She certainly looks as if she never left, dressed in her trademarked dramatic costuming and floor-length gowns all throughout the liner notes to In Your Dreams.

Even if it's not right out of your dreams, there's much to like about In Your Dreams. Nicks hired Dave Stewart, best known for his work with Annie Lennox in the Eurythmics in the '80s, to lead produce the whole affair. The result is a solid set that any longtime fan will enjoy, especially if they give it time and can accept the toll that time and a hard life takes on a voice.

Nicks, who turns 63 in a couple weeks, owns one of the most recognizable voices in all of pop music: a gritty, growly alto that takes no prisoners, as stark and searing as her image.

But it's not nearly as glorious of a weapon as it once was, first as a member of Fleetwood Mac in the '70s and especially as the hard-edged '80s-era solo star whose unalloyed ferocity gave us indelible hits, from ''Edge of Seventeen'' to ''Stand Back.'' In Your Dreams doesn't even have a song as punchy as 2001's ''Planets of the Universe.''

Instead, most songs are on the softer side – often drawing from country as much as soft-rock. This tender approach results in songs that are perfectly fine, if a little bland and unremarkable. It was clearly a calculated move, because the approach is also less taxing on Nicks's voice, which has suffered not just the ravages of age but also her past addictions to both stimulants and downers.

''For What It's Worth'' is a powerful ballad – more so with each listen – about someone who rescued Nicks from the abyss. In many ways it gains more power by the sheer fact that Nicks is obviously straining her voice hitting the song's many gravelly notes. And that fact is a wee bit depressing: the realization that she's lost firepower on both ends of her vocal register.

There's really only one song out of 13 that could not have been recorded and released in the '80s. And once you get to it, you'll wish for more songs like ''Everybody Loves You.'' Light touches of electronic-pop usher in the song, which stays light, though bittersweet. ''Everybody loves you, but you're so alone,'' Nicks sings, while Stewart offers intriguing harmony. It's not exactly clear why, but Nicks's voice sounds as strong here as anywhere else. It's clearer, more pristine.

As refreshing as it is, even ''Everybody Loves You'' can't leave the past behind. The bridge features an electric guitar solo. It's somewhat restrained, and doesn't come out of the blue, but it is blaring – and blinding – all the same.

Was the '80s a good decade for Nicks – and Stewart – or what?

[Livia]

Still the gays’ favorite Goth queen, Stevie makes ‘Dreams’ come true
RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer

BACK IN BLACK | Nicks’ first studio CD of new songs in a decade was worth the wait.We haven’t heard from Stevie Nicks for too long. Excepting her Crystal Visions “best of” album in 2007 and a couple of live-performance releases, she hasn’t dropped a full-length solo disc since 2001’s Trouble in Shangri-La. Then again, what does she have left to prove?

But on In Your Dreams, her seventh release, she proves one thing: That she can still impress us. (Having Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart on her side doesn’t hurt none.)

The first single, the opening track “Secret Love,” sets the pace nicely. Without feeling the need to burst out of the gate, Nicks is patient with “Love,” demonstrating she hasn’t wavered in her songwriting skills. While we may not hear her on Top 40 radio anymore, “Secret” has a strong contemporary feel that’s easy to listen to without compromising Nicks’ style.

Stewart and co-producer Glen Ballard (No Doubt, Michael Jackson) have painted over Dreams with a glossy sheen that enhances Nicks’ move into today’s market rather than take away from her familiar, gritty personality. The slickest of tracks is probably “For What it’s Worth.” As the guitar plays, the strings are a little too crisp, but the construct is beautifully executed and Nicks gets into that low register that’s hard not to love.

What’s not gone is her Victorian Goth ethos. All through the album, we see her in various dramatic outfits and hats; at times, a horse or an owl accompany her. So when she sings “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), it’s never as weird as maybe it should be. The piano builds into a power ballad as she sings about the doomed connection between a female vampire and a man: If he leaves her / he’ll be losing the chance / to stay alive. The same quality comes through on her reworking of Poe’s poem, “Annabel Lee.” What could have easily been goofy tracks are fascinating narratives. Nicks isn’t just a songwriter, she’s a storyteller — a skill forcefully on display here.

Interestingly enough, where Nicks and Stewart collaborate on songwriting is where more of her rocker chick comes out, though matured. The title track and the subsequent “Wide Sargasso Sea” have a stronger pulse, mixed well but letting her jam out just a hair.

They co-wrote the final chapter of the album with a trio of songs. “You May Be the One” goes for a bluesy flair without pretension. Nicks never sounds like she’s trying here, and Stewart plays the guitar with enough restraint to not be Eric Clapton (although nowadays he could pass for his twin). “Italian Summer” is a heavy-handed bump in the collection.

They rebound superbly on the closer, a duet (Stewart sings!). “Cheaper than Free” is without doubt the CD’s sweetest song, one that everyone should give to their significant other. Everyone. You’ll get major points. A bit dreamy, but still with a rock undertone, the song is never in the same league as Nicks’ previous blockbuster duets (“Leather and Lace” and “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Don Henley and Tom Petty respectively), but the good thing is, Nicks doesn’t have to compete with herself.

What Nicks does here with In Your Dreams isn’t any type of comeback or “don’t forget me” album. Instead, she lets us know that she still has songs inside of her waiting to get out. And they’re some damn fine ones.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 13, 2011.

http://www.dallasvoice.com/nicks-time-1076093.html

[Amlyn]

In Your Dreams: A Triumphant Return for the Queen of Rock & Roll

Stevie Nicks's New CD, Her First in 10 Years, Shows Nicks in Fine Voice and Storytelling Form
Mike Sarzo, Yahoo! Contributor Network

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...g2.html?cat=33

Stevie Nicks is back.

Anyone who has followed her ever since her commercially successful 2001 album Trouble in Shangri-la knows that Nicks has seldom been far from the road. After spending the bulk of 2002 in the studio with Fleetwood Mac to
record their last CD Say You Will, she and the Mac toured in 2003 and 2004 to support that album. One year later, she and Don Henley toured, then she continued the tour on her own. She toured solo again in 2007 and 2008, then toured with Fleetwood Mac in 2009. She even threw in a few shows in an August respite from recording.

Now, Nicks is back with In Your Dreams, her first studio album since Trouble in Shangri-la. That previous record saw Nicks debut at No. 5, which was the highest chart position for a Stevie Nicks solo disc since 1983's The Wild Heart, which featured one of her best-known songs, "Stand Back."

The new CD features Nicks's voice in top shape. She uses that instrument to great effect with some of the most passionate singing she's had in a very long time. She sings "Secret Love", the first single, and a song that just missed the cut on Rumour in a comfortable alto that keeps Nicks from scraping into male range.

The title track features inspired vocals and lyrics, including the confidently sung chorus: "I'm just at the other end of your night/I'm always in and out of your life/Right down the middle of all your dreams/In your dreams" brings back to mind of of Nicks's best lyrics. The bridge features some of her most optimistic lyrics in years: "Are all those tears necessary/For all that pain that you carry/You just send those tears away/Come in out of the darkness/It's a beautiful day." Instead of having the subject of the vocal advice simply dry or wipe the tears away, figuratively treating the symptoms of a malady, she's telling him or her to banish the pain at its source.

She collaborated with Dave Stewart, who was best known as the other half of The Eurythmics. He co-produced the CD with veteran producer Glen Ballard. Nicks described the year she and Stewart worked together, co-writing
and having Stewart take several poems and turn them into songs, as the best year of her life, and it shows in the new material.

A previous description of In Your Dreams, even without hearing a majority of the songs was that disc may be "[Trouble in Shangri-la on steroids]." Like Trouble in Shangri-la, the CD sees Lindsey Buckingham make an appearance. Instead of adding additional guitar the way he did on the song "I Miss You", Buckingham plays guitar and sings harmonies with Nicks on "Soldier's Angel", which was inspired by her trips to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to visit wounded American soldiers from the U.S. wars in the Middle East. The song even features Nicks taking a stab at political commentary, describing the divide between left and right as "a war of words between worlds ... about what is wrong, 'bout what is righteous."

She also writes a hopeful tribute to New Orleans during which she describes Hurricane Katrina as "a perfect storm" in "The City of Dreams."

One thing Nicks is well known among her fans for is self referential lyrics, tying in lyrics from earlier songs to her newest songs. "Come in out of the the darkness" from "In Your Dreams" recalls the first title track she wrote, "Bella Donna." She also refers to the more obscure "Battle Of The Dragon" in "Soldier's Angel" by repeating the line "no one walks away from this battle." In the second hard rocker on the CD, "Ghosts Are Gone", Nicks refers to "a ghost through a fog", which appears in "Angel" off Fleetwood Mac's 1979 double album Tusk and in "Sweet Girl" off their 1997 comeback CD The Dance. It's a device that can be tiresome in some of her weaker material, but in her strongest songs, it ties themes together nicely.

Even if the CD doesn't bring Nicks back to the top of the charts or any Grammy nominations, the CD is already a success in one regard: It is a strong collection of songs that showcase Nicks at her best, and it shows that even though she's on the edge of 63, she still has the qualities that shot her to superstardom in the 1970s.