The Wild Heart... what is the big deal with this CD? - Page 2

Dark Angel · #16 04-17-2005, 03:48 PM

The Wild Heart is definitely my favorite Stevie solo album, BD being second favorite.
I love the imagery of the lyrics, the mood of the music....it has a sort of mystical romance about it (Sable On Blond, BATB, WH, IAF), combined with one of her best rockers (Nothing Ever Changes), and then of course, Nightbird..for Robin. There's just so many different emotions going on, yet it meshes together perfectly.

blinker12 · #17 04-17-2005, 06:16 PM

Love it too, though it sounds a lot more dated than Bella Donna because of the heavy use of synths (take a bow, Sandy Stewart). That's something I always have to try to overlook when listening to the album.

svnwndrs · #18 04-17-2005, 07:41 PM

The problem with this CD is the sound quality. It is true that it ACTUALLY sounds better on vinyl, but hopefully Stevie gets the urge soon to remaster (and possibly remix) her earlier albums. I used to listen to it a lot, but I quit because I couldn't stand the crappy sound quality. SO, the album itself is great. The only songs i don't like are "I Will Run To You", and "Nothing Ever Changes". The title track, "If Anyone Falls" and "Stand Back" are awesome!

Dreammms · #19 04-17-2005, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Angel

The Wild Heart is definitely my favorite Stevie solo album, BD being second favorite.
I love the imagery of the lyrics, the mood of the music....it has a sort of mystical romance about it (Sable On Blond, BATB, WH, IAF), combined with one of her best rockers (Nothing Ever Changes), and then of course, Nightbird..for Robin. There's just so many different emotions going on, yet it meshes together perfectly.

Well said my friend!!!! I totally agree. Nothing beats WH!

amber · #20 04-17-2005, 08:45 PM

Don't worry, I don't love Wild Heart either, although it does contain my fave song. (one of). But I guess I like the last half fairly well, starting with Enchanted. But I like about the same amount on all Stevie's solo records, so I don't know that Wild Heart is really an exception. I think it hasn't totally had the chance to grow on me, I've only had it 8 months or so. To me, so far, the solo album I've listened to most consistently all the way through is OSOTM.

Though there are some on there I don't like, as well. Not sure what it is about Wild Heart - I think a lot of the songs are dull to me - slow and meandering.

Weird.

CrystalVisions · #21 04-17-2005, 11:06 PM

I love the 'Wild Heart' record...the songs are, as Stevie says, 'wild.' I don't know how else to explain it. My favourite song is 'The Wild Heart' ~ the music, the lyrics, the way Stevie sings it...the harmonies of her, Sharon and Lori ~ it's just really wild, really beautiful.

trackaghost · #22 04-18-2005, 05:56 AM

The Wild Heart is the best Stevie album without a doubt.

It's just filled with passion, joy and so much energy. It's just a rush to listen to it. It's epic and lush and I still love it. I also think it's the last album where Stevie's voice was truly breathtaking, it sort of went downhill after that (although it's improved in recent years).

Whoever said it sounds better on vinyl is right, although I think Bella Donna does too.

dissention · #23 04-18-2005, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

No matter how much I try I just can't get into this record. It seems like a strong album but I just don't have the same passion for the songs that I do with other Stevie albums. I know this is a lot of people's favorite Stevie record, so I feel kind of left out. Is there some secret that I'm not in on? This album just does nothing for me. All the songs seem to be strong, but not special. Most of her other albums have a couple of horrible tracks but I prefer those to a mundane song like Gate and Garden because they have a much stronger personality. Just thought I would share some thoughts and see what other people's opinions are on this album.

The Wild Heart is mundane? Aren't you in love with My Heart?

dissention · #24 04-18-2005, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trackaghost

The Wild Heart is the best Stevie album without a doubt.

It's just filled with passion, joy and so much energy. It's just a rush to listen to it. It's epic and lush and I still love it. I also think it's the last album where Stevie's voice was truly breathtaking, it sort of went downhill after that (although it's improved in recent years).

Whoever said it sounds better on vinyl is right, although I think Bella Donna does too.

With the exception of the awful Beauty and the Beast, I think it's my favorite Stevie album. You could tell her voice was starting to deteriorate, yet it sounded better than ever; she hit some of the highest notes of her career on The Wild Heart. Most of the songs on it are amongst my favorite songs from her. It's a very warm album and I think it's her real gem.

dissention · #25 04-18-2005, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxxmx

sable on blond: diss likes it, how can anyone else not?

It's fabulous. So lush and so beautiful.

chiliD · #26 04-18-2005, 10:35 AM

To me, Wild Heart really hasn't "stood the test of time", with the exception of two songs..."Sable On Blond" & "Beauty & The Beast". The rest of the album sounds either EXTREMELY dated or a redundancy to Bella Donna. "Stand Back" sounds really weak on this, whereas the live punch of the Fleetwood Mac reading of the song has kicked it up a few "Emeril notches".

I really liked it when it was released, but I rarely play it now...except to listen to the two aforementioned tunes.

David · #27 04-18-2005, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trackaghost

The Wild Heart is the best Stevie album without a doubt. It's just filled with passion, joy and so much energy. It's just a rush to listen to it. It's epic and lush and I still love it. I also think it's the last album where Stevie's voice was truly breathtaking

I agree with trackaghost. I remember what a rush this album was because it was so vocally confident & rapturous. If you first heard that title track when it was new, you had never heard anything like that vocal from Stevie Nicks. (You already had poignant hints of it on the Fleetwood Mac tour that happened bfore "The Wild Heart.") Stevie was spreading her wings & flying on the newfound confidence of having scored with "Bella Donna" & her fans were flying along with her. They played "Stand Back" on the radio just before Stevie's appearance at the US Festival, & the Macheads all wanted to go to that US Festival to see her. There really was electricity in the air, & it carried through the summer as we all got to see her solo, playing cavernous sports arenas (for essentially the first time by herself). Jim Ladd "innerviewed" her that summer & a lot of us Macheads went down to KMET to camp out & wait for her. The whole shebang was in love with Stevie Nicks -- she said in interviews back then that "My audiences & I are all in love," & it was true!

In more specific terms, the album has a lot of the flaws that her solo albums all have: in terms of instrumentation, arrangement & production, it's mainstream & mundane. I can't think of a single work by the L.A. studio session scene that has left any important mark musically as an aesthetic milestone. Rock & roll is a band scene, not a hire-guys-for-their-chops scene.

The real beauty of "The Wild Heart" is Stevie's singing. Her songwriting is pretty wild, too, & appealing because if you're still 33 years old & you look like a million bucks in your chiffon & custom plats, your incoherent, weird, feverish fantasies & schoolgirl ideas of mysticism actually hit home pretty powerfully.

GateandGarden · #28 04-18-2005, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiliD

To me, Wild Heart really hasn't "stood the test of time", with the exception of two songs..."Sable On Blond" & "Beauty & The Beast". The rest of the album sounds either EXTREMELY dated or a redundancy to Bella Donna. "Stand Back" sounds really weak on this, whereas the live punch of the Fleetwood Mac reading of the song has kicked it up a few "Emeril notches".

I really liked it when it was released, but I rarely play it now...except to listen to the two aforementioned tunes.

Do you think that "Gate and Garden" is more dated or more of a revisit to Bella Donna?

strandinthewind · #29 04-18-2005, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiliD

. . . has kicked it up a few "Emeril notches"

BAM

ELIUD · #30 04-18-2005, 12:06 PM

I love this entire album but I still wouldn't say its her best or my favorite. Gate and Garden is one of my favorite tracks on it primarily for its ending vocals, both Stevie's and the back up singers'. There's something so very sexy about her cooing "do I love you? uh huh..." and repeating that until she's belting it out.