STEVIE NICKS : 24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT

1. Starshine
2. The Dealer
3. Mabel Normand
4. Blue Water
5. Cathouse Blues
6. 24 Karat Gold
7. Hard Advice
8. Lady
9. I Don't Care
10. All the Beautiful Worlds
11. Belle Fleur
12. If You Were My Love
13. Carousel
14. She Loves Him Still

Label : Reprise Records

Release Date : October 6, 2014

Length : 63:51

Review (AllMusic) : With the subtitle "Songs from the Vault," you'd be forgiven if you thought 24 Karat Gold was an archival collection of unreleased material and, in a way, you'd be right. 24 Karat Gold does indeed unearth songs Nicks wrote during her heyday - the earliest dates from 1969, the latest from 1995, with most coming from her late-'70s/early-'80s peak; the ringer is a cover of Vanessa Carlton's 2011 tune "Carousel," which could easily be mistaken for Stevie - but these aren't the original demos, they're new versions recorded with producer Dave Stewart. Running away from his ornate track record - his production for Stevie's 2011 record In Your Dreams was typically florid - Stewart pays respect to Nicks' original songs and period style by keeping things relatively simple while drafting in sympathetic supporting players including guitarists Waddy Wachtel and Davey Johnstone and Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell. It's certainly not an exacting re-creation of Sound City but Stewart adheres to the slick, hazy feel of supremely well-appointed professional studios, so 24 Karat Gold has a tactile allure. Sonically, it's bewitching - the best-sounding record she's made since 1983's The Wild Heart but, substance-wise, it's her best since that album, too. If there aren't many remnants of the flinty, sexy rocker of "Stand Back" (the opening "Starshine" is an exception to the rule), there's enough seductive, shimmering soft rock and the emphasis on Laurel Canyon hippie folk-rock feels right and natural. Retrospectively, it's a surprise that Nicks sat on these songs for years, but that only indicates just how purple a patch she had during Fleetwood Mac's glory days. It's a good thing she dug through her back pages and finished these songs, as she's wound up with one of her strongest albums.

Review (De Morgen) : Stevie Nicks (66) heeft een mooi moment uitgekozen om door haar liedboek met nooit uitgebracht materiaal te gaan. Haar band Fleetwood Mac lijkt populairder dan ooit en wint bij elke tournee nieuwe fans voor een nummer als Landslide, dat Nicks componeerde. Dat niveau wordt op haar achtste solo-abum 24 Karat Gold nergens gehaald, maar het sober gehouden Lady komt aardig in de buurt. Was de rest van de liedjes ook maar zo spaarzaam ingekleurd. De meeste van de dit voorjaar in een paar weken in Nashville opgenomen versies klinken te bombastisch. Producer Dave Stewart had veel meer op Nicks' nog altijd unieke en nog behoorlijk krachtige stem kunnen leunen. Maar ook een Blue Water klinkt mooi, en bewijst dat Stevie Nicks behoorlijk liedjes kan schrijven. Voor Fleetwood Mac werden die kwaliteiten misschien te weinig benut en haar soloplaten klonken vaak gewild hip en modern. Een zwakte die ook 24 Karat Gold - Songs From the Vault kenmerkt.