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Rating: There was a time when a beautiful woman conquered America with her dance steps and later did so in regal pose with a parrot in her hand. We're obviously talking about Stevie Nicks, the female voice of Fleetwood Mac. Having left the band and been turned down by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when she requested to join them, the singer decided to embark on a solo career, and, I would add, very successfully: Nicks has six albums to her name, two Grammy nominations, and seven platinum records.
"Bella Donna" is Stevie Nicks' first historic solo album, and many of the songs it contains were already written by the artist during her time with Fleetwood Mac, later discarded by the other band members and by Stevie Nicks herself.
The album is produced by none other than Tom Petty and his Damn The Torpedoes producer (released that same year), Jimmy Iovine, while the reins of the musical recordings are in the hands of Benmont Tench, the Heartbreakers' keyboardist. The technical part is thus left to big names, but the guests are no less: we find E-street band’s keyboardist Roy Bittan, the beautiful voice of the "eagle" Don Henley, just to name a couple.
Strangely, sometimes debut solo albums get totally ignored, while others are hailed (rightly or not). "Bella Donna" was a real success, it reached number one in America and top positions in various European countries and achieved five platinum records on its own. Despite the solo success, Stevie Nicks had to interrupt the tour to resume recording "Mirage" and continue with the Fleetwood Mac career, from whose sound she deviates significantly. It is therefore partly due to the freedom to write in a wholly personal way and partly due to the influence of guest-musicians that the album's sound differs greatly from the classics we were used to. Sure, the sound and genre are nothing complicated or difficult to listen to, but the result is much more influenced by country-rock, whose nuances are quite prominently felt here and there. In this style, the guitars in the sweet "After The Glitter Fades" are enjoyable.
A particular praise goes to one of the two hits of the album, "Edge Of Seventeen", dedicated to the death of John Lennon and the singer's uncle; it has an incredible simplicity and rhythm, the singing is incredibly fiery, and backing singers Lori Perry and Sharon Celani do an excellent job, while the powerful riff played by Waddy Wachtel makes the piece unique and unforgettable. For those who place great importance on a song's lyrics, the words are very refined: a white-winged dove is compared to the spirit of deceased people.
The other great hit of the album is a piece written by Tom Petty. Stevie desperately wanted one of his songs, and after Petty took two back because he liked them too much, he finally gifted her this "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" perfectly suitable for Nicks' voice, fantastically duetted with its own composer. And if we talk about duets, "Leather And Lace" is a fantastic result, because the voices of Stevie Nicks and Don Henley blend perfectly together, almost as they did with Buckingham. The only flaw one might find in the album is the downturn towards the end with the last two pieces "Outside In The Rain" and "The Highwayman", surely good songs, but they have much less to offer compared to the others. A different finale would have made the album a masterpiece. Catchy but also gritty, that's how one could define it. Certainly an excellent album as a whole, perhaps the most beautiful of her personal discography. The American Bella Donna did a magnificent job.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Bella Donna (05:21)
You can ride high atop your pony
I know you won't fall...
'cause the whole thing's phoney.
You can fly swingin from your trapeze
Scaring all the people...
but you never scare me
Bella donna...
And we fight...for the northern star
No speed limit...this is the fast lane
It's just the way that it is here
And you say...I never thought it could
Bella donna...we fight...
for the northern star
And the lady's feeling
Like the moon that she loved
Don't you know that the stars are
A part of us
And the lady's feeling
Just like the moon that she loved
And you say...I never thought it could
Bella donna
Come in out of the darkness...
You are in love with...
And I'm ready to sail...
It's just a feeling...
Sort of captures your soul
Bella donna...
And the woman may be awestruck
And the woman may truly care
but the woman is so tired...
So the woman dissappears...
Come in out of the darkness...
Bella donna...my soul...
Don't change...baby please don't change
And you say...
and your face becomes thin
You never thought it could
Come in out of the darkness
Bella donna...
You are in love with
And I'm ready to sail
It's just a feeling
05 After the Glitter Fades (03:31)
Well I never thought I'd make it
Here in Hollywood...
I never thought I'd ever
Want to stay...
What I seem to touch these days
Has turned to gold...
What I seem to want
Well you know I'll find a way
For me... it's the only life
That I've ever known
And love is only one...
Fine star... away
Even though the living
Is sometimes laced with lies...
It's alright...
The feeling remains
Even after the glitter fades
The loneliness of a one night stand
Is hard to take
We all chase something
And maybe this is a dream
The timeless face of a rock and roll
Woman... while her heart breaks
Oh you know... the dream keeps coming
Even when you forget to feel
For me... it's the only life...
That I've ever known
And love is only one... fine star away
Even though the living
Is sometimes laced with lies...
It's alright...
The feeling remains...
Even after the glitter fades
For me... it's the only life
That I've ever known
And love is only one fine star away
Even though the living
Is sometimes laced with lies
It's alright...
The feeling remains
Even after the glitter fades
Oh you know... the feeling remains
Even after the glitter fades
Oh the feeling remains...
Even after the glitter... fades
06 Edge of Seventeen (05:28)
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Whoo... whoo... whoo...
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
And the days go by...
Like a strand in the wind...
In the web that is my own...
I begin again
Said to my friend, baby...
Nothin' else mattered
He was no more... than a baby then
Well he... seemed broken hearted...
Something within him
But the moment... that I first laid...
Eyes... on... him... all alone...
On the edge of... seventeen
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
ooo baby... ooo... said ooo...
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Said Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
Well I went today... maybe I will go again...
Tomorrow
Yea yea well the music there well it was hauntingly...
Familiar
Well I see you doing...
What I try to do for me
With the words from a poet...
And a voice from a choir
And a melody... nothing else mattered
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
The clouds... never expect it...
When it rains
But the sea changes color...
But the sea...
Does not change
And so... with the slow... graceful flow...
Of age
I went forth... with an age old...
Desire... to please
On the edge of... seventeen
Oooooooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
Well then suddenly...
There was no one... left standing
In the hall... yeah yeah...
In a flood of tears
That no one really ever heard fall at all
Well I went searchin' for an answer...
Up the stairs... and down the hall
Not to find an answer...
Just to hear the call
Of a nightbird... singing...
Come away...
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo... baby ooo... said ooo
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo... baby ooo... said ooo
Well I hear you in the morning...
And I hear you...
At nightfall...
Sometimes to be near you...
Is to be unable... to hear you...
My love...
I'm a few years older than you...
My love
Just like the white winged dove...
Sings a song...
Sounds like she's singing...
Ooo baby... ooo... said ooo
10 The Highwayman (04:50)
Alas he was the highwayman
The one who comes and goes
And only the highway-woman
keeps up with the likes of those
And she in all her magic
With hands as quick as light
Took him to be a challange
And went into the night
And he in all his glory
Was far ahead of her
But she was never sorry
For wishes that would burn
Enter compitition
She chases beneath the moon
Her horse is like a dragonfly
She is just a fool
And she wonders is this real
Or does she just want to be queen
And he fights the way he feels
Is this the end of a dream
And then he sees her coming
Heartbeats on the wind
Considers slowing down
But then he could never win
And she out in the distance
Sees him against the sky
A pale and violent rider
A dream begun in wine
And she wonders is this real
Or does she just want to be queen
And he fights the way he feels
Is this the end of a dream
A dream as the thunder wakes her
And her highwayman disappears
On a life already lived before
In eyes welled with tears
Today and still today they ride
Will they ever win
He the glory...
She the love...
And still they try again
He the glory...
She the love...
And still they try again
He the glory...
She the love...
And still they... try... again...
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