The Last 16 years of FINISHED vault songs

[StreetAngel86]

Running through the Garden.

But POTU turned out lovely too and of all those songs, it's really the only one I listen too. I still prefer LFTM over Moonlight ... Moonlight turned into a different song... that I like, but it's not the same (or better or worse)

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by BlueLight

I went back and forth on this one, but ultimately chose Moonlight. I LOVE the demo for Lady From The Mountains, but never considered it to be a finished song. Moonlight took it to the next level, and is true perfection in my book. That said, the final version of Planets Of The Universe is magic to my ears, and I LOVE Stevie's vocals on Running Through The Garden.

I chose "Moonlight", and agree wholeheartedly that Stevie took it to the next level with her amazing much needed haunted & STRANGE chorus - which took the song to its apex. Yes, I miss the "go with her" verse, and I always thought they could have incorporated that part as a bridge, after the second chorus, if Stevie hadn't added another new verse - "she's lonely, lost, and disconnected." But "Moonlight" shines above all & feels finished & timeless, while staying very close to the LFTM demo.

Before IYD, I likely would have chosen POTU or IYEDB. However, I don't believe POTU has aged as well. Nowadays, it's more evident how muddied John Shanks' arrangement sounds than it did in 2001. Whereas, "Moonlight" sounds, crisp, classic, & timeless, and as great as Stevies' most enduring songs from her heyday. However, "If You Ever Did Believe" is a close second.

"Without You" qualifies as the worst "vault" release, mostly because of its nails on chalkboard, brassy guitar tone, that is inescapable. L & S clearly didn't put much effort into the mixing or sound engineering on that track! It sounds cheaply produced.

"Smile At You" & "Goodbye Baby" were markedly big disappointments for me when I first heard them. Not that they are ghastly, just not what I would have ever imagined they would've ended up becoming.

[sorcerer999]

Originally Posted by Christopher

"Smile At You" & "Goodbye Baby" were markedly big disappointments for me when I first heard them. Not that they are ghastly, just not what I would have ever imagined they would've ended up becoming.

"The Tower" was always a demo close to my heart for MANY years, and I admit I was a tad disappointed in "Goodbye Baby" at first. The "I hope your heart's not broken, don't forget me...etc" that she added kind of turned me off. That being said, I LOVE the arrangement of the song ~ simple synth, acoustic guitar and click track ~ and I LOVE her vocal on it. It has grown on me over time and now I enjoy listening to it more than I used to. A lot of Stevie songs are like that for me.

[saintbernard]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

Best : Planets of the Universe
Worst : Without You

I have to agree with this.

I loved Planets of the Universe the first time I heard it. When I heard the extended version was even more in love. I love the demo for being so soft and delicate and love the finished version for being so powerful.

Without You was a real disappointment for me. The same with Smile At You and Running Through the Garden, although to a lesser degree.

[KenshiMaster16]

Planets all the way. The TISL version, especially the extended one, kicks total ass.

[gssmith]

I think the final released versions of the songs sound way better then the demos.

[Phil]

I think my favourite would be "Planets Of The Universe" (full length version), closely followed by "Moonlight", "Goodbye Baby" and "If You Ever Did Believe" (sorry, just had to mention it!). It's difficult for me to choose only one I'm afraid.
I adored the 1970's piano demo of "Planets" and didn't expect to respond as well as I did to the TISL version, but it really blew me away. I was so impressed with the way Stevie wrote a whole new song around the original, incorporating some of her best (somewhat borrowed) lyrics, cementing it as one of my absolute faves. That said, it's such a brilliant song that I've enjoyed every version I've heard, from the Rumours recordings through to the Tracy Young dance mixes.
Once again, Stevie was able to re-write an old demo ("Lady From The Mountain") into the masterpiece that became "Moonlight". It's just about perfect in my opinion, but I do pine for the "so go with her" section and detest the title (it should have been either "Lady From The Mountain" or "Strange").
I was also a big fan of the original "Goodbye Baby" demo, but truly love the SYW version. I was not prepared for the heartbreaking vocal Stevie delivered on this version - it moves me to this day. A thing of beauty.
The Sheryl Crow produced version of "If You Ever Did Believe" does not stray far from the 1970's demo, but features a robust and committed vocal from Stevie. The harmonies are really sweet and these feature nicely as the song fades. A sublime version.
As for the worst, well it goes without saying that it's "Without You". The 2013 version is completely awful, from the lazy vocals (and distinct lack of harmonising between Stevie and Lindsey) to the generic, by numbers instrumentation. It actually makes me feel ill.
With regard to "Smile At You", if I had not heard the demo recording, I would not have been disappointed with the SYW version, which is fine as it stands. However, I do definitely prefer the 1970's arrangement. I do, however, have a problem with the "turned around and ran" line, particularly since it was given such prominence in the SYW version. I guess you wouldn't mention that to Bob Dylan...

[UndoingTheLaces]

I know I'm in the minority around Secret Love, and I had to really think hard about this one. I loved how Moonlight and Planets took half finished demos and made them into full songs. Yes, Planets was a full song but adding a chorus really makes it whole and I love the direction she went with it. The lilting meandering of the original is nice for a 70's hippie vibe but for the early 2000's the production they put into it was amazing. And Moonlight really was a whole transformation over Lady, and I loved that. But my choice for Secret Love had to do with it's pureness. I've loved that song since I got a cassette copy of the Almanac bootleg back in the 90's. Her voice, the little beat box and that simple electric piano over heartfelt lyrics about love and longing was just so beautiful. I had no idea it was going to go on In Your Dreams until I heard the pre-release snippet promo thingy and I was beside myself with excitement. But if you had told me she was going to do it I would have been apprehensive. It was just so wonderful in demo form I couldn't have imagined it being done any other way. But once I heard the finished song I could tell they wanted to keep the feeling that the original gave you and when you get to that little moment just before the final chorus where all the instrumentation drops out and you have just a moment of that little electric piano. It's like you're in the middle of this huge celebration and for a moment you're transported back to the very reason you love the song in the first place. And for that I feel this is the best finished Vault song. Because it was changed enough to be new and fresh, but it kept just the right elements of the demo for the fans that had loved it all these years.

[jkmaletic]

"Moonlight" for me. I loved it at first listen.

In last place for me would be "Without You". That song wasn't all that when BN did it back in the day anyway, so I didn't expect much.


Jamie

[Artemis]

Candlebright + Sorcerer are both absolutely lovely on TISL, but they don't really deviate from the demos all that much.
Planets Of The Universe - LOVE this one, and the dance remix is phenomenal. Totally different to the demo version, it's like two completely different songs.
Smile At You - I will NEVER understand why people like the SYW version. All the passion from the early demos is gone, and that "turned away and ran" part just irritates the hell out of me. Absolute dirge of a remake.
Running Through The Garden - Stevie's second-best song on SYW (after Thrown Down) and I love the guitar in it, but there's something about the demo I love. It's so 80s, she's all over the place. It's just fabulous.
Goodbye Baby - I don't like this enough to bother listening to the demo. Total snoozefest.
Secret Love - the demo is sweet and cute, but the finished version is such a good little pop moment for Stevie. Love the production. It makes the song feel so... epic.
Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream) - It has that epic quality to it, and I love all the new additions, but Lady From The Mountains is a demo I have a special fondness for.
Annabel Lee - I've never heard the demo, but after hearing the completed version, I don't think I'd want to. The studio version is perfection. The strings! Stevie's voice! The long outro! Still one of my favourites from IYD.
Without You - Absolute dirge. Total trainwreck of a song. Lazy uninspired vocals and a terrible production. She sounds so great on Sad Angel, it wounds me how terrible she sounds on her song on the EP. The original is totally adorable and worth listening to. The finished version... is not.

The majority of them are great when they've been finished, with only Smile At You and Without You being offensive. But if I had to go for a favourite... I'd probably pick Planets. Or Annabel Lee. Although with Planets, having such a wonderful completed version takes nothing away from the powerful original. Which is one reason I'm looking forward to this new album.

[louielouie2000]

Even though I've often complained about how Smile At You lost it's potency from it's Mirage days, it's still the best resuscitated demo. Why? More so than any of the others, it was totally rebuilt from the ground up. It's something truly new from the original, sans the lyrics. The production was very edgy & current when it was released. It's still rather modern, arty, & avant garde sounding after more than a decade. When it comes to these old demos being rerecorded, I either like it when Stevie sticks very close to the original vision, or totally reinvents them. Smile At You is obviously a case of the latter, and I think it's pretty damned inventive what they did with it.

[Johnny Stew]

The best is a tie for me: "Planets of the Universe" and "Moonlight."

As others have said, in both cases Stevie took beloved old demos and turned them into something even more special. And, I have to say, as much as I've always loved "Lady From The Mountains," I could see why Stevie had never released it. The song always felt like it was somehow incomplete. With "Moonlight," it became in every way equal to Stevie's most famous songs.

Now, I don't really have a "worst" on that list, but my least favorite, is "Candlebright."

I don't dislike it in any way, shape or form -- it's just never knocked my socks off. Not as a demo and not as a finished track. It's pleasant, it has good lyrics and a solid vocal. But it never lingers in my subconscious. If it doesn't come up in a shuffle, or when I'm listening to 'TISL,' it never occurs to me to listen to it. It just kind of "ceases to exist," for whatever reason.

[I seem to be in a minority, but I really like "Without You." I do have two nitpicks about it, though. For one, it was mastered way too loudly and therefore completely brick-walled. And, secondly, it goes on a little too long. But I adjusted the peak volume, and edited out about 34 seconds near the end. Now it's perfect, lol. ]

[mitzo]

The hate for the SYW Smile at you is nuts.

[MoonSister75]

My favourite is Planets, closely followed by Sorcerer.

I also love Goodbye Baby and Running through the Garden. I'm fond of most songs on this list really.

My least favourite is Secret Love - I love the demo with its sparseness, but not the IYD version I have tried many times to listen to it, hoping it will grow in me, maybe it will at some point. To me the demo is perfect as it is

[On Ice]

Mine's an obvious choice based on one of my favourite songs of Stevie's: Sorcerer. I was so pleasantly surprised to see the high notes preserved on Trouble in Shangri La and felt they did the song justice. That said i would have loved Fleetwood Mac to have taken the tune on for the White Album and increased her much needed presence on that record. I can't say that I think any of the demos haven't turned out well but agree a softer guitar tone and vocal on Without You would have brought out the sweetness and the breezy feeling the song could've evoked and heck maybe even would've captured radio's interest. All of the vault songs are amongst her best tunes and so many missed opportunities over the years, I'm over the moon that she's doing this and I think we're all going to be pleasantly surprised with the results. I thought In Your Dreams was a great album (only flaw being some editing would've made it a little tighter in spots) so glad to hear Dave's at the helm.