Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart (Modern) — As with her first solo effort, Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks’ latest album combines cryptic and depthless lyrics with a reedy voice of both ethereal beauty and rock-hard coarseness that cuts through the adolescent junk she’s written.
Five of the 10 cuts on The Wild Heart album are particularly appealing: “If Anyone Falls,” “Enchanted,” “Stand Back,” “Wild Heart” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Enchanted” is a simple but captivating rock ‘n’ roller that benefits greatly (as does this whole album) from the fine guitar work of Waddy Wachtel. The fairy tale, “Beauty and the Beast,” is supposed to be Nicks’ favorite. The song she has penned by the same name is performed and arranged with a lyrical, other- worldly (her favorite place) quality. Fleetwood Mac’s priestess of the occult takes us to misty forests and castles spiraling into the sky with Beauty and the Beast.
Her duet with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “I Will Run to You,” written by Petty, is a disappointment and a bore. Nevetheless, a good album by an intriguing singer. PICK
Miami Herald / August 7, 1983
