Pros and Cons: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

[dissention]

If you had to pick from the FM albums, which batch of songs would you pick as Stevie's best? Songs from Tusk? Mirage? Say You Will?

Rank them from best to worst! Here are my picks:

1. Tusk- Every song is amazing. Storms is probably her best song ever written and Beautiful Child is mesmerizing. SOTM is fabulous (I love the intro, really sets the mood!), Angel is quite quirky, and Sara...'nuff said.

2. Say You Will- Illume, RTTG, EFO, Destiny Rules, Goodbye Baby...must I say more?! Every song is amazing in it's own way. Yes, I even like Silver Girl. It's not a fave, but I love the ending to it. "Sometimes...she's an actress...but you'll never *really* know..."

3. Mirage- I LOVE every song! Gypsy is one of my fave songs ever and That's Alright is such a fun song to sing along with. I love the chorus. Straight Back is one of the only true rockers on the album and...it rocks.

4. Fleetwood Mac- Rhiannon and Landslide...and Crystal. Classics.

5. Rumours- Only because I think there are much better songs than Dreams and IDWTK. Love GDW, though.

6. Behind the Mask- Only three good songs: Love Is Dangerous, Affairs of the Heart, and The Second Time. I hate the music to The Second Time, but I love the lyrics.

7. Tango- I don't need to explain. Whassa matta...baby???

[cliffdweller]

yeah, isn't it funny how Rumours ( the F.M. uber album) contains Stevie's most unambitious and bland songs? I like GDW a helluva lot and I also like IDWTK and Dreams but the latter two don't compare to what she contributed to Tusk. If they had put Silver Springs on Rumours instead of IDWTK I might be singing a different tune-- no pun intended.

[David]

Originally posted by cliffdweller
yeah, isn't it funny how Rumours ( the F.M. uber album) contains Stevie's most unambitious and bland songs? I like GDW a helluva lot and I also like IDWTK and Dreams but the latter two don't compare to what she contributed to Tusk.

Actually, the lyrics to "Dreams" are some of the best she's ever written: wry, reserved, ever-so-slightly sarcastic, epigrammatic in the best sense --- a lot less dunderheaded than some of her vaporous, meandering stuff on the "Tusk" songs (which we Stevie fans seem to respond to most violently, for some uncanny reason).

"Dreams" can stand on its own totally apart from Stevie Nicks as a lyric that's actually worth reading on the page, unlike, for example, "Sisters of the Moon," which doesn't have much energy or resonance of its own (it requires Stevie's personality & physical look & vocal style to put it across, to build a drama out of it).

As for the musical side of "Dreams," it's all about the track & the performance, not about the chord progression. I think it's a major textural (sonic) achievement for Fleetwood Mac.

[Watchdevil22]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dissention
[B]If you had to pick from the FM albums, which batch of songs would you pick as Stevie's best? Songs from Tusk? Mirage? Say You Will?

Rank them from best to worst! Here are my picks:

1) TUSK...my favorite album because Stevie's songs are so amazing. My favorites (tho I love them all, in order) Sisters of the Moon, Beautiful Child, Storms, Angel, Sara.

2) SAY YOU WILL...maybe wouldn't have made it so high on my list except for the greater number of songs to choose from. Here's the ones I love: RTTG, Smile At You, Everybody Finds Out, Thrown Down, Goodbye Baby, Illume. SYW, Silver Girl and Destiny Rules I could live without.

3)MIRAGE... I LOVE STRAIGHT BACK!!! one of my all-time favs. That's Alright and of course Gypsy, are also great.

4)RUMOURS...Gold Dust Woman, fan-fricken-tastic! Dreams, excellent lyrics; IDWTK, fun stuff.

5)FLEETWOOD MAC...now these songs deserve to be higher on the list, but the studio versions just don't do it for me. Landslide, and especially Rhiannon are so much more powerful in live performance. I also prefer the version of Crystal on Buckingham Nicks.

6)TANGO IN THE NIGHT...well, she just wasn't at her best, ya know? I love Seven Wonders and I can get through the others, but she's capable of so much better.

Can't really comment on Behind the Mask 'cause I never listen to it.

I think this is my first post in the Stevie forum...so thanks for reading!

Erin

[macmar71]

1) Tusk-I think every song of Stevie's on Tusk is incredible. I love them all, Angel and Storms are probably my all time favorites.

2) Rumours-Gold Dust Woman, I Don't Want To Know and the B-side Silver Springs are also great tracks. Dreams is nice but I think hearing it on the radio alot here I tend to not care much for it.

3)Say You Will-Stevie is represented well on this album and she has songs that are very original as well as some old classic demo songs that she revealed. I love Everybody Finds Out and Thrown Down. I also like Silver Girl which sounds very TISL-like. Goodbye Baby was a demo favorite of mine and to see it on an official release is a welcome. Illume is growing on me and I never thought I would like it. I don't care for Destiny Rules or Running Through The Garden.

4)Mirage-Stevie only had three songs on this and it would have been nice to have maybe one or two more from her. The three are some of the first Stevie songs I had heard as this was my first purchase. Gypsy is my favorite and the alternate mix is the one I have a fondness for.

5)Tango-Again, not a lot of Stevie and I wasn't blown away by her songs on this one other than Seven Wonders. I really think this was more a Lindsey/Christine shining moment.

6)Behind The Mask-Stevie had some good songs on here as well as Christine. Love is Dangerous is the one song on this that I was not crazy for, it just became so cloying.

7)Fleetwood Mac-Landslide is a classic gem. Rhiannon is a classic but one that again gets lots of play and I tend to not go to it. Plus the song she penned and LB sings Crystal is pure beauty!

[cliffdweller]

Originally posted by David
Actually, the lyrics to "Dreams" are some of the best she's ever written: wry, reserved, ever-so-slightly sarcastic, epigrammatic in the best sense --- a lot less dunderheaded than some of her vaporous, meandering stuff on the "Tusk" songs (which we Stevie fans seem to respond to most violently, for some uncanny reason).

"Dreams" can stand on its own totally apart from Stevie Nicks as a lyric that's actually worth reading on the page, unlike, for example, "Sisters of the Moon," which doesn't have much energy or resonance of its own (it requires Stevie's personality & physical look & vocal style to put it across, to build a drama out of it).

As for the musical side of "Dreams," it's all about the track & the performance, not about the chord progression. I think it's a major textural (sonic) achievement for Fleetwood Mac.

Stevie's Tusk songs "dunderheaded" and "vaporous?" How dare you!?!?!?! Anyway, let's just agree to disagree on this one. As we all know, Tusk is the album where everyone decided to take some chances and what resulted, IMO, was an album full of fabulous experimental material both from a songwriting perspective and a musical perspective. As opposed to Rumours, Stevie's Tusk songs are the most ambitious she's ever undertaken. For example, "Sara" is a complete poetic masterpiece, (especially if you take into account the unedited 15 min version) as well as "Storms" and to a certain extent SOTM. Also, there's just more material on Tusk to fairly judge Stevie as a songwriter than on Rumours. Don't get me wrong, I love both albums, and I love Stevie's songs on both albums. I just think F.M. was at the pinnacle of their creativity and musical genius on Tusk. Rumours was a commercial success for a reason.

I also totally disagree with you about SOTM. This song is pure energy, it rocks, it's dramatic, it has the dark lyrics that made GDW popular heck, it could be entitled, "GDW Part II" it's so akin to it lyrically. And I don't think it's necessary to envision Stevie physically to appreciate this song, it really stands on its own. Also, all of Stevie's songs require her vocal styling in order for them to be great. "Dreams" is not immune to this, every one of her songs has a unique vocal, that's why we love them, and also why we love Stevie!

[David]

Originally posted by cliffdweller
Stevie's Tusk songs "dunderheaded" and "vaporous?" How dare you!?!?!?!

But in a good way!

As opposed to Rumours, Stevie's Tusk songs are the most ambitious she's ever undertaken. For example, "Sara" is a complete poetic masterpiece, (especially if you take into account the unedited 15 min version)[/B]

I've never read the lyrics to the complete thing as she first wrote it -- is that the same one? I figure the lyrics that are already in the final one are still there in the old one, & you just basically have more stanzas. Unless we're talking about the track's music? But even in that case, how much different would that have been if the track had been left at 15 mins long? It would have just been more of the same cool little swirly piano & acoustic guitar patterns, I think.

Most of the fans -- at least those who post -- say Stevie's best songs are on "Tusk." But I just have to stick to my opinion that her best songs are on the 1975 & '77 albums. I'm trying to judge them solely on the lyrics, because the rest of the stuff is so collaborative with the other people in Fleetwood Mac.

[TwoTricky]

Best to worst....

1) Tusk...Five different songs representing 5 different emotional levels....it's hard to pick just one...Sara has a 'sweet seductiveness to it'...Sisters of the Moon has that 'dark, mysterious feel' to it...Angel has a 'funky sexiness' to it...Storms has a 'haunting hollow' sadness to it....and Beautiful Child is just this 'wistful' lullaby.........but ultimately my favorite is Storms...I've always identified with that song and I think many of us (especially us Ladies.......) can relate to "But never have I been a blue calm sea...I have always been a storm."

2) Rumours...Alot of 'creative juices' were flowing for eveyone on this record and to listen to it (along with the drama of the day) all the songs just tell a facinating story.....but my favorite one on that album is Gold Dust Woman...to me it just seems to signify a 'rock and roll chick'....glamourous....sexy...smart...in spite of the 'demons'

3) Say You Will....Every week my favorite 'Stevie' song changes....this weeks favorite is RTTG...

4) Mirage....I love her vocals on this album....they were just so sharp and perfect...(after Bella Donna) Stevie really had so much confidence and it showed....my favorite track is Gypsy (mostly for lyrical content)

5) Tango in the Night....Here's where it gets tricky. Obviously Stevie wasn't "All together there" and since Seven Wonders was essentially written by Sandy Stewart (with Stevie adding words I know...but to me it's Sandy's song)....When I See You Again....borders on unbearable. I DO like Welcome To The Room...Sara however....given the subject matter, it just seems to be the most "personal" song on the album

6) Behind The Mask...I like Love Is Dangerous (but again, it was co-written with Rick Vito)....so I tend to lean towards Affairs of the Heart...(Freedom and The Second Time just don't cut it for me)