Stevie Nicks - Other Side of the Mirror

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Free Music Notes for Other Side of the Mirror

Free Music Review: She's Doing the Best That She Can
Hit: 5 Stars

First off, the songs are among her most underrated work. While everyone is drooling over Bella Donna, The Wild Heart, and Trouble in Shangri-La, this album gets lost in the mix. Although addicted to Klonopin at the time, these songs speak of Stevie's emotions, and are true as always. She had just done Tango In the Night with Fleetwood Mac, which eventually resulted in Lindsey Buckingham, her former lover, leaving the band. Another factor that added in to these songs is that this was the first solo album she had done after she had been cured from her cocaine addiction. With that in mind, these songs are painfully realistic.

Lyrically, this album is her most down to earth effort. It still has a few mystical references, but it's mainly a straight forward album. In Long Way to Go, a very angry Stevie wails "It's a real long way to go to say goodbye. I thought we already did that. Have fun, tell the world!". This realism is again displayed in songs like Whole Lotta Trouble and Two Kinds of Love. I found that in this album, she uses quotations, which makes it seem like she's talking to you. Most obvious for me are in the songs Juliet and Doing the Best That I Can (Escape From Berlin). Doing the Best That I Can is what I consider to be the most real song on the album. She's trying to cope with Lindsey not being a part of Fleetwood Mac, getting over her cocaine addiction, and dealing with her Klonopin addiction all at the same time. It was tough for her to take, and the song is also the most depressing on the album, but it's also one of the most beautiful.

The whole theme for this album is the story of Alice In Wonderland. Many of these songs have stories behind them. The stellar Ghosts was inspired by A Christmas Carol, while Alice and Juliet were inspired by Alice In Wonderland and Romeo and Juliet, obviously. Ghosts is one of my favorites, it's very true. "It's just the ghost of what you want to be, and the ghost of the past that you live in..". The hit of this album, Rooms on Fire, is pretty catchy and romantic. But my personal favorite is Ooh My Love. This was obviously about Lindsey. "Yes, it was a strain on her..watching her castles fall down" It's beautiful, as is the introspective Alice, which is also about getting over cocaine.

Musically, it's very different from Stevie's other solo works. Its full on 80's pop sound is probably what turns most people off. Hey, don't blame Stevie. Rupert Hine produced and arranged the entire album, giving in the synthed-up pop sound it's become associated with. And come on people, it was 1989. Synth pop was in. This, however, gives it a very magical feeling. While the lyrics, as aforementioned, are among her most real and down to earth, the music has a dreamy feeling. It actually makes me feel dreamy when I listen to it. This is what makes the album totally unique though, so I applaud Rupert for that. Stevie only wrote the music for 2 of the songs, Juliet and Doing the Best That I Can.

Overall, I don't see how anyone can hate this album. It's my favorite work of Stevie's, tied with Trouble in Shangri-La. So just give this album a try, you won't regret it. "Alright said Alice..I'm going back..to the other side of the mirror.."

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