The Other Side Of The Mirror is a very dark album

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by David

I bet if I heard Stevie's demos for all these songs, I'd love them.

I know you know this, but for those of you that don't, Stevie often said at the time that this was the only record where the producer(Rupert Hine) kept each track as close to the demo as possible, which was something that Stevie had wanted for each album but had yet to attain. I have heard demos for this record. Ususally I love her demos more than the released versions but not on TOSOTM. I love this album.

[johnnystorms]

Originally Posted by David

I feel the same. I think it has some cool songs on it--all of Stevie's albums always have a cool batch of songs on them. But what turns me on (or off) ultimately is what the songs sound like. On Mirror, I've never been able to warm to the Euro style of production and the near-absence of a bottom end, especially on "Rooms on Fire" and "Ooh My Love." Plus, I don't like the way her vocals were recorded. I bet if I heard Stevie's demos for all these songs, I'd love them.

could you explain what you mean by "near-absence of a bottom end" ?

[David]

Originally Posted by johnnystorms

could you explain what you mean by "near-absence of a bottom end" ?

A mix that emphasizes the mid range frequencies at the expense of low end frequencies, giving the listener the impression that the producers deliberately decreased the presence on the bass guitars and kick drums. This gives a track that's filled with synths & layered vocals a transistory sound--tinny and lacking propulsion.

Stevie's nasally voice always sounds better with a pulsating low foundation beneath her, as on the studio tracks of "Dreams" & "Angel."

Good reading: http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_lowdown_bass_recording/

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by David

A mix that emphasizes the mid range frequencies at the expense of low end frequencies, giving the listener the impression that the producers deliberately decreased the presence on the bass guitars and kick drums. This gives a track that's filled with synths & layered vocals a transistory sound--tinny and lacking propulsion.

Stevie's nasally voice always sounds better with a pulsating low foundation beneath her, as on the studio tracks of "Dreams" & "Angel."

Good reading: http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_lowdown_bass_recording/

Whats interesting is that the great Tony Levin played bass on a few key tracks on OSOTM. However, I agree that the obvious absence or emphasis on the low end frequencies throughout the record & final mix hurt the overall listening impact. The result was a vapor-like sound, neither liquid or solid. That mixing approach arguably worked on some songs, especially the atmospheric & airy "Alice" & "Ghosts". But more attention to the bass & drums would have really lifted and rounded out songs like "Rooms On Fire", "Long Way To Go", "Ooh My Love" , "Whole Lotta Trouble" & "Juliet" giving them all some much needed heft. But alas I believe this was the sound they (Rupert & Stevie) were aiming towards, a misty fairy tale sound, not too heavy, but not to light, to crystalize Stevie's vision of a magic album wrapped inside a nightmare - fog surrounding her tales of disappointment & self realization.

The interesting thing is when Stevie had Chris Lord-Alge remix the single version of WLT, the lower end was vastly improved. Same with his remix of "Rooms On Fire" for the "Timespace" collection, both songs had the propulsion & depth that elevated them to a new listening dimension, esp ROF. Upon 1st hearing the "Rooms On Fire" remix on Timespace (my all time favorite version) I couldn't help but be a little saddened that this version hadn't been the official single version released in 89', because IMO it would have leapt off the radio speakers boldly, engaging those listening more aggressively, while possibly becoming even a bigger charting single for Stevie, instead of the timid & limp album version.

[johnnystorms]

Originally Posted by David

A mix that emphasizes the mid range frequencies at the expense of low end frequencies, giving the listener the impression that the producers deliberately decreased the presence on the bass guitars and kick drums. This gives a track that's filled with synths & layered vocals a transistory sound--tinny and lacking propulsion.

Stevie's nasally voice always sounds better with a pulsating low foundation beneath her, as on the studio tracks of "Dreams" & "Angel."

Good reading: http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_lowdown_bass_recording/

thank you! i love to hear , and appreciate your technical expertise. i DO agree with you now that i understand it.

[Over and Over]

The first concert I went to was for this album. I was 14 and completely star struck. It was at the Summit in Houston. Before she began WLOT she said the footage they were shooting was for the new single and to look for it. The song was played four or five times and cameras were moved and readjusted after each take. I never saw it on TV and was wondering if anyone knew what happened to it.

[Rod~A~Little]

Originally Posted by mikebise

I remember being surprised and a bit annoyed in 1989 by Stevie's comments in interviews about the meaning of The Other Side Of The Mirror, i.e., going back and forth from solo to Fleetwood Mac. I found that very superficial, and I didn't believe her for a second. Added with the reviews and fan gushings, all centering on castles and unicorns and fairy tales and stuff, I wondered if I was hearing the same album as everyone else!

I love The Other Side Of The Mirror! But from the moment I got the "Rooms On Fire" single with "Alice" on it, I found the songs full of darkness, anger and fear. And rightfully so, I thought.

"Welcome To The Room... Sara" prepped us a little with Stevie's anger at her management company, letting them know, "I will be different when I get back, and you can take all of the credit, baby!" Stevie didn't want to go to Betty Ford for her cocaine problem. She was leveraged into it, forced by those around her looking out for their own paychecks. And when she got back, "sober", was her life any better? Yeah, she was alive, but was her life any better, really?

I think those were the questions Stevie was struggling with in those first years after rehab. The coke made song-writing easier, she's freely said, even to this day. But she lost a lot of confidence in herself after Betty Ford, as well as the weight comments during the Rock A Little tour. I believe this is why she so eagerly embraced the new, Buckingham-free Fleetwood Mac in 1987, even putting her planned 4th solo release (Stevie Nicks: Greatest Hits was due for Christmas 1987) on hold while she toured with Fleetwood Mac through mid-1988. So, even as she regained her confidence as a performer, Stevie still had issues stemming from her non-reliance on cocaine, her growing dependence on tranquilizers (which we didn't know about then) and especially still her 1984 breakup with the love of her life, Joe Walsh.

I listen to The Other Side Of The Mirror, and it reminds me of Stevie's comments about "Angel" in the Tusk documentary. She had planned "Angel" to be an upbeat song to counter her "dark" songs. "And it is up," she says, but there's this dark current running through it still. And that's how I perceive The Other Side Of The Mirror.

Stevie herself has said that "Doing The Best I Can" is her most depressing song, and it is! It's not hopeful in the least! "Well, I hear she's doing fine and she's doing the best that she can..." That sounds angry and pissed off to my ears, those "whispered secrets" going on and on. There's no, "Well, I'm happy now... la dee dah!" It's more, "Well, this is it for now...", resigned to the uncertainty and sadness in her life.

"Long Way To Go" is clear enough in its anger towards Joe. Whether the songs were written pre or post cocaine, they all seem to have disappointment, sadness, longing and anger at their centers. Even the "happiest" song on the album, "Ooh My Love", still is only remembering the good times:

"Yes, it was a strain on her
Watching her castles fall down...
Oh, but there was a time
When he called her 'angel'..."

That time was over, the castle walls had crumbled and fallen. The music is very pretty, but I don't hear joy when Stevie's voice cracks at the end when she proclaims:

"Ooh eh hey, baby
No one can take you away from me!
No... No one..."

Sounds like he was already gone.

"Alice" is so dark and deceptive. Again, I think it's about Stevie's anger and depression about how others treated her. The music floats on air, as do the Girls' backing vocals, but Stevie seems pretty centered, seeing things very clearly. The hidden stilettos waiting to stab you in the back are always present.

"Call out my name
But I get no answer...
And she prays..."

"For the world that we all come from...", she would add in concert. It seemed like that world of ease was gone for Stevie. With more success came more pressures.

Even the cast off "Real Tears" illuminates some of Stevie's feelings. In a 1994 radio interview, Stevie said that "Real Tears" was about how sometimes you cry crocodile tears and you don't really mean it. But sometimes, the tears are real. And they were real tears in that song.

But "Ghosts" said it probably the clearest, as Stevie was hitting 40 as she wrote it:

"To fill the empty spaces
She's feeling,
She depends on her music
Like a husband
And she knows it's no good
To fall in love again..."

Stevie giving up on love??? The ultimate romantic accepting defeat? I think the loss of Joe Walsh from her life is the underlying theme of The Other Side Of The Mirror. And, because Stevie and Joe were not that public in their romance (Stevie never acknowledged it until 1991 ~ in England!), those hidden things she could not say openly came out in the darker tensions on the album.

Let me say, I love all of Stevie's career, peaks and valleys. I think The Other Side Of The Mirror is a lot deeper than Stevie's given credit for.

WOW! What an Excellent post! Thanks!...I agree that she is not given enough credit for TOSOTM as well!

Curious about the cocaine & making songwriting easier though. Did she ever say that?...I'm also a singer/songwriter...and every time I write a song drunk...I end up thinking what the hell was I doing???... Can't imagine adding drugs! lol

[StreetAngel86]

Originally Posted by mikebise

She was different when she got back.

I've always felt the darkness of TOSOTM, even under the frothiness of it's production. Even the album art is very dark; it's almost nightmarish, really. The never-ending darkness all around her except for the one harshly illuminated spot on the checkered floor where Stevie is on her hands and knees. Rumours, Bella Donna, The Wild Heart and Rock a Little all featured proudly standing Stevies. Even the sitting Stevie on The Wild Heart isn't in the same helpless, passive position as the rouged Stevie on TOSOTM. She's the introspective one of a ghostly trio, but not defeated even at the hands of death itself (Robin)."[/B]

Mirror has always been my fave album because overall there's only one song i skip ... yeah no guesses for which one but 1/2 the reason the album appeals to me is because of the COVER ...and the dark 'fairy tale' fantasy theme. and this description is so bang on and so depressing ... I prefer the back picture. it always reminds me of someone swaying around in a delusion.

And as for Fire Burning being about a garage burning down ... yeah right there's no fire burning/just a soul crying ... ouch

[StreetAngel86]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I don't know why I remembered cat when, as far as I know, Stevie hasn't ever talked about having cats. So, I don't know why that was in my head. "

ignore this if it's already been said ... havent made it through all 4 pages yet
but Stevie has said she's had pet cats before
and once, the only story i remember her saying was about the stray
that she didnt know where it came from but she fed it for YEARS and YEARS

[WarmSir3]

Sorry for digging up this old thread guys - but I was wondering if anyone has Real Tears in FLAC format? I'm a bit of an audiophile and I feel like it belongs on the OSOTM so I want to burn a disc with it on it but I have only found mp3's. I assume it's ok to share since it's not avail commercially anymore as far as I know?

[Phoenixgypsy]

I agree with you about Real Tears. That one should have totally been on the album and not left as just a b-side!

[blemelin]

I'm only repeating what I've read a couple of times. Apparently, she left after she found him in a compromising position with another man. I don't know if that's true, but I've seen it mentioned in various FM & SN forums over the years.

[peer_gynt10]

Originally Posted by blemelin

I'm only repeating what I've read a couple of times. Apparently, she left after she found him in a compromising position with another man. I don't know if that's true, but I've seen it mentioned in various FM & SN forums over the years.

This is so Blanche DuBois.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by blemelin

I'm only repeating what I've read a couple of times. Apparently, she left after she found him in a compromising position with another man. I don't know if that's true, but I've seen it mentioned in various FM & SN forums over the years.

That is one theory.

The other common one, is that he brought cocaine to the mixing sessions.

[michelej1]

Seattle Gay Times, April 25, 2014

http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews42_17/page22.cfm


20 great albums celebrating milestones this year
by Albert Rodriguez - SGN A&E Writer

The Other Side of the Mirror - Stevie Nicks
(released May 11, 1989)
Not as riveting as Bella Dolla or as mystical as The Wild Heart, but just as beloved by Nicks faithful around the world, this album featured a terrific collaboration with Bruce Hornsby. Best track: 'Rooms on Fire.'