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Track Listings
| 1. Bella Donna |
| 2. Kind Of Woman |
| 3. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around |
| 4. Think About It |
| 5. After The Glitter Fades |
| 6. Edge Of Seventeen |
| 7. How Still My Love |
| 8. Leather And Lace |
| 9. Ouside The Rain |
| 10. The Highwayman |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
While Stevie Nicks had the most recognizable voice in Fleetwood Mac, there was no guarantee she could craft the same kind of pop-rock magic without the help of the Mac's guiding musical force, Lindsey Buckingham. As such, Bella Donna found her emerging surprisingly strongly as a solo talent. Part of the credit goes to Tom Petty, who gave her an excellent song in "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" (and duets with her on it). But other high points are Nicks's own creations, including the urgently rocking "Edge of Seventeen" and the country-tinged ballad "Leather and Lace" (a duet with Don Henley). A few tunes here are forgettable, but overall Nicks started her solo career on a high note. --Peter Blackstock
Product Description
Stevie proves she doesn't need Fleetwood or McVie to thrive as seen here on her 1981 solo debut! Includes Leather and Lace featuring Don Henley; Stop Draggin' My Heart Around with Tom Petty; Edge of Seventeen; Think About It; After the Glitter Fades and more!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Throughout the 1970s Stevie Nicks was among the "golden line up" of the legendary Fleetwood Mac, and her lyrics and vocals did much to fuel the band's remarkable success on such releases as RUMORS. Still, when Nicks announced that she was going solo, there were naysayers aplenty. Many felt that Nicks' success with Fleetwood Mac rested in part on the musical settings created for her by various band members; others felt that she lacked the business know-how to put a solo deal together.
But Nicks proved much more artistically resourceful and a much tougher deal-maker than her critics expected. Released in 1981, BELLA DONNA exploded to the top of the charts. Throughout the 1980s Nicks would score further solo successes with THE WILD HEART and ROCK A LITTLE; at the same time she remained a mainstay of the on-again-off-again Fleetwood Mac. And she would become one of the most admired performers of the decade.
Whatever the merits of her other work, BELLA DONNA remains Nicks' single best selling solo effort, a release beloved by fans and admired by critics alike. And it isn't hard to see why. Although Nicks had done some very tough rock and roll with Fleetwood Mac, and had often performed folk and country-flavored songs with the band, BELLA DONNA extended her range in both directions. At the same, however, she did not make the mistake of doing material so completely different as to alienate her core fans, preferring instead to elaborate her previous work than to dismiss it completely.
The result is a series of songs that are very clearly by the same Stevie Nicks who performed with Fleetwood Mac--but which don't simply repeat the sound she acheived with that band. Perhaps the most obvious example is the opening title cut, which sounds very much like something Fleetwood Mac might have done, but which gradually turns in a number of directions that one would never expect from that band--a sort of fusion of Nicks' previous work and the new music she is about to present.
Nicks had done some fairly hard rockers with Fleetwood Mac, but with "Edge Of Seventeen" she takes her skills in that direction to the max, creating a hard, hard, hard rock vocal to a driving beat against a background of some the tightest back-up vocals you've ever heard any where. Her duet with Tom Petty, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," is done at a slower tempo but still creates a hard rock sound, and Nicks and Petty's voices are remarkably well blended. Nicks also veers more significantly toward a country music tone than she had in the past with "After the Glitter Fades," which proved a cross-over hit on the country charts, and her duet with Don Henley, "Leather and Lace," mixes pop and country idioms to tremendous effect.
If these cuts at least reference her original sound with Fleetwood Mac, the remaining cuts might have been written with Fleetwood Mac specifically in mind--and very likely were, songs that were probably never recorded for lack of space. "Kind of Woman," "Think About It," "How Still My Love," and most particularly "Outside the Rain" are very much in the Fleetwood Mac style, all of them expertly done, and all of them memorable.
In spite of her success as a solo artist, Nicks would continue to work with Fleetwood Mac--and fortunately so, for whereas her work with Fleetwood Mac would still find her in top form, her post-ROCK A LITTLE solo releases became increasingly problematic until her stunning TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA. But whatever her ups and downs, Nicks has remained one of the most interesting performers of her generation, a woman with a unique voice, a talent for creating unusual lyrics, and a powerhouse presence. It's hard to imagine any other performer quite like her. And BELLA DONNA remains one of her best. Recommended.
--GFT (Amazon.com)--
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Bella Donna was the first solo album by Fleetwood Mac's rock and roll gypsy, Stevie Nicks, and it is a must-have for anyone who loves rock music. This album was Nicks' greatest solo acomplishment. Bella Donna not only sold millions of copies, it also was the album that made Rolling Stone magazine crown Nicks as the queen or rock and roll. The songs on the album have a hauntingly beautiful sound, with poetic and mysterious lyrics. Nicks' enchanting voice has the capabilies to capture one's soul. The hits on the album include Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (a duet with Tom Petty), Leather and Lace (a duet with Don Henely that has a hint of country music), and Edge of Seventeen (a song with a haunting feeling and some of her best lyrics); but the album is not limited to these songs. Other favorites include After the Glitter Fades, Outside the Rain, and Bella Donna. The songs on this album are inspiring and truly amazing.
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"I never thought I'd make it here in Hollywood," Stevie Nicks sings in "After the Glitter Fades," the fifth of the ten tracks on her first solo album "Bella Donna." And when that record was released, its success seemed, indeed, anything but guaranteed.
Sure, this was the magical frontwoman of one of rock history's most successful bands, Fleetwood Mac, a compulsive songwriter who had never found a sufficient outlet for her creativity in the context of her band; and the personification of the ethereal witch character she had created in her trademark song "Rhiannon." But Stevie as a solo artist? The doubters were many. Doom was prophesized for Fleetwood Mac which, as conventional wisdom had it, was sure to break up regardless of the success of Nicks's solo career, by virtue of the mere fact that she was going solo. Besides, would her dreamy persona work as well as a solo artist as it did in the context of her band? Last but not least, did Nicks, who had lived the high life ever since her career took off with Fleetwood Mac, be disciplined enough to make it through the production of a solo album?
The answer to the last question was a resounding "yes," thanks in no small part to producer Jimmy Iovine, brought in by record executive Paul Fishkin who had created his Modern Records label specifically for the production of Nicks's album. (Soon Iovine was so enthralled with Nicks, who returned the feelings, that they embarked on a several year-long relationship.) Iovine and Fishkin decided to present Nicks as a rock singer first and foremost; and indeed, the production credits of "Bella Donna" list many members of rock music's elite - more than one of whom later repeatedly returned to perform with Stevie Nicks; most notably Waddy Wachtel, long since the steady force at the heart of her live appearances, Tom Petty and almost all of his Heartbreakers, Don Henley and fellow ex-Eagle Don Felder, and of course Nicks's faithful background singers, Lori Perry and Sharon Celani.
But while the album does feature several straightforward rock songs - the best-known of them "Edge of Seventeen," one of her all-time greatest hits; and her duet with Tom Petty, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," the only song on the album not at least co-written by Nicks but by Petty and the Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell (the demo version was eventually released on Petty's 1995 "Playback" compilation) - there is still plenty of magic in true "Stevie style." The album's title track recalls Rhiannon's high flight when Nicks sings about her Bella Donna: "You can fly swinging from your trapeze, scaring all the people ... but you'll never scare me." "The Highwayman" describes a similarly enchanting woman's eternal chase of her man, "the one that comes and goes:" "And she in all her magic, with hands as quick as light, took him to be a challenge - her horse is like a dragonfly - and then he sees her coming - 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. - Today and still today they ride; will they ever win? He the glory, she the love ... Still they try again." The straightforwardly autobiographical "After the Glitter Fades" describes Nicks's incredible success ("what I seem to touch these days has turned to gold") and muses that despite all let-downs, "even though the living is sometimes laced with lies - it's the only life I've ever known - it's alright ... the feeling remains ... even after the glitter fades." And for "Leather and Lace," like her duet with Tom Petty long since one of the most famous duets of rock history and originally written for Waylon Jennings and his then-girlfriend Jessi Colter, Nicks asked longtime friend Don Henley to join her for the production of what was planned as a mere demo version of the song. Then Jennings and Colter unexpectedly broke up before they had recorded it, and the version generations of fans have come to know and love ended up on "Bella Donna." (Since Waylon Jennings's untimely passing, Nicks has taken to dedicating the song to him when performing it live.)
Stevie Nicks's first solo album, dedicated to her very first duet partner and musical influence, her grandfather AJ, and to Jimmy Iovine, "for giving me back my music," sold nearly 2,000,000 copies and hit No.1 in the album charts within the first two months after its July 1981 release. Both Nicks's duets with Tom Petty and Don Henley were Top 20 hits; so was "Edge of Seventeen." On September 3, 1981, Rolling Stone Magazine crowned her "the Queen of Rock'n Roll." While Fleetwood Mac did eventually break up (and subsequently reunited), that breakup, according to band members, had less to do with Nicks's solo career (actually, she did all she could to keep her solo flight from impacting the band) and more with the frictions and shifting dynamics within the entire band. Stevie Nicks's solo career, started with the premise set by Jimmy Iovine (as recounted by Nicks and Iovine for VH1's "Behind the Music") that it was to be approached "like you've never made an album before," as more than a hobby but "not big rock'n roll; [rather] something you have never done before," because Nicks was "not a proven solo artist in any way, shape, or form," soon became one of the most successful careers in rock history; equaling - no, surpassing her success with Fleetwood Mac. It provided a long-overdue outlet for her musical creativity and allowed her to expand her range into straightforward rock music territory. Despite later setbacks, Stevie Nicks is still around; and her most recent release, "Trouble in Shangri-La," is her strongest since her 1981 solo debut. "Bella Donna" was the foundation of all that, and more. It is not to be missed.
Also recommended:
Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks
Trouble in Shangri-La
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
Sure, this was the magical frontwoman of one of rock history's most successful bands, Fleetwood Mac, a compulsive songwriter who had never found a sufficient outlet for her creativity in the context of her band; and the personification of the ethereal witch character she had created in her trademark song "Rhiannon." But Stevie as a solo artist? The doubters were many. Doom was prophesized for Fleetwood Mac which, as conventional wisdom had it, was sure to break up regardless of the success of Nicks's solo career, by virtue of the mere fact that she was going solo. Besides, would her dreamy persona work as well as a solo artist as it did in the context of her band? Last but not least, did Nicks, who had lived the high life ever since her career took off with Fleetwood Mac, be disciplined enough to make it through the production of a solo album?
The answer to the last question was a resounding "yes," thanks in no small part to producer Jimmy Iovine, brought in by record executive Paul Fishkin who had created his Modern Records label specifically for the production of Nicks's album. (Soon Iovine was so enthralled with Nicks, who returned the feelings, that they embarked on a several year-long relationship.) Iovine and Fishkin decided to present Nicks as a rock singer first and foremost; and indeed, the production credits of "Bella Donna" list many members of rock music's elite - more than one of whom later repeatedly returned to perform with Stevie Nicks; most notably Waddy Wachtel, long since the steady force at the heart of her live appearances, Tom Petty and almost all of his Heartbreakers, Don Henley and fellow ex-Eagle Don Felder, and of course Nicks's faithful background singers, Lori Perry and Sharon Celani.
But while the album does feature several straightforward rock songs - the best-known of them "Edge of Seventeen," one of her all-time greatest hits; and her duet with Tom Petty, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," the only song on the album not at least co-written by Nicks but by Petty and the Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell (the demo version was eventually released on Petty's 1995 "Playback" compilation) - there is still plenty of magic in true "Stevie style." The album's title track recalls Rhiannon's high flight when Nicks sings about her Bella Donna: "You can fly swinging from your trapeze, scaring all the people ... but you'll never scare me." "The Highwayman" describes a similarly enchanting woman's eternal chase of her man, "the one that comes and goes:" "And she in all her magic, with hands as quick as light, took him to be a challenge - her horse is like a dragonfly - and then he sees her coming - 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. - Today and still today they ride; will they ever win? He the glory, she the love ... Still they try again." The straightforwardly autobiographical "After the Glitter Fades" describes Nicks's incredible success ("what I seem to touch these days has turned to gold") and muses that despite all let-downs, "even though the living is sometimes laced with lies - it's the only life I've ever known - it's alright ... the feeling remains ... even after the glitter fades." And for "Leather and Lace," like her duet with Tom Petty long since one of the most famous duets of rock history and originally written for Waylon Jennings and his then-girlfriend Jessi Colter, Nicks asked longtime friend Don Henley to join her for the production of what was planned as a mere demo version of the song. Then Jennings and Colter unexpectedly broke up before they had recorded it, and the version generations of fans have come to know and love ended up on "Bella Donna." (Since Waylon Jennings's untimely passing, Nicks has taken to dedicating the song to him when performing it live.)
Stevie Nicks's first solo album, dedicated to her very first duet partner and musical influence, her grandfather AJ, and to Jimmy Iovine, "for giving me back my music," sold nearly 2,000,000 copies and hit No.1 in the album charts within the first two months after its July 1981 release. Both Nicks's duets with Tom Petty and Don Henley were Top 20 hits; so was "Edge of Seventeen." On September 3, 1981, Rolling Stone Magazine crowned her "the Queen of Rock'n Roll." While Fleetwood Mac did eventually break up (and subsequently reunited), that breakup, according to band members, had less to do with Nicks's solo career (actually, she did all she could to keep her solo flight from impacting the band) and more with the frictions and shifting dynamics within the entire band. Stevie Nicks's solo career, started with the premise set by Jimmy Iovine (as recounted by Nicks and Iovine for VH1's "Behind the Music") that it was to be approached "like you've never made an album before," as more than a hobby but "not big rock'n roll; [rather] something you have never done before," because Nicks was "not a proven solo artist in any way, shape, or form," soon became one of the most successful careers in rock history; equaling - no, surpassing her success with Fleetwood Mac. It provided a long-overdue outlet for her musical creativity and allowed her to expand her range into straightforward rock music territory. Despite later setbacks, Stevie Nicks is still around; and her most recent release, "Trouble in Shangri-La," is her strongest since her 1981 solo debut. "Bella Donna" was the foundation of all that, and more. It is not to be missed.
Also recommended:
Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks
Trouble in Shangri-La
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oldie but Goodie!
I had this album when I was a teenager (on 33RPM). I wore it out. I then bought a cassette, and wore that out. Same with my CD. Read more
Published 4 days ago by A. Boyer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stevie At Her Finest
Love Stevie, and love this album. Especially Stand Back, which was always one of my favorite solo tracks. Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. Gehring
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Stevie Nicks Album
This is probably my favorite of all her albums. The songs are haunting and original and mesmerizing at times. A fantastic grouping of her work here. Read more
Published 2 months ago by H.B.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Have this for other devices. Great to have on the Cloud now to run on iPad. Great, perfect, wonderful, brings back fantastic memories. Stevie was the best!
Published 2 months ago by April
5.0 out of 5 stars
Every Stevie Nicks fan should own this!
I just love this album, true Stevie Nicks at her best!! Big fan of Stevie... great additional to my collection
Published 2 months ago by c2galluch
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stevie's first solo
The gypsy goes solo and makes a hit album that makes her queen of rock.Nicks first solo album is a collection of songs that will touch your heart and move your feet. Read more
Published 3 months ago by NY Adirondack Man
3.0 out of 5 stars
Played entire CD once; replayed Leather & Lace a couple of times.
She may have written them.....but I'd like more passion. Thought maybe it was in the lyrics and I missed it....
I'll listen in the Spring again.
I'll listen in the Spring again.
Published 4 months ago by LuckieLRanch
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best of Stevie Nicks
I never realized how much of the songs I loved by Stevie Nicks were off the Bella Donna album. This was during her prime (though her new stuff today still sounds good, but not as... Read more
Published 5 months ago by sundevil99
5.0 out of 5 stars
good CD
this CD has a lot of Stevie Nick's hits on it. and the price was right. I did buy the CD. this was one great album. I had the LP, and decided to buy the CD. Read more
Published 5 months ago by William T. Gilbert III
5.0 out of 5 stars
Most unique, memorable, voice EVER...best songwriter...total...
I've been a Stevie Nicks fan since Fleetwood Mac first hit the scene. I've always been amazed and delighted by Stevie Nicks as a performer, but also as one of the world's premiere... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Suzanne McCartney
