Bella Donna

Stevie Nicks | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1981
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B000002IB9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,658 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > Music Deals > $7.99 and Under

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. Outside 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

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: NICKS,STEVIE
Title: BELLA DONNA
Street Release Date: 07/07/1987
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Releases of the 1980s, September 13, 2003

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bella Donna (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)--

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Albums of All-time, April 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bella Donna (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.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intimate Rock Collection by The Queen of Rock!, March 1, 2002

By 

Chris McLeod ""Never have I been a blue c... (Locust Grove, GA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bella Donna (Audio CD)

"Bella Donna," Stevie Nicks' first departure from Fleetwood Mac, was released in 1981. It's a true essential classic. Stevie's poetic lyrics and strong rock chords are in songs like "Edge of Seventeen," a song she wrote about her uncle whom she watched die...

Stevie became a superstar with Fleetwood Mac in the 70's but this album put her over the top...

With rock songs about men who didn't do Stevie right like "Kind of Woman," and "How Still My Love," Stevie's voice "rings like a bell through the night" with agony and also peace.

Stevie duets with Don Henley (of the Eagles) on "Leather and Lace," which became a Top 5 hit, and is a classic soft rock love song. "Lovers forever, face to face, my city your mountain, stay with me stay, I need you to love me, I need you today..."

Stevie's haunting voice and lyrics lead her through the title track, "Bella Donna." Another duet on "Stop Draggin My Heart Around," with rocker Tom Petty, put Stevie back into the Top 5!

"After the Glitter Fades," puts Stevie in perfect form. It's a country-ish song, and it even did ok on the country charts and pop, a one time only thing for a Stevie Nicks song. She tells women in this song how being a sex symbol and celebrity isnt all it's cracked up to be.

This is a masterpiece collection from Rock's best and most intimate lady, Stevie Nicks, the Queen of Rock N Roll = says Rolling Stone magazine, and I agree!!!